You must have your accountant review his 5 years of P&Ls and tax returns to uncover the truth.If the property had equity, why hasn't a buyer stepped up by now to purchase it and cash him out of his equity.

Yes, a simple call or visit to the Building Department will uncover all permits ever pulled for the property.

However, I took a look at the property on zillow and found one major flaw in your analysis that could upend the entire deal.

Though I may not be as much help as more experience members, I think having another set of eyes looking over it could help to find any flaws that may or may not be in there.

This can be accomplished from the interior as well, however it's more effective preventing moisture from coming in (exterior), rather than holding moisture back (interior).been trying hard to avoid excavating. and remember now......there is a span of wall that is nice and clear...and not too cracked up. so whether or not they waterproofed or not........that span of concrete blocks are relatively undamaged. it doesnt make sense that they would waterproof that span, and not the other span.so this is why i think i can just cover the damaged span of concrete blocks with a porch or something so that water wouldnt get to the span of exterior wall. id actually probably use plastic tarp in the beginning, so i could uncover that area during days of sun in hopes that any moisture inside the dirt would evaporate. when it rains, id cover up that area again with a huge plastic tarp.i would also improve the grading, and well the downspouts are already good.i could also do a french drain type thing...but i dont think that would be necessary.im really trying to avoid excavating. i dont want to pay $25K lool. i already have mold issues on interior joists that will need to be blasted off...and these joists are 30ft long and there are probably 50 of them going across the basement. and yesterday i was looking at some studs...and i think i mightve seen some mold on those too. super annoying, man.

Some people might have that luck, but I certainly did not.Brock is a really nice guy, but obviously the product he is selling has some flaws.  

What salesperson is NOT going to go out of their way to sell the F out of that comparable home and trash all the FSBO's flaws, both for rational reasons and to spite the FSBO?

Need to do title searches to uncover any liens and check out the property for viability. 

All the systems have flaws and there is nothing as an actual appraisal.  

That makes me liable for real estate liability like accidents, flaws, liens, etc.