If fixing the house is more expensive than just demoing and redoing it.THat is the simple answer.However you also need to take into account that even if redoing it is (slightly ) more expensive than just fixing said sheetrock... know that a full gut, will result you in a brand new house interior... something that fixing and patching will never even come close to.

simply do not take anyone's word for this landlock situation.. open escrow get a title commitment and see it it is actually landlocked.. if it is your remedy in the real world. is1. getting a neighbor to grant you the proper easement you will need.2. confirm from the city or county that you can access the property from this new easement..despite common statements folks will make that no property can be landlocked.. and there are remedies this simply is not true.. properties can be landlocked... owners do it to themselves.. not common but it does happen.As for the old house.. sometimes if there is no lead or asbestos fire department will burn them down as an exercise.. ( sometimes)biggest issue in many markets now is the lead paint and Asbestos remediation during the demo.. some areas they don't car.

I could find some guys on CL to demo - save some money that way.   

I'm not doing any additions or demo, but will need to put in somewhere from $25-$60k of works (still waiting on the showing to get a better sense of budget). repairs will probably include renovating the hardwood, painting entire housing. redoing entire bathroom and a big portion of the kitchen, etc.

Demo started in the beginning a March and took around 75 days of renovation to completion (Longer than usual four our renovations but we had some contractor issues).

It's worth a Google search to check out some of the demo's and such. 

Finding deals in Charlotte these days isn't easy unless you're willing to do demo and remodel.

A few years back I helped my brother flip a house by going in making some design decisions and then completing work from demo to finish carpentry.

You can demo without a permit typically. 

Would it be a good idea to demo the house and build a Triplex on the Lot?