Old Philadelphia Houses

[Joe S.]

Hello,

I have a question for people who are familiar with old houses, especially in the Philly area. There is a property I am considering buying, and it was built in 1898. My concern is the basement foundation. It is flagstone and very old. They applied a parge coat at some point but it has basically turned to a sand like consistency and is falling out/ already fell out and is on the floor. My inspector told me that I could parge the walls again but the same thing would happen in 10 years. We also detected moisture using the inspectors device in one of the walls, but did not see any water in the basement. On the inspection report, the inspector rated the foundation walls as "fair" and noted that the condition is typical for the age. This property would be a buy and hold rental. Is this a big concern? small concern? Thanks in advance for your response.