great great deal, but house has foundation issues. HELP!!!

[Deurward Clark]

hello everyone, I was talking to my god mother Saturday at my moms birthday party and we started talking about properties. Low and behold she has a property that hasn't been lived in since 2008. she owns the property free and clear. the house was built in 1915. she said she is tired of dealing with the house she doesn't want to deal with it anymore, the house needs a total rehab from top to bottom. She was totally upfront and said the house has foundation issues. it is a row home in philadephia. Here is the kicker, she said if someone gives her 7,000 for it she will take it and run . why only 7,000? because she is tired of dealing with the house and paying taxes on the property. She said if she can recoup the 7,000 that she paid over the last 6 years she would be happy. Sounds like a good deal. Question is can someone please tell me should I get a foundation repair company to come out and look at it first or should I just wholesale it. But just like her I don't want to wholesale a house that has foundation issues. Should I buy it then just rehab it then do a buy and hold or should I flip it? I really don't know what to do with it because im just a year into investing but it really sounds like a good deal. how many houses can you buy for seven thousand dollars. Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thanx so much everyone. D

[Jim Viens]

Rather than a foundation repair company I would get a structural engineer as the foundation repair company may provide a biased opinion designed to sell their services. I don't know what it may run in your area but there are firms here in KC that will do foundation inspections for around $300-$350. That would be a small investment, in my eyes, that would greatly increase your chances of being able to wholesale the property. I mean, which is better: "I have a house with unknown foundation issues." or "I have a house with these specific issues with the foundation that will cost $x to fix."