How to price a a dilapidated house?

[Tiffany DeTiege]

I have an opportunity to buy a dilapidated house in Austin from a family friend it is near I-35N and Rundberg. I hope to tare it down and but a duplex or quad plex. I want I deal. Are Austin's tax assessments accurate at all? The lot is around 9000sqft. How can I determine the value?

[JD Martin]

If you're tearing it down, the base value is pretty easy - value of the lot and remaining improvements (water tap, sewer tap, electric tap, etc) minus the cost of tearing down and hauling off the structure. Whether or not you can buy it for that price, or cheaper, is another story altogether. A lot of dilapidated houses stay that way because they cost more to get rid of than the land is worth.