Sounds like you got a nice one, don't forget some deck stain underneath, it's the ceiling of your patio.

There are a number of variables, such as soil type, compaction, and foundation type of the structure that have to be accounted for.

They never installed backing underneath and over time stress fractures develop.

(The seller did tell me that they ran the new sewer line underneath the house.)

Jonathan look up the taxes and divide by 12 to get monthly tax costs.Look for the HOA docs to see if there is an assessment and how much.Usually if you find a listing on MLS in that subdivision there will be some houses and it will list association dues monthly or yearly.For instance if taxes are 1,000 and HOA 1,500 then you have about 208.33 a month in costs.If you buy for 4,000 and hold for 2 years you have to get at least 9,000 in 2 years time to break even and even more with closing costs etc.That money will be dead not generating a return for you.You also need to know the soil sample and build ability of the lot.This will be a factor from who buys from you if they want to build a house.On the MLS you can see what developed lots are selling for.Is this lot developed and cleared with pipes sticking out of the ground or does it still have all the trees and uncleared and ungraded in it's natural state??

What is the soil like where you are (what area) and was this a backfill with what?

And there goes the mentality of the true belivers again, blame the President when he didn't protect Americans overseas.....well, let's put the other showe on, the last Republican President couldn't even protect thousands of Americans on our own soil!

concrete backer board is one way to go or you could use DITRA the orange membrane that goes underneath tile and is a great product.

Personally, I *hate* carpet in rentals... hate cleaning it, double hate replacing it-- so we get rid of it asap in all our units-- ceramic tile if the rents will support it, refinish hardwoods if they're hiding underneath old carpet, sometimes even laminate (not the cheapest stuff... doesn't hold up to water).

Ive fixed plumbing problems in my rental units from main drain clog, froze/busted pipes to broken mains inside and out root infiltration you name it. call roto rooter get a sewer camera inspection and find out whats wrong it may be a busted elbow this may be cheap to fix now if you have crushed main's some plumbing contractors offer a pipe bursting or pipe relining service and its done with hydraulics they don't even have to dig your soil up they inject a liner in your pipe with pressure guarantee 50 years also try rotorooter,com p.s i had this same exact problem sewage coming out under kitchen i ripped up the floor dug around the pipe then called my plumber to fix it cost me less than a thousand bucks