Buying a home can be treacherous. You rely upon many other people to guide you, but sometimes those folks fail you. Take care of yourself and do some of your own minimal investigation. If you are purchasing in Minneapolis or St. Paul, you can visit the websites for these cities and check on the inspection records for any home. You can also locate valuations over the past few years. Double check to make sure the home you are interested in is not on any City lists for vacant and unoccupied homes. In St. Paul, a home on that list cannot be legally sold unless you as the buyer agree to undertake all the work necessary to get it removed from the list; this is a City ordinance. Don’t rely, verify!