Vacant house with underground storage tank beneath the driveway

[Melissa MacLean]

I'm considering my first attempt at wholesaling, but the situation is both convenient and unfortunate:

There happens to be a vacant house across the street and a few doors down from me, that I didn't realize was vacant until a recent flurry of activity on the neighborhood listserv. The owner is an elderly woman who lives a town over with her daughter, but they have people come out to periodically maintain the property, so it isn't a horrible eyesore or anything. The neighbor has complained several times to the town, however, and he told me that the owner pays a $300 fine to the city every month. It's been vacant for at least 5 years, so they've spent at least $18,000 in fines alone, not including taxes and homeowners insurance and lawn maintenance. The ARV on this house is about $175,000. It needs a LOT of work/complete gut - central air would need to be installed, needs a new roof, all new windows, new flooring, new kitchen, new baths, extensive drywall repair, etc etc. And it's a 2 bedroom, 1650 square feet, so would need to be reconfigured to be a 3 bedroom to get that ARV. It also smells kinda funky from right outside the door, like that old person musty smell seeps out. I was considering getting in touch with the owner's family and negotiating a deal that I could wholesale, because it's pretty prime for the picking. Unfortunately, there's an underground storage tank thats UNDER THE DRIVEWAY! I called a local UST removal company and they said it would cost around $25,000 to remove and reinstall the driveway, if there is any contamination, and only slightly less than that if there isn't. Should I just walk? Or do you think a rehabber would be interested in buying the contract from me, if I got a deal on the house? 70% of 175k is 122,500, if rehab costs were 90,000 without the storage tank then we are at 122,500-90000= 32,500, then minus the 25,000 for the tank gets us to $7,500. This seems ridiculous, doesn't it? does anyone buy houses for a couple thousand dollars that have ARV of 175k?