will you buy very old house

Question

Hi, I am looking to buy very old house more than 100 years old but it produce good rental income , is the good rental income is worth taking the risk to buy a very old house , please help me to decide?

Dennis M. · Answer

I have a duplex from 1870 is that old enough ? It Has been good to me so far . Only paid 22k and get 960$ a month from it so I’d say it’s working out

Pat L. · Answer

We have a number of them. One is a large blue stone & granite home built circa 1820 as a home for an Erie Canal build/operate employee. After years of renting it as a duplex we paid it off then sold it for 2xinitial, holding the note @ 12%. Nice annuity!!! The new investor owner loves it & picked up the rear lot (66x100 with rear lane access) for $2,000 at the tax lie auction.

The one below was built in 1830 & it's supposedly haunted BUT the now long term tenants love it....the wall studs & floor joists are adzed Oak tree trunks.

Again we rented it until paid off & the current rental income is high & the contractor tenant does all the maintenance/restoration hoping to eventually buy it. It had 2 kitchens a huge living room, a pool table room, 5 bedroom & 4 baths.

They are interesting pieces of history that require some very unique knowledge to maintain, but people love them.

Jim K. · Answer

@Mohammad Alsolaiman

I own multiple older properties. I would not get involved in properties this old without making a major effort to become aware of their typical strengths and limitations versus more modern properties. I would not do this for a single investment -- this is a way of life for me.

Dan Barli · Answer

@Mohammad Alsolaiman if the numbers work for you I would recommend you do a full inspection of the property to ensure it’s condition. Just because a house is old doesn’t mean it’s in poor condition

Mohammad Alsolaiman · Answer

Thank you all sincerely for all the input.

Mike McCarthy · Answer

Know what you’re buying.

All my properties were built in the 1920/30’s. I go in knowing they will probably need electrical, plumbing, etc work unless they’ve been recently (within the last 20-30 years) renovated. I love the older houses because the structure and ‘bones’ are typically much better than newer propertirs.

But the same rule goes for new properties you buy. I have a friend who bought new construction, and 3 years later is now having problems with stucco and water infiltration. He unfortunately didn’t know what to look for in terms of potential ‘gotchas’.

Lynnette E. · Answer

I have 3 houses that are over 100 years old that are in the process of being fixed up to rent.  Look it over, especially for things like type of electrical wiring, heat-does is include all rooms, and old termite and dry rot damage.

Give great consideration to the design of the house that does not meet current safety standards and know if you are in a sue happy area or if you can put something in the lease noting these items and expect the people to behave.  For example one of my houses has the original banister, which is beautiful.   I will be putting a section in the lease about living in a historical house that states the house has historical features such as this banister and landing that has a gap of more than 3 inches between the posts, the current standard, and that a child could put his head through the spacing, and that the banister height is lower than is currently used for fall prevention.

Other things that are not historical such as putting in the GFI outlets by the sinks, I just do for the safety factor.

Just go in with the idea of what you will need to do.

will you buy very old house

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