Besides local real estate investing interests, I'm also looking to purchase a home as a primary residence in the area in in the next couple months, so definitely keep me on your list if you come across something that needs work and looks like a good deal, I've got skills with spreadsheets and a hammer!  

They are a tool of the trade, just like  a hammer is a tool to a construction worker, although a home costs more than a hammer.  

@Michael Hammer welcome to the site.Perhaps look into HML.

first, i think the quote was way over the top to jack up the floor, fix the pex and then pour in new concrete. but since you agreed, that's what you owe them. they had no idea that the tunnel was there and it's unfair to expect them to fill up the huge hole. now, if they did not replace the pex and did not pour new cement, that's their loss and i'd deduct. i'll pay them $500 if all they did was jack hammer the old stuff.

Their fear stems from getting hammered from others or feeling like their question is too stupid to ask.

Originally posted by @Lucas Hammer:100% agree with @Matthew Olszak.

An 80% deal is great for buy/hold investors but way too risky for my wheelhouse if I were planning to rehab, even if I were swinging the hammer myself.

@Lucas Hammer Probably not an issue with the cap, more likely its the flashing around the chimney or nothing to do with the chimney at all.

If you're most comfortable starting with a hammer, then start with a hammer.

After alerting my wife that we had just had an offer accepted on a house (thankfully she took this news well...she is amazing), the gravity of the situation started to weigh upon us.I had bought a home that was over 100 years old, had no electricity or heat on the 2nd or 3rd floor, needed completely new everything, and knew so little about being a handyman that I did not even own a cordless drill or a hammer.