Ran into that a couple of times and different cities have a different take on the term ‘condemned’. One city (Wyandotte) uses the condemned tags only if the house is absolutely positively slated for demolition for whatever reason. Another city’s engineer told me that it meant that the house, in it’s current condition, was unfit for human habitation until certain conditions were met (in that particular case it meant that half of the downstairs floor was missing and would need to be replaced along with the wiring, the bathrooms and a roof).
I’ve learned to simply ask the engineering department or the building inspector’s office whether there is any chance the house could be salvable and whether the city will let you do it. Be prepared to find some local politics in play here and there. Sometimes it’s condemned because it gets in the way of some politicians pet project
Found a property that has a red “condemned” tag stuck to the front door. How much of a problem is a condemned property. Are there any legal pitfalls associated with it being condemned. Do I have to do anything special?
I found the owner and left him a message. Assuming he sells the house to me for the right price, is my rehab investor going to balk because of the condemned status? I went through the home today. While it is full of junk, it is not in bad shape. The gas has been turned off but the electricity is still on. Any words of wisdom??
Keith’s right. Go to the city authority and they’ll have a list of things that need to be done to put the home in habitable condition. The reason it’s condemned is that they’ve tried to force the owner to make repairs and he won’t (or can’t) do it. You’ve probably got a very motivated seller.