The money pit?

[EarlyandLate]

I enjoy watching "This Old House" on PBS. But the whole time I am watching, my brain has a dollar meter whirring like those on gas pump. The numbers are usually flying by so fast they are just a blur. I wish they would tell the final cost of the projects on that show. I'll bet they are astronomical!

 

[sparky08]

No interior pics? Not a good sign.

 

[Fermion]

Looks like it is back to pending again, so they had a nibble.

 

[pacergal]

No interior pictures, but someone has a bid on it.
Lots of work needed, but it will be a beauty if restored well!

 

[calmloki]

Man, you gotta hit up the agent - let 'em know you're just a lookie-loo, but the no interior pics is just frustrating. Surely you've peered in the windows (assuming it's vacant)? Back in the bad old days during the RE crash I may have tested a window or two and crawled inside to do a self-guided tour - but I was looking at a lot of places and didn't need/want the agent pitch or to spend the time scheduling a meet if it didn't suit.

Amazing the difference location makes - drool your way through this cared for beauty:
https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2023/08/11/1897-queen-anne-in-osceola-ia-george-f-barber/

 

[Route246]

All I can say is, "Run!"

 

[Walt34]

Amazing the difference location makes - drool your way through this cared for beauty:
https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2023/08/11/1897-queen-anne-in-osceola-ia-george-f-barber/

On occasion I have reason to drive through Middletown, MD and many of the houses along the main street there look a lot like that house. Old architecture, but very well maintained and at least on the outside they look terrific. My only thought when I see them is "I'm sure glad I don't have to maintain that place!" But I seriously doubt many of those owners do much of their own maintenance. It is not a LCOL area.

 

[Fermion]

Amazing the difference location makes - drool your way through this cared for beauty:
https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2023/08/11/1897-queen-anne-in-osceola-ia-george-f-barber/

That house is amazing...I kind of want to buy it.

 

[W2R]

fixing up a new-to-you house without spending a fortune!

I enjoy watching "This Old House" on PBS. But the whole time I am watching, my brain has a dollar meter whirring like those on gas pump. The numbers are usually flying by so fast they are just a blur. I wish they would tell the final cost of the projects on that show. I'll bet they are astronomical!

+1

I'm a big fan of buying a house like this AFTER somebody else has fixed it up nicely. Then I don't have to do it, and also I won't be surprised at how much it will cost to fix it up.

My present house was about half fixed up when I bought it back in 2015. It really didn't need any cosmetic fixing up inside the house (to please me, anyway). It just needed outside work, such as tree/bush/jungle removal, lot re-grading, sodding with new grass, new concrete work outside, and so on.

That was a lot of work and expense, but I am SO glad that I didn't feel the need to have any interior work done such as a super-fashionable HGTV type kitchen or bathrooms. The only thing I had done on the house itself right away was just new outer door locks and deadbolts, and then the next year I had a new central A/C installed. The prior owner had remodeled at some point a few years back so everything else was functional and satisfactory.

 

[ls99]

All I can say is, "Run!"

Fast and far away.

 

[Koolau]

Several $grand just to trim back the trees. Once they get into the roof, the shingles are toast. Noticed the concrete w*rk (out front? out back?) looked rough. Several grand to replace. That chimney is charming - but I'd guess it needs the grout dug out and replaced. On it goes - and we're not even inside yet. YMMV

 

[Fermion]

Several $grand just to trim back the trees. Once they get into the roof, the shingles are toast. Noticed the concrete w*rk (out front? out back?) looked rough. Several grand to replace. That chimney is charming - but I'd guess it needs the grout dug out and replaced. On it goes - and we're not even inside yet. YMMV

I'm trying to wrap my head around who is buying it and what their plans are. Slumlord? I am not sure you could rent it out legally without fixing things.

They can't tear it down because of the historical thing, and even if they could, the lots here are not worth $200k. That lot is worth maybe $80k.

 

[USGrant1962]

On occasion I have reason to drive through Middletown, MD and many of the houses along the main street there look a lot like that house. Old architecture, but very well maintained and at least on the outside they look terrific. My only thought when I see them is "I'm sure glad I don't have to maintain that place!" But I seriously doubt many of those owners do much of their own maintenance. It is not a LCOL area.

Lol. We think the same thing when we walk by them.

I was told that the fancy old houses in Middletown and Braddock Heights were built a century ago by wealthy DC people as summer houses.

 

[calmloki]

That house is amazing...I kind of want to buy it.

Back in the eighties it was a tad rougher.

 

[DrRoy]

Several $grand just to trim back the trees.

That's what I saw first, w/o even getting to the house.

 

[freedomatlast]

Been there, done that with a house built in 1891. All free time was spent working on the house. Every job uncovered more work than originally planned. Sold it in 2020 at a nice profit, but won't be doing that again.

 

[folivier]

Back in the eighties it was a tad rougher.

Kinda reminds me of my frat house in the 70's. Beautiful old house we rented from a doctor who had a practice next door. I guess he thought being next door he could keep an eye on the place. Plumbing was horrible, took 20 minutes to fill a tub upstairs. Electric was just as bad, constantly popping the old screw in fuses. But man did we have some great parties in that place.
I always dreamed of having a house like that with the old mahogany woodwork.
But reality always set in. Now my architect son has an old house that he is working on. Always something but he and his DW love it and he enjoys the work. So far....

 

[Montclairbobbyb]

Been looking at an old 1910 historic home in a historic neighborhood that's described as a "Swiss-Craftsman style"... it's really gorgeous and I believe it has big upside potential to become a real showpiece. My wife and I toured it and loved many of the unique and gorgeous features of this beauty. I'm 65, retired and fairly handy, and would do a lot of.the work myself. It's the potentially big structural fixes it may (or may not) require that has scared us away... I suppose that's why you have to have a good inspector (and an engineer) to determine if the fixes required are reasonable.

... and yet the art-lover and wannabe craftsman in me keeps beckoning... So I know the feeling...

 

[skyking1]

my brother purchased a 1920 craftsman on a double lot, and we put in geothermal loops and then he made a garage addition. he kept to the appearance and because the garage is set back from the front of the house, the larger size of it worked out in perspective.

 

[Gumby]

My house was built in 1857. It has required a lot of work.

 

[Zen of Conscious Living]

I LOVE OLD HOUSES Also~!
What about if you could just buy it for Land Value and make it just a hobby to work on it slowly but surely? I would shoot for that. I live in Southern California and LOVE the Native American/ Pioneer times and I saw an old log cabin in Nor Cal (my sister lives there, I was raised there) that 90+ year old people lived in and died. It was 'AS IS" with all their stuff inside of it too that came with the house. There is even a Creek/Stream in the back where the Miwok Indians ground food in the rock indentations and the rocks are still there too. I loved it, I wanted it. Cash Buyer. It was in Shingle Springs (near Placerville) California. The Realtor was a real JERK and I do think he fanagled having a friend or some crooked shenanigan happen with it (great deal it was) so I lost it but I loved it. Look it up for fun~! The address is: 5121 Banbury Cross Road in Shingle Springs.
I'd sure like to shoot some bows and arrows at that dang Realtor and watch him run!

 

[Zen of Conscious Living]

On the Banbury Cross Road Log Cabin: HOMES.COM Still has pictures of it up on their site. I LOVED THIS PLACE AND WANTED IT Soooooo Bad!

 

[Koolau]

My house was built in 1857. It has required a lot of work.

We estimate half the Old Homestead was built just after the Civil War. The "Shed" addition, we estimate just after 1900. We have had to put a LOT of w*rk into it over the years - especially around 1980. We're still jacking up the floor every year.