Smoke Damaged House

I'm still trying to find a place out in the country to live and came across this one about 30 minutes away, it apparently has had vandalism and smoke damage from someone who wasn't so clever starting a fire in the wood stove as you can see from the photo's.

My question to you is do you think this house is worth buying and repairing? I don't think water was involved as I see no fire damage, Vandalism and smoke yes.

The interior damage pics are in the link below

I can't find any reports from the fire dept so don't know if they were even called, since it was smoke not fire

https://www.redfin.com/OR/Glendale/270-Fir-Point-Ln-97442/home/26088653?riftinfo=ZXY9ZW1haWwmbD00NjM0NzgzNiZwPWxpc3RpbmdfdXBkYXRlc19yZWNvbW1lbmRhdGlvbnMmYT1jbGljayZzPXJlY29tbWVuZGF0aW9ucyZ0PXZpZXdfZGV0YWlscyZlbWFpbF9pZD00NjM0NzgzNl8xNzAzODAwNzU3XzYmbGlscl9zY29yZT0wLjY0ODM0NTU4OTYzNzc1NjMmbGlzdGluZ19pZD0xODA0OTM0ODMmcG9zaXRpb249MCZwcm9wZXJ0eV9pZD0yNjA4ODY1MyZ1cGRhdGVfdHlwZT0xJno9MA==

It looks like a generally neglected house and property which can be a good start if you're willing to start tackling the project.  Make sure a buying process had any financing contingency that you need and a very thorough home inspection so you can work the price a little and start with the top priorities for getting the place livable.

It can be very fulfilling to rehab a house if you have the time and desire for it!

Most of the other places I have looked at have plastic floor planks in many if not all the rooms, and I would be yanking those out, so working on a project like this wouldn't be that much different as long as the house isn't rotten in its structure. The house I have now will more than pay for this one so I will have cash for materials. I have some doors and windows as well.  I have enough stove pipe for 2 wood stoves. Later a RMH will replace those. The clean up from smoke is something I've never done but I guess it involves wiping things down over and over and using something organic for the smell it probably has. I'm thinking of driving down to see it tomorrow then decide if I want to contact the Realtor I have been working with to see it again and more thoroughly since I'm sure I can't get inside unless someone is there cleaning up. Want to sell my place without paying the ridiculous commission they think they earned.

Given what little I know about real estate prices in the area, I would go for it.  It looks as if sealer and paint will address much if the inside appearance.  I would take a close look at the condition if the roof.   If you can check out the rafters/trusses…. Especially near the chimney. You also need to check out plumbing and electric.  There looks like there is a good deal of work to be done …. But if there is not a lot of stuff that requires immediate attention then it is probably worth the trade offs.

Oh yes, check out building codes.

I drove down there got inside. The livingroom is impressive large and tall,  tongue and groove knotty pine on the upper walls and ceiling, lots of cabinet space, nice large clawfoot tub under a skylight, copper and brass water pipe, views of trees in every window, a great area to find mushrooms, a garage with a cement floor and a huge loft with the thickest plywood I have ever seen, that was on the walls and the loft floor, they must have gotten straight from the nearby plywood mill. The owners had t winterized so I couldn't check the well or the water system. It was dark in many areas I used a flashlight and found moisture on some of the insulation on the top floor. The stove pipe actually looked pretty good on the top floor, but I don't think the chimney is legal because the peak of the stack must be higher than the peak of the roof and as you can see it is not, and doesn't look healthy on the outside. When I looked at the stove I could see the stove itself was pushed away from being connected to the stove pipe. No smell whatsoever I though it would smell, well like a fire does, just soot on the ceiling and walls that I could remedy, seemed to be solid and the bottom floor is all cement slab that would need to be sealed. Nice big deck that will need TLC and complete rebuild for the railing. It looks like there used to be a covered porch in the back, now almost completely gone and the house is taking a beating from the weather on that side. In the front the now gone deck has morphed into the siding rotting along with areas of stud rotting, there are a few open holes. the dryer vent, a vent near the bottom of the wood stove you can only see outside, and where it has rotted all the way through. that upper add on, in the driveway, has mold and looks like its unstable. I would remove that and make a deck. All the metal roofing on the garage roof needs to be replaced, the roof leaks in many areas, there is trash appliances even car carcasses.  I can see that it has many broken windows, all the gutters will need to be replaced, the siding on parts of the house must be replaced as well as some of the lumber for eaves that have rot, the deck in the back is completely rotted. The door jambs have been broken through and the glass broken on the sliding glass doors. I approached the nearest neighbor and he wasn't exactly friendly. I think I'll skip this one, and want to thank you for your kind input.

Howdy,

If you go on a rainy day you may get a better look at whats up,  You also might be able to talk to some friendly neighbors or others, local store, Post Office, get some news about the place and area.

What really made me decide not to go forward with buying and repairing this place is where the house sits. The satellite photo showed it sitting partially on the adjacent property, but I know sometimes those property lines are not correct and its been there since 1975. When I checked it out there is about 10 feet to the fence line that narrows as it goes down to the garage. The wire fence has numerous NO TRESPASSING signs, telling me they were not very friendly. Besides being that close gives me less privacy, something I really want. The driveway is at least a quarter mile that needs gravel badly. I barely made it up to the house as it was. After speaking to the nearest neighbor and hearing his hostility really turned me off as I'm escaping a nut case I live next to now. I also saw a Yurt planted on the lower part of the property closer to the road in, just another problem to deal with. And I can hear the bells and toots from the mill several miles down hill as well as the traffic on the main road. I want to live in peace with total privacy. Otherwise I think I could have really immersed myself in this place. The house is solid and the basement floor was dry no must odor at all like most houses with basements and I would have used all that space for all my wood working tools. I'll keep looking…..

I think you dodged a Pandora's box of issues.

Good job on doing your due diligence.

I agree  

As I have mentioned in other threads, neighbors, for me, are a critical concern.