Potential deal with unaccessible crawlspace

[David McCracken]

I have potentially a pretty good deal in my hands. The only issue is that the house is on a crawl and the crawl is too shallow to be accessible. The crawl has had water intrusion previously, so something would have to be done.

Excavating the crawl and having it waterproofed from the inside is expensive and difficult. Waterproofing from the outside of the house would be the more realistic option. With this option, I worry about the potential risks of having an inaccessible crawl that I can't see. I don't have a lot of experience with crawlspaces. Is waterproofing around the exterior perimeter of the house a good option in my case?