Closed up building--what should I check for?

[Guest guest]

Experts: I'm looking at a beautifully restored house. It has sat on the market

since August, partly because it's a bad market and partly because it is too

small for a family.

The house had moisture issues. It was torn down to the studs. Some of the

rafters and sheathing were left. They have the black stains indicative of

moisture--but so do a ton of houses in the upper Midwest. However, the

restoration was done by a period restoration company in the neighborhood, not by

an investment company a hundred miles away.

My question is whether this house should be avoided because it has been closed

up. If that doesn't automatically mean I should not consider it, what should I

look out for? What temperature and humidity level would the house had to have

been kept at to reduce condensation and other moisture issues? What questions

should I ask? Any other advice? I'm a little concerned because, for show

purposes, a downspout and gitter extensions were removed and we've had

freeze/thaw cycles. Oh--also, the house has a basement but the back door

entrance does not--stucco goes all the way to the soil. Is that a potential

problem?

My family would be helping to buy this, so I am keen not to make another real

estate mistake.

Thanks,

AN

[Guest guest]

Experts: I'm looking at a beautifully restored house. It has sat on the market

since August, partly because it's a bad market and partly because it is too

small for a family.

The house had moisture issues. It was torn down to the studs. Some of the

rafters and sheathing were left. They have the black stains indicative of

moisture--but so do a ton of houses in the upper Midwest. However, the

restoration was done by a period restoration company in the neighborhood, not by

an investment company a hundred miles away.

My question is whether this house should be avoided because it has been closed

up. If that doesn't automatically mean I should not consider it, what should I

look out for? What temperature and humidity level would the house had to have

been kept at to reduce condensation and other moisture issues? What questions

should I ask? Any other advice? I'm a little concerned because, for show

purposes, a downspout and gitter extensions were removed and we've had

freeze/thaw cycles. Oh--also, the house has a basement but the back door

entrance does not--stucco goes all the way to the soil. Is that a potential

problem?

My family would be helping to buy this, so I am keen not to make another real

estate mistake.

Thanks,

AN