Fire damage property

[Jose Dedomenico]

What would be the next step you take if a sellers house is damaged by fire? How do we calculate an offer and can they be helped?

[Jeremy VanDelinder]

Jose, I flip fire damaged properties. So, yes, there is a chance at helping them, but there is a lot involved. That's a big question--how extensive is the fire damage? Do they have a settlement from their insurance company yet? What kind of neighborhood is it in? 

One of your first steps is to connect with a contractor that can give you a solid bid. If you can find one with experience with fire damaged properties that would be best. You might want to connect with a fire remediation/restoration company to provide you some information--a quote and/or a referral to a contractor. The reason for getting these experts to lay eyes on it is that there are likely many things you may not realize need to be done if you haven't done this type of rehab before. 

In addition, if it is in a municipality (permits are required) a conversation with the city/municipality is in order. This is absolutely not a flip you want to try to do on the "down-low." Pull permits, become friends with the city inspector and do everything they ask. (This will help you to have a smoother project and give more confidence to a prospective buyer.)

Let me know how it develops and if there are further questions I can answer.