I assured her it was discharged but then realized that I had better end the conversation before I open up a can worms I have trouble closing.

I know I can visit them to find out their fees, etc., but that seems terribly inefficient.

Use the same one every time and I assure you it will get much smoother with every transaction.

You can move much faster that way than writing things down IMO.And if you visit REO properties that have no electricity turned on, a flashlight is a MUST.And a spare set of batteries for all of your electronics; having a dead battery at a site visit is terribly inconvenient.

in winter the snow can reveal it with the lack of footprints and tire tracks if no one has visited the property in a few days, but you can likely determine if it was a mailman.

Visit your city websight to learn of growth and future plans.Realtors will give you recent closed price by the foot comps.Dane

Without more investigation, nobody is going to be able to tell you if this is a symptom of a serious problem, or if it's routine settling that is presenting a purely cosmetic issue.While you can take the safe approach and run away (like some others are suggesting), keep in mind that by doing so, you're giving other investors (like me :) an opportunity to swoop in and grab a great deal because we're willing to spend a couple hundred bucks on an engineer and then potentially negotiate the price down far below market value, even if the underlying issue isn't severe.If spending a little time and money is something you're willing to do in order to potentially get a great deal, then I'd recommend finding a good structural engineer and having him visit the property and make an assessment.

In fact, $1000 - $1800 would probably be a very conservative estimate.But if it's just a chunk of land in the middle of nowhere, and tourists don't have a lot of reason to visit that particular "middle of nowhere," I think even $1000 would be better than you could hope for.

I assure you they are fully aware of the rental process.  

They are in their mid twenties so I trust them as adults and haven't smelled anything during my visits.