Fire Damaged Property

[Johnny Kang]

Anyone have experience purchasing a fire damaged property?

I got an off market 3 family, where there was fire on the 3rd floor a few months back and the family is contemplating whether to use the insurance money to fix it, or to take the money and just sell the property. 

I haven't seen it yet (she just called this week), but I want to know some of the things I should consider in - not only in making an offer, but what to factor in when calculating rehab cost, any new code I would have to abide by which will affect the rehab cost, etc. 

[Matt Stewart]

I actually just locked up a fire damage house last week and should close on it next week.  Fortunately in my case the fire was contained to one bedroom and it looks like there's not a lot of damage to the framing, attic, or roof.  I'll know more once we get it cleaned out and gutted down to studs.  I'm anticipating electrical repairs, replace any charred framing, obviously all new drywall floors and ceilings.  After that it's a standard rehab.

This will be my first burnout, so I talked to some other investors who've done them as well as a couple contractors.  Obviously the damage can vary greatly and you need to inspect carefully, but the consensus is that they usually look much worse than they actually are.  

I'll know a lot more in a couple weeks @Johnny Kang if you want to check back with me.