Pro tip: that $9,000 "fully restored" Victorian in Ohio is hiding a $40k roof, here is the number that tipped me off
I pulled the county auditor records on a cute 1890s place in Lima, Ohio listed at $9,000 and the assessor had the roof condition marked "poor" with a note from 2019. That same record showed the last permitted work on the house was a water heater swap back in 2011, so basically nothing has been touched up top for over a decade. A local roofer I called quoted me $38,000 to $44,000 for a full tear off on a house that size, which is four times the list price. I walked away, and honestly I think most of these ultra cheap listings should come with a required line in the description showing the last big ticket repair and what it cost. Has anyone here actually pulled auditor records and found a detail like this that saved them from a money pit?