We're looking at a fixer upper to purchase as our weekend home. I'm thinkin these are the things I need to do before we move forward with the sale...

1. find a structural engineer
~ the basement ceiling was wet, the area of home is surrounded by bodies of water, there was a flood last year and I believe the year before but we're not sure if it affected home we're looking at. also want to be sure the foundation and structure is secure or if there is anything that we may need to fix. the house is mostly a shell. what other things should we be looking at?

2. find a real estate lawyer to handle the bidding / closing

3. head into town to get info on the following ourselves:

a. permit history on home
b. title research
c. survey / plot map (or should we hire a surveyor)
d. ??

has anyone had any experience in doing the research on their own? Are we better off hiring someone to do this?

Am I missing anything? Is there anything else we should be looking into? One engineer I spoke with had a serious attitude problem... Am I going about this in the wrong way?

~ bit of a wreck...

Sounds to me like a potential tear down, I would skip the above list you made, and make a offer based on the house beaing a bulldoser special. If you have a problem with the right number{offer}, buy a book on real estate appraisals. It will really be the best investment you could make. Then find a real esate attorney to make the offer for you based on your appraisal calculations.

hiya coldcoffee - why do you say that? i


what is the difference between a home inspector and an engineer? is it better to have on or the other to inspect the home?

A good local real estate agent is a must when buying a home in an area that you don't know really well. They will contacts for everyone you need to have handle the transaction, they can tell you about what the home is worth, if you repair it will you get your money back, if there are flooding issues with the area the home is in (if so walk away from it), the list goes on and on for reason to have an agent. I wouldn't try and buy a weekend home on my own and I do this every day, actually maybe it's because I do this every day that I know I shouldn't try and buy a home without an agent.

BTW, a home inspector will check everything in the house like electric, plumbing, foundation, roof, .... A structural engineer just looks at the structure of the home.

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My thoughts on the Sarasota Association of REALTORS actions.

coldcoffee - sorry for the typo up there. i was wondering why you felt the structured should be demo'd instead of being saved...??

kensmithkw - how do you know if you can even trust the agent you enlist? the town we are looking at is very small...surely everyone would know each other in the business...?? thanks for your input!

If they are a buyers agent they have an ethical duty to you. No one commission is worth their professional reputation.

__________________
The Suburban House Hunters Team would like to thank REW members for past referrals! We are never to busy to handle your Chicago area referrals.

Always looking for quality unique content for our real estate agent blog, PM me if interested in writing a post.

My thoughts on the Sarasota Association of REALTORS actions.

hi there - back again.

I googled for a buyers agent in the area we are looking at - to no avail.

I tried www.naeba.org - nothing.

If I even stupidly wrote to a sellers agent of a different company asking if was qualified as a buyers agent. THEN I read the part that gave me the impression that a buyers agent is ONLY a buyers agent and NEVER a sellers agent. ugh. That's what I get for jumping the gun.

I had a hard time finding engineers as well as home inspectors for this area as well. The ones who responded to my inquiries first said it was out of their area. I finally found two - one home inspector who has been in the area for over a decade and another who is an engineer and a home inspector on the side but has to travel some distance to the property site - let's just say it's one full day's work for him to inspect this property. I'm still waiting to get the list of references from the latter, who also is not familiar with the area where the property is.

Any suggestions?

btw, I really appreciate everyones responses. it's a learning process i guess, albeit a stressful one! much thanks to all.

I have not seen the symptoms you told us personally, but as an ex home builder and current real estate broker, I can say that is a bulldozer special. It sounds like your foundation may be way out of wack and it costs a heck of a lot more to fix a fixer upper from a structural damage 99% of the time than your investment is worth. But again, I have not seen the place just going from what you told us.

Hi jGirl ; based on your description I envisoned a leaky,pouris,foundation, with possibly a well underneath it,or at least some ground that has softened up and might possibly have a culvert of water floating under the basement contrete.
I think what you are looking at is land value only,minus rip down and haulaway costs. If you really like the property itself, and want it, hire a real estate attorney to do all the research on the propertys past history, and take it from that direction to land value. On another note if your haveing such problems with the local folks just getting any kind of help, you also might consider looking at a different location{town/city/burb}, where the talent pool of help is not so stagnet.
............................Jon...............GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS>>>>from a ex-Vietnam era vet.