1st steps for rehab of 100 year old house
Pueblo, CO · Member since 2026 · 1 post · 0 votes
1st steps for rehab of 100 year old house
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Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1dPlan on replacing the entire electrical system, plumbing system, supply and waste (to the city connections and/or septic tank). Plan on new HVAC system(s). Plan on asbestos and lead abatement. Plan on roof tear off and full replace. Evaluate the foundation condition for stability and for any water intrusion issues which will need to be addressed from the exterior. Investigate structure for signs of weakness, out of level, and prior improper modifications (removal or damage to supporting structures, unpermitted additions). Verify property is not in a historical district.
Even if some of these elements have been "updated", it is highly likely that over that many years there have been illegal, unsafe, or just poor repairs or improvements made. If you are going to spend massive amounts to make the old girl beautiful again, don't make the mistake of ignoring the prior paragraph. You will be tearing out a lot of your "new" work if you don't bring the infrastructure up to current standards, and your maintenance costs will increase exponentially over time.
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- Specialist · I give advice - [email protected] - I focus on states where investing is profitable, reasonably safe & secure · Member since 2026 · 107 posts · 29 votes1d
Quote from @Stephanie Aguero:
I'm currently residing in the home that I inherited. The deed is officially in my name. I'm awaiting a decision on a HELOC loan so that I can begin the rehab to flip. This will be my first experience with real estate investing. If you have wisdom and like to answer semi-stupid questions from a total novice please comment below 🫢🤩😊
Congratulations!
A lot depends on what you goal for the property is.
Since you inherited the home, check with a qualified CPA and see if any taxes are due. Normally when an inheritance is set up properly there won't be much if any taxes, but you need to set the basis now for what the tax will be when you sell later.
The next question to decide is if you will live there or flip. There is a substantial difference in how profit is treated if you live there for a couple of years before you sell and/or if you sell at first possible opportunity.
- Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes1d
Plan on replacing the entire electrical system, plumbing system, supply and waste (to the city connections and/or septic tank). Plan on new HVAC system(s). Plan on asbestos and lead abatement. Plan on roof tear off and full replace. Evaluate the foundation condition for stability and for any water intrusion issues which will need to be addressed from the exterior. Investigate structure for signs of weakness, out of level, and prior improper modifications (removal or damage to supporting structures, unpermitted additions). Verify property is not in a historical district.
Even if some of these elements have been "updated", it is highly likely that over that many years there have been illegal, unsafe, or just poor repairs or improvements made. If you are going to spend massive amounts to make the old girl beautiful again, don't make the mistake of ignoring the prior paragraph. You will be tearing out a lot of your "new" work if you don't bring the infrastructure up to current standards, and your maintenance costs will increase exponentially over time.
- 15hAshish AcharyaBusiness MemberCPA, CFP®, PFS · FL · Member since 2017 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
Stephanie, congratulations on the property, and since this is your first project, I'd get the tax and project numbers organized before you start spending the HELOC.
Because you inherited the home, I'd first make sure you have the documentation needed to establish the property's tax basis. I wouldn't assume the previous owner's original purchase price is your basis. I'd keep the inheritance records and any valuation documentation with the project file.
I'd also track the HELOC draws and every rehab expense separately. With a 100 year old house, I'd build a healthy contingency into the budget because the electrical, plumbing, foundation, roof, HVAC, and other systems can uncover surprises once you open things up.
One other thing I'd think through before committing to the flip is how the personal use of the property fits into your eventual sale. You're living there now, but you're also planning a substantial rehab with the intention of selling, so I'd want the tax treatment reviewed before assuming what the eventual profit will look like.
I'd run the project based on your tax basis + total rehab and financing costs + holding costs + selling costs + a conservative resale value. Getting that picture right before you start can save you from making an expensive decision halfway through the project.
Feel free to DM me I’d be happy to send over a few resources that might be helpful.
INVESTOR FRIENDLY CPA®5240 Reviews - Homeowner · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2026 · 5 posts · 2 votes14h
Congratulations, Stephanie — and hello from up the road in Fort Collins! I'm a homeowner, not an investor, but I've lived through a major systems rehab on an older house, so a few practical lessons from the homeowner side:
Since you're living in the house during the work, plan the rehab in phases around one livable zone. We kept the kitchen and one bath functional while everything else was torn up, and it made the whole thing bearable. Dust barriers and a good shop vac are worth more than you'd think.
Before the HELOC money arrives, get 2–3 bids in writing for the big-ticket systems (roof, electrical, plumbing, foundation). The biggest lesson I learned dealing with contractors: never hand over a large deposit up front. A draw schedule tied to completed milestones protects you far better than paying half down and hoping.
Two things specific to a 100-year-old house: get lead paint and asbestos testing done before any demo starts. If either is present, abatement has to happen first, and it changes your budget and timeline. And take dated photos of everything before, during, and after — when it's time to sell, that documentation is gold.
No stupid questions here — asking them now is exactly what keeps a first project from going sideways. Good luck!
- 5hJosh HandlerPro MemberContractor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2026 · 72 posts · 82 votes
No stupid questions, and I'll give you the contractor's answer, which starts somewhere uncomfortable.
Before you spend a dollar, run the sell-it-as-is number.
You inherited the house, which means your basis almost certainly stepped up to its value at the date of death, so the gain you'd be taxed on if you sold tomorrow may be very small. Ask a CPA about your specific situation rather than taking my word for it. But run that number honestly, because on a hundred-year-old house a flip can take nine months and eat the HELOC in interest, and the as-is sale sometimes nets within a few thousand dollars of the flip with none of the risk. If the flip wins by a lot, great, go. If it wins by a little, you're taking on a year of stress for a number that one surprise erases. Nobody tells first-timers to check this and it's the single highest-value hour you can spend.
If you do go, here's the order of operations I'd use on a house that age.
Find out what the house IS before you decide what it will be. On pre-1940 stock the three things that determine whether this is a cosmetic project or a financial problem are: the sewer line, which you scope with a camera; the electrical, meaning what the service is and whether there's knob and tube still live in the walls; and whether water has been reaching framing anywhere, which you look for under every sink, behind toilets, around the water heater base, and at any ceiling stain. A few hundred dollars of looking now versus five figures of discovering later. Do this BEFORE you pick finishes, because what you find determines the budget and sometimes the plan.
Know that pre-1940 is the one era where STRUCTURE is routinely in play, not just systems. Everything built after about 1940 is a scheduled-replacement problem: roofs, panels, water heaters, things with known lifespans. Pre-1940 adds sill plates and band joists at the base of the walls, usually compromised under a bathroom or where a porch ties in. Also plaster and lath instead of drywall, which means every wall you open costs more to close than you'd expect. Budget for that.
On living in it while you work, which is the part that will actually hurt. Phase the work around keeping one functional bathroom and a usable kitchen zone at all times. Do not start the only bathroom and the kitchen in the same month. And be honest that living there slows everything down, because work stops when you need to sleep and the crew works around your life. A job that would take ten weeks empty routinely takes five months occupied, and on a HELOC that's real interest.
On the HELOC itself: it's a revolving line, so you pay interest on what you draw. Don't draw it all at once into a checking account. Draw against a schedule as items come due.
And when you talk to contractors, ask for a SCOPE, not a number. Anybody can give you a number. The one who writes down what he's actually going to do, line by line with what he's assuming about what's behind the walls, is the one telling you the truth. Then take that document to two other people and have them price the same list. That's when you find out what things really cost.
- 57mSimon W.Business MemberReal Estate Consultant · Lehigh Valley PA & New York City · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 673 votes
Before the HELOC funds, I'd open a separate account just for the rehab. Every draw goes in, every contractor and materials payment comes out, and nothing personal touches it. When you're living in the house while you work on it, it's really easy for groceries and a new couch to get mixed in with the electrical upgrade.
Most of what you spend won't get deducted as you go. It adds to your basis, which on an inherited house starts at the value when you inherited it, and it comes off when you sell. So if it was worth $210k then, you put $85k in, and you sell for $340k with $22k in selling costs, the gain is around $23k, not $130k. But only if you can show every piece of it.
Keep the receipts and HELOC draw statements together by month, sorted the way Richard laid out the work. Living there longer versus selling soon changes the tax side too, so clean records help either way.
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