Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

I would suggest paying a contractor for a couple hours of his time to come and walk through with you to give a ballpark unwritten estimate for repairs. 

The contract does say that if the bank can't guarantee a clear title I get refunded     But if something comes up  On my title search from years ago,  there will be a problem and I might have to walk away   

Thanks James I like the idea of walking in with branding in mind.

My opinions of this place after I walked it this weekend is still its good for a tear down and new construction.

I bought it with my brother 5 years ago and the first thing I did was make the walk out basement a separate living area(no permits).  

Is it worth investing the time and $$ to determine the extent of the damage or should I just walk away?

Depending on the owner's mortgage, they may even be able to walk away with $10k for relocation from their lender.I know a guy who is great at working these types of situations.

The point should be to get into contract so somebody else cannot "pinch" your deal.Example of the the gold medal: My 6 unit building, all 1/1's, within 10 min walk to a BART station. 

@Sylvia B.I will walk you through my understanding using the 2015 rules and assuming that this is the only activity you had in 2015.The mechanics of the computation are based on taxable income.