im going to meet with a homeowner who’s 2nd house caught fire and suffered a decent amount of damage. I have no been inside the place, but from the outside all the windows are boarded up, the roof looks like it hole was burned right through about 5 ft wide, and the side of the house has some black buildup as well. oh yeah, there was no fire insurance on the home.
as i understand it, the homeowner is contemplating whether he wants to sell it, or rehab and sell. this information was acquired from my aunt (a realtor) who was asked what the home was worth. she has yet to get back to them, but i asked her to inform them you know someone is interested. it doesn’t seem this person is highly motivated, but who knows maybe i can get a good deal out of this.
besides just meeting with the homeowner and feeling his situation out, what are some steps i should take? besides noting the damage, i’m not a contractor…i’m not to sure of the cost of repairs (i could be $20k off for all i know). what are some other things i should take note of since this is a fire damaged house and not one that has been vandalized or just not upkept.
Before even looking at it you know you have at least these expenses: the roof, sheetrocking and painting entire house, replacing carpet/flooring, any other related fire/water damage, possible structure damage, etc. I’d offer the value of the land and that’s about it. 8)
Follow the advice. From what I understand and a friend told me-he bought a house that had been in a fire its terribly hard to remove the smell of a house that has been in a fire. My friend had to tear it down. The smell remained although they tried sheetrock, venting it out etc.
An investor friend of mine purchased a property which had been in a fire. Not a total destruction, but enough to damage to the kitchen. he had one of those professional companies like Servpro come in. It smells better, but you can still get an odor every once in a while.
I can tell you from experience that french fries catch most houses on fire. That is how I found out that fire can run through interior members and cause damage to parts of the house that show no visible fire damage. It can cost a lot.