Expenses in Minneapolis, MN

[Alex Moseman]

I am curious about understanding typical expenses in the twin cities region. I have been looking on the MLS and a lot of the houses I have been seeing are rather old, typically built between 1900 - 1920. Of course, the winters in Minneapolis aren't easy on houses, but I assume builders in this region are well aware of what it takes to build stable buildings for the environment. I was curious what are the common repairs needed on these types of houses? What are reasonable replacement durations for these items? Is there any recommendations on repair and Capex rates that people find useful in calculating rates based on the formidable weather?

[Todd Dexheimer]

Old houses like that come with all kinds of issues. The sewer and water lines from the street to the house may be old and needed to be replaced. A lot of the water lines are lead and should be replaced. 

Inside you have old plumbing systems, knob and tube electric, old boilers and radiators or gravity fed furnaces. Also structurally these houses are just not built as well, often using undersized beams, joists and rafters. They also can have poor insulation in the walls and attic. 

Not sure what you mean by replacement duration. For plumbing - if anything is cast iron waste or galvanized water line, they are beyond their life expectancy, same with knob and tube, gravity furnaces/boilers. For the beams, joist and rafters, you may have to support them in various ways. Foundations often need to be tuck pointed and grading around the house is typically needed.