I'm feeling better, and I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work out. My parent's have graciously offered to let us store everything in their pole barn and move in with them for as long as it takes. So, either way, at least we won't be homeless ;). Wouldn't that be a sight to see! A crazy lady with a sewing machine and her little white dog! LOL[/quote]
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That's the right attitude, if it's meant for you, it will come. The door sounds like she might have had a big dog and started a doggy door (perhaps taken by the ex?) and a dirty yard says that maybe the dog had been confined there. But landscaping will pay for itself in not to long a time (says a Landscape Architect's wife) You can clean it up and start with the basics, big trees and shrubs and a bunch of annuals. That will fill in the time you spend cleaning up the house.
But do have your inspector check out that basement. And talk to some of the neighbors about flooding in that area. Look at other houses in that area and check out fences and tree trunks for water lines. Ask the agent flat out if it floods in that area.
Have you checked with the local police department about how "nice" that area is? Do they get a lot of calls there? In my town there is a nice looking area that surprisingly has some of the town's most active police calls....