Q: I bought a cute little waterfront cabin a couple of years ago and can’t believe how much money I’ve had to put into it.

No one told me about these problems even though I used a real estate agent. I knew it was sort of a fixer when I bought it but

I‘ve put almost $100,000 into it and none of that was to remodel or up date the house itself.

First, there were septic problems and I had to jump through a lot of hoops with the County to get that fixed, then I had to fix a leaking foundation, and then it needed a new roof. I had an inspection but none of this was really clear. Do I have a case against the real estate agent?

A: First, only an attorney can tell you if you have a case. What I can share with you is that legally, agents aren’t responsible for problems that they can’t see or have no personal knowledge of. A few of us go well beyond the law and investigate potential problems but we are not required to by law.

Since you had an inspection I would recommend that you go back and take a real hard look at that. Other than the septic, which is not included in a home inspection, the other issues should have been noticed by a competent inspector. Perhaps, in your eagerness to get the property, you didn’t give the inspection much serious thought.

Almost all of our waterfront cabins and cottages were built early in the 20th century with the thought of being temporary vacation getaways. Most are poorly built and have had little maintenance. I generally tell people that they are buying the land and a potential remodel permit. None of these homes could be built today with the restrictions we have.

You should consult with a good real estate attorney who can go over your contract and paperwork to see if there was culpability on the part of the agent or the inspector, but I would guess there was not.