House inspection reports, what do you do?

[Tybee]

Hi Rosa, our family that is out there is in Portland, downtown and one of the islands in Casco Bay. We have been looking near Bridgton, but we may need to go farther afield, so will look up in China/Winsor/to the coast area, although Mid-Coast really expensive for us.

[Teacher Terry]

We were in Portland in the fall and it was really beautiful. Although, the locals told us we were lucky the weather was warm and no rain or snow yet which they said was unusual.

[rosarugosa]

Portland area real estate has really gone up since we fell in love with the city in 1999. It's still more affordable than Boston, but certainly not cheap anymore.
The Bangor area is still a bargain, but that's pretty far away if your people are in the Portland area.

[Gardenarian]

Last year I bought a house (for use as a rental) that had significant foundation, dry rot, plumbing, and HVAC problems. The house was in a fantastic location and priced below market value.
My inspections came back with about $40,000 worth of work needed. My real estate agent and I negotiated the price down $30,000. I had all the work done myself (NOT by the owner.)

The result? I now own a house worth around $480,000 that, with repairs included, cost me $365,000. And I rent it out below market rate too, so everyone wins (I hope

Because I was paying cash and this is was an (empty) rental, I was not personally put out (having to live with contractors, no water/heat, etc. Or dealing with 2 mortgages.)

Where I live, barring some major disaster, property values are unlikely to ever decrease. In the downtown historical district I purchased, prices are increasing 12% per year.

So, it's complicated.

[Tybee]

Last year I bought a house (for use as a rental) that had significant foundation, dry rot, plumbing, and HVAC problems. The house was in a fantastic location and priced below market value.
My inspections came back with about $40,000 worth of work needed. My real estate agent and I negotiated the price down $30,000. I had all the work done myself (NOT by the owner.)

The result? I now own a house worth around $480,000 that, with repairs included, cost me $365,000. And I rent it out below market rate too, so everyone wins (I hope

Because I was paying cash and this is was an (empty) rental, I was not personally put out (having to live with contractors, no water/heat, etc. Or dealing with 2 mortgages.)

Where I live, barring some major disaster, property values are unlikely to ever decrease. In the downtown historical district I purchased, prices are increasing 12% per year.

So, it's complicated.

Exactly--the key to making this work is paying cash. we have to find something where we can pay cash, as we have done in the past.