Tying up a property for rehab

[Jason Barnett]

I've found a house that looks like a good candidate for rehab, but I want to do several inspections of this property before I purchase. My question is: how would you all suggest that I tie up this property to give me the time to do these inspections?

The reason I'm asking this is because this house is old (built before 1900). I've been through it once already and overall it appears to be sound and just in need of cosmetic work. It has a relatively new water heater. Roof looks ok. Foundation looks good and basement is dry. However, there are two potential money pits:

1. Electric system. I checked it out and saw a breaker box so it has been upgraded, but I want to bring in an electrician to be sure the system is up to code.

2. Heating system. Currently the house has baseboard heaters. It has a boiler system in the basement that I will *probably* need to replace / update and I want to get an estimate on running duct work through the house.

I realize that at this point a lot of you would run because of #2... but this house is on the market for $85K and comps for this house run between $125K and $225K. So I figure I might as well get quotes for all the work I need to do and determine if I can make a good profit after that work.