Buying my first property - Homesteps REO

[Georges A.]

Hey guys,

I am looking at a property (HomeSteps REO) and thinking about making an offer. The area I am looking in is HOT ! and I am worried it will go under agreement soon. I just read the top 20 tips about buying an REO , going to apply them and hope for the best.

Now here's a catch, the property had some water damage on the first floor (which is really a finished basement) where I was able to see that they cut the walls in order to fix it - the place definitely smells like MOLD! The listing also indicates that there is a structural damage but they didn't indicate it yet - I was not able to notice anything major but I am not an inspector.

So my question is:

(1) should I submit an offer with my highest and best bet (w/o waiving the inspector contingency - that would be crazy) and hope to get accepted and then make my decision based on the inspector's findings? Maybe I could then negotiate a better price to account for whatever costs I will incur.

(2) skip it altogether and not mess with structural damages as many REI indicate (esp that I am a newbie myself). Can structural damages vary or are they all costly?

[Account Closed]

My family bought a house with structural damage. The basement wall had a massive crack.

The surrounding trees were planted too close to the house that they roots cause tremendous pressure on the walls of the basement.

The house was built in 1960, 4 bed/2 bath ~2400 square feet. The crack was about 4-5 feet high and the engineer fixed it for $3000.

I know it differs case by case but just trying to help using my experience.

Why not give 3-4 structural engineers a call to get quotes for fixing it and see what the prices range? Even if you don't own the house, just tell them you are purchasing it and want to get it fixed immediately. Use those quotes and learn from them. Send some pics of the structural damage.