Is it possible to buy an almost finished house as is and then complete it ourselves

What is the name of your state? NC

I have consulted an attny regarding the position of us as buyers of o house still under construction, with the contractor having placed a lien on the property.....

Here is my problem:
The attny suggested that we amend the contract to include compensation/negotiate lower sales price......but owner/realtor is likely not in a position to pay the lien (or he is contesting it). This is affecting our ability to obtain financing (VA loan and interest rate increase) Our contract says a rate no higher than 6%....well that is where the rate is as of today.........

Here is my question:
What are the options for us to be able to purchase the property in it's almost completed state...obviously for a lower price.....and then hire a contractor to complete the job......we have finances available for this......is it even possible to do with a lien on the property by the original contractor (which is not our responsibility to pay off)?

The realtor/owner is really in a mess legally, so I would think that he would welcome this idea....obviously he a few things to sort out first.

seniorjudge, I know you are wishing that we would just let this go....we have patiently waited 8 months for the house to be finished....and it almost got there until last week when this mess started. We really lose out by walking away.....so we are looking at all of our options before we do that.
Thanks for your input

Bottom line... you can't do ANYTHING with the lien in place. Negotiate purchase of this lien from the lienholder. Then, you can do anything you want... as you will now be the lien owner..... including negotiating its release in the purchase agreement.