We got the bottom apartment looking decent after 2 weeks and I went back to work.After and before work I would finish the bottom apartment or work on the upstairs replacing and repairing.My plan was to take the equity we put in and use it to purchase additional properties.Unbeknownst to me one fateful day the oil company delivered oil to the house, to a boiler that was outside, a tank that was not hooked up, and a homeowner that didn’t want or order it.100 Gallons of fuel oil later and we were dealing with the DEC and contamination cleanup.The appraiser, that I was getting from the bank to explore a HELOC, came the same day as the oil spill and still appraised the house during the chaos of the morning and afternoon.The bank would not lend on the house due to the spill (which we are still cleaning up) but the appraiser did set the value at 104K.We keep dealing with the cleanup, and have been for months, and it seems to be coming along.I decided to empty my retirement in order to purchase another property while we wait for the cleanup to be finished.

i don't know how far you'll have to take it, but it might include pulling out carpet and some sheetwork.i would definitely watch out, and determine the extent of contamination.

A Ton of great information....I've handled mold problems from small basement areas with bleach to full blown remediation jobs and I even headed up a remediation project on a 300 room name brand hotel (all 300 rooms heavily contaminated with black mold).

The big question is there any soil contamination and if there is to what extent.

All contaminated soil would have to be removed and bagged.

The costs could vary depending on the contamination.

Would you recommend to buy a lot in Benzene water contamination area to bring the cost down?

Do not spend another dime on this property until that question is answered.It could be something as simple as an outstanding fine for an overgrown lawn or as disastrous as environmental contamination leaching into a public water supply.  

Not necessarily mean that property is contaminated.

The CROSS CONTAMINATION is really bad.