I'd ask the folks in the Old Houses forum:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/oldhouse

I would Google "architectural salvage" and find a nearby business and contact them. If none nearby, still contact the closest one.

Cool, thanks. Good tip about the old house forum. Also curious how people have gotten the most value out of a wreck of a house? Did they ask a fire department to do a practice burn? Get lucky and someone thought they could save it? What ideas am I missing? Thanks!

I think most of the salvage done here is that they disassemble and take away what they want and don't charge anything or much for the demo. They don't pay for the salvage unless they are removing something exceptional like unusual fireplace surrounds or full room paneling, balusters and staircases.

Hmm. OK. Well there is chestnut trim and a staircase, old pretty radiators and wavy glass. Again, yes, it breaks everyone's heart.

Alternative in my area is to donate to a non-profit who disassemble the house and then take the tax write-off.

That's a good idea

I assume you are selling this property? Unless youve talked to a few real estate profesisonals in the area .... it may or may not be a teardown. What looks hopeless to the uninitiated may not be - if this is located in an area w/ any historic interest, tourism, a big demand sellers market kind of place - you may be able to sell as is quite easily. I live in an old 1800s/early 1900s n'hood that went thru a period of severe landlord neglect in the 50s/60s/70s - you wouldnt believe the prices they get for wrecks that are fixed up (some cases totally gutted) and then sold. We are close enough to Chicago/Minneapolis that old farmhouses get bought by people looking for weekend getaways. If you're in the way remote regions of Iowa or Nebraska though it may be a tougher sell.

There will be one power of attorney, so that's good - I'm helping my parents as I've had to take the house I'm in down to the studs. I've met with two contractors and they both think it's a tear down and it's not surprising. Anyone who looks at it can tell, unfortunately.

I will definitely meet with Realtors and see what they say but I want to be armed with as much information possible.

Look for a contractor who specializes in restorations. They are out there but you need to look for them. It would truly be a shame to tear the house down unless everything is caving in.

Everything is caving in. Truly caving in. Sill plate rotted. Studs rotted. And again - we are definitely not keeping the house or the lot. If the Realtor says there's a market for someone to save it, great. We won't touch it. We'd all prefer it, just keeping expectations realistic.

If there are other places to list it to appeal to old house buyers that local Realtors wouldn't know about, I'll try to make sure it's listed there.

If it's truly caving in - and that much rot makes it a 'tear it down before it collapses" house, have someone salvage what they can - the chestnut trim and staircase, and any hardware and lighting.

Then let the fire department burn it down for practice provided they clear out the shell of burned stuff.

Then sell the lot.

The OP has also started threads in other forums. This may deprive future readers of this thread from benefitting from help provided n those other forums.

For example: Old House

I think we'll all get over it, Salti.

Keep in mind that the salvage guys will offer pennies on the dollar. After all, they need to make a profit on it.

Not helpful.

The person who stumbles on this thread in the future will miss out on anything adding value in one of the other threads. Nothing to do with "we'll all get over it."

I didn't cop a tone nor an attitude, but simply postd a link that might help someone in the future. It is something commonly done in many forums and is a helpful thing to do. Actually, the person that posts the same topic in multiple forums does others a disservice.

Y'all have a good day.