A question that I should have asked earlier today...do you have a signed/dated lease w/this landlord? If you do, what does the lease say about repairs to the apartment? That is where I would go first. If she's a non practicing lawyer, she should have put something in writing about the rent, what she expects of you as a renter, etc. Check that first.
Well, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't put not one dime on the place unless the papers are already drawn up which stipulates what she wants done in 2015/2016. The papers would need to be signed, dated and notarized long before I would put one dime of my hard earned money into the place.
Just fixing up the plumbing and lighting, would not raise the property value, but are you willing to open the can of worms with a plumber and electrician? What are you going to do if they come back with huge estimates that would require doing other work on the space you aren't renting? Are you willing to take that on?
When you email her, you'll never to be very specific, as Heather pointed out, and you may even want to recommend someone to do the work.
Brook, I would seriously consider thinking about moving if you don't see anything in writing. Yes, she's old and you know what, things can and will change in the next year or so. BTW, does she have family? I would also question her thinking that if she gifts the residence to her alma mater, she may not actually have any legal say in the matter once she gifts it. To me, it would make more sense to sell it to you now and then invest the money she receives from you. But, I think what she's doing is using the gifting as a "tax write" off and this is a good way to do it and she won't have to claim the money she would get from the sale. The house may have been worth quite a lot of money in it's early days, but if it's as run down as you say, it may not be worth that amount today and as I stated earlier, do you have the money to fix up this run down place? It may have more problems than you think and then you will be stuck with place that you can't sell later on.
You need to seriously think about this because all I'm seeing are dollar signs in my line of sight and you need to lock that checkbook up.
I'm sorry that I'm not more encouraging, but this sounds like a money pit and unless you've hit the lottery, I don't think you have the kind of money that will put this home back in it's glory days. Again, it's just my personal opinion.
Sit quietly, the answers will reveal themselves when you least expect them to. The past is gone, the present is a gift and you need to focus on today, allow the future to reveal itself when it is ready.
