Property first on-site look - code violations - how to get educated

[Ceril S.]

Hi BP gang!

I'm still a few months out from jumping in so I am in all out research mode.

I convinced my wife to go to our first open house on a 2 family today and it was kinda scary!

Not scary as in we were in danger, but scary in what the current homeowner/slumlord has done as "fixes".  The property had been owned for 30 years and my wife and I aren't experts, but we were pretty sure 1) it wouldn't be up to code and 2)There could be some pretty serious damage hidden.  For example, there was an extension cord power strip that was spackled into the wall,  the front facade was good, but the siding all around the rest of the house was so bad, we could poke through it in places, and the list went on.

So my question is several fold.  

Do you have a property checklist that you use when going over the physical aspects? 

We have a mental one, but having a form to make sure we don't miss something is good.  I know that there is an inspection phase, but, really, if it's not worth our time, I want to know before we get there.

Where do I go to get educated about building code in the area and what is required for a certificate of occupancy? I know that the town that I live in doesn't require a CO, only a fire cert.  I don't need to be an expert, there are experts for that, but I do want to be able to spot some major issues before they turn into major $.  I am expecting some boring reading in my future.

What do you look at as an acceptable amount of work that needs to be done?  Since we are newbies, we are basically looking for almost turnkey - a property that may need some work but is currently rented and the #'s work.  Is that unrealistic? 

Overall, it was a really great reality check.  We plan on checking out several more just to get practice evaluating a property.