How to Buy Condemned Property?

[Mariele Storm]

Hi--sorry if this isn't in the right area, I wasn't sure which board to put this in. I've spent the past two days reading every thread on BiggerPockets that mentioned condemned properties (and the first three pages of Google results :) ). But I have one question that seems incredibly stupid and obvious but I can't find a solid, detailed answer for.

That is: how exactly do you buy a condemned property?

What I mean is, I know you can drive through neighborhoods to find one, contact City Hall, the police station, Craigslist, et cetra. What I'm curious in is--can you find a condemned property through a real estate agent? If so, do you have to hire a particular real estate agent who specializes in condemned properties for that, or would any one that knows the area you plan to buy in be able to do that? Is this something real estate agents would consider worth their time? Would those be seller-owned properties only? What if the city owns it now--would my only option be to contact the city building department? In which case, would I need someone to represent me when I buy it, or would I (or the city) just have a contract drawn up? This is all assuming I'd be paying cash.

On a similar note, is there always a time limit to bring it up to code? I've seen 90 days and one year quoted a few times. Does it depend on the exact code violation and local laws?

I'm sorry that I have a lot of questions, but it seems like I've only been able to find pieces of the answers scattered all over and I'm having a hard time putting it all together to understand exactly how to go from A to B to C. :)

If it helps--I wouldn't be looking to buy for a few years. I'm actually not looking into real estate investment as a flipper or wholesaler, this would ideally be a home that I could live in after a gut (yes, I know, sounds silly, but I've done complete guts before and gutting and then living in a run down home has been my dream since I was seven years old, so I do know what I'm getting into in that sense and it's not the HGTV effect :) ). So I wouldn't be necessarily looking for the avenue of the most ROI. I'm just trying to plan ahead!