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.

If you can manage your cash with a $1,500 / month salary (I lived in the bay area on this salary for about 8 months and was still able to save a couple hundred per month) then you will be well suited when you start making six figures.To that note, you can only learn so much by cutting your expenses and learning delayed gratification.  

There is actually an old school investor here in Portland that owns hundreds of units that he built in the 1970s.

the training as an aside.. private money lenders are NOT looking for newbies generally and are not sitting at home waiting for a guru to call and say they have a new student.you can simply talk to your local HML which is who you would use anyway if you need capital.as for learning the business there are a myrid of ways to do that.you can go to e bay and buy any and all guru course and videos for pennies... spend a few hundred on those and sift through the information.there is just so much hype that people can go from not knowing anything about real estate to be financially independent in a few short months.. and folks simply don't know what they don't know this is a long game a very long game.. and depending on were your living and working it can be very very difficult without substantial cash already.. areas of the North east and mid west you can deal in SFR's like used cars because they sell for that. if your west coast based.. much tougher

Doesn't cost hundreds of thousands. 

While at the store you don't think much about spending $5 on a blind or $40 on an above toilet cabinet, but when you sit down and calculate everything, it kid of just hits you like a ton of bricks.I have never thought about buying out of state.

Currently working on listening to every BP podcast - from #1 on (only a few hundred to go).I grew up on Cape Cod, but I now live in Boston, MA.

Then you will have cut edges to conceal - toe kick of some sort below the cabinets, baseboards on walls.

I bought this cabinet for $40 from HoH.

If you have a good working relationship with an honest agent, use their expertise and save a few hundred dollars.