Structural Issues

[Stephan Nemeth]

Hi BP,

I recently went under contract for a quad and secured a pretty fair deal from the retiring owner.  Everything was going smoothly until the inspection revealed some potential structural issues.  Upon further inspection from a structural engineer, he determined that several structural beams, footings, etc needed to be repaired or more likely replaced.  This home is 100 years old and the issues stem from the building techniques used 100 years ago and typically decay, from what the engineer has explained. My first impulse was to walk and find another deal but the seller agreed to make all repairs using a third party and then have my structural engineer do a final walk through and provide to me a letter of their correct repair.  The structural engineer is a licensed, bonded, and insured professional.  Does this letter shift any liability to the engineer who passes the work?  Would this repair and 3rd party verification make this a viable deal?  Ultimately, is this a deal other investors would make or would the repair/replace still not be enough?  (I understand that without listing out the specific structural defects in greater detail what I am asking is hard but just trying to get a general idea.)

Thanks