I usually find that musty smells are a symptom of moisture and mold/fungus, and the remedy is usually as simple as correcting ventilation. Musty smells in a house suggest mold has gotten out of hand and is now in the living spaces or air systems. In the floor at the very least. Again, crawl space ventilation can ameliorate this but complete mitigation could be difficult and expensive.

On the first face of it, this is a place I would avoid living in for long term health reasons.

I'm dealing with my own musty basement/crawlspace issues right now. You'd need to find out if there is water actually coming into the basement or if it is just a ventilation issue. If it's water, it could be a bigger problem than you'd want to deal with especially if there are also foundation issues.

Make sure there's no water coming in (whether leaking from pipes, coming up through the ground, down through the edges of the foundation, or through the foundation walls or window wells, etc), see if there is currently a mold issue, and decide if it's worth pursuing the property. If you're looking for an easy rental opportunity I would probably avoid this one.

Thanks, grubby and emoree. We'll going to check into the ventilation options and then decide if this house is worth the effort. Appreciate it!

Foam encapsuation of the subfloor works but it not cheap at around $2000 to do 1600 sq ft. You will still need to ventilate too.

I had a big problem last year with groundwater under my house.

Ventilation may not work in your location. In the winter time, it can cause some pipes to freeze and burst.

Foam may not be a good vapor barrier.

May be a $100 dehumidifier will eliminate the problem.

dcarch