Well, the contractor was simply doing what was required for you.....even though he should have made it clear the tree roots might be damaged or at least he/you have the roots trimmed/treated professionally 

If you're talking about people living in the same home as you (not a duplex), then you have to treat it like having roommates.

I'd treat it similarly to if the house backed a really busy street or large overhead powerlines. 

So I don't treat auctions as a reliable source of deals.

In either case the root cause is often the lack of surface water management (gutters&downspouts, driveway pitch) and you always want to make sure you not only treat the symptoms, but eliminate the root cause.The other issues with brick foundations is that they are somewhat senstive to water and start to crumble on the inside as water wicks through leaving a crust ov minerals on the inside where it evaporates.

Can someone tell me their opinion and if this is a clear "Stay away" moment, or if its worth figuring out the cost of treating/removing it if so?

I would love if we could chat over a cup of coffee or a meal (my treat!)

You will hear horror stories about dealing with tenants, but if you set the relationship up right and try to treat people right then 99% of the time it really isn't that big of a deal.

@Sarah Lyon - for spouses, they can treat an inherited IRA as their own, which allows it to be rolled over into a SD IRA.

I have gotten banks to treat appraisals as "informational only" if I could prove the discrepancies should have been obvious to the appraiser.