Newbie here. Abandon house needs repair, trying to work a deal.

[Jeremy Abney]

I am getting a house on land contract of sorts. It's a bit complicated, but I will try and explain. The house is basically abandoned, so I found the owner and have been in negation with her. The home is a 3 story house with a large separate two-story garage behind it, the garage has a two-bedroom apartment on the top level. The property was rental income for her and then she was diagnosed with cancer and let it fall into disrepair. I don't have enough credit to straight out buy it, so we are trying to work out a deal. The house had a water leak and is in bad shape. The roof will need fixing or replaced, some of the floors on both the top level and main level will need to be gutted. Pretty sure, black mold is everywhere, the basement has been flooded and I think squatters have been living there. That's just the stuff I can see. She said she hasn't filed with the insurance company yet and she is willing to put a claim in and let me put it toward fixing the home. So far she is dancing around the idea of me living there for free fixing the place up and then paying her something like a land contract for a couple of years or until I get approved for a loan. I am fine with that but would like to set a price now before I put a ton of work into it and raise the property value. The apartment seems fine for the most part, needs a deep thorough cleaning. I hope I have made everything clear if not just ask me. What advice would you give me? Thank you for taking the time to read this!