Suggested the entire basement showed signs of water issues because of some rust at the bottom of a steel column.

Literally bottom-up?

When hobby landlords choose to subsidise a tenants rent it begins a race to the bottom. 

Since that time, the market bottomed and then has been climbing for the past 5 years.  

Gonz, I am going down that path, but my concerns are that I purchase a 200k house that is only worth 100k or I pick up a rehab only to not sell it because the bottom falls out. 

Homes at the bottom of a valley may have water drainage problems, while those on a steep slope may have foundation issues if the ground moves.Year Built: I avoid homes older than 50-60 years, so if it was built before 1950, I will likely skip over it.

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what happened.

The drywall has been but out form the bottom in most rooms but there is no mold and I was told by a neighbor that it has only flooded once in the past few years.

I realize that the safety of a human being trumps my mortgage payment/bottom line - but am I allowed to ask for a copy of a police report?

This home has some kind of rock stone siding at the bottom part of it .