Who wants to toss $600,000 at old homes on 25 foot wide lots ? I don’t. These present bad business opportunities, thus, basically mean terribly asymmetric bets for the builder. Even though renovated, and show as ‘new-ish’ inside, these bones are 110 years old. These are pre WW1 homes and were built using the resources and technology from that era. I’m surprised they survive as well as they do. These are ancient buildings for wood stick framed homes in a climate with extremely cold winters. Gremlins lurk for the next buyer undoubtedly. I’ve torn down homes 50 years newer than these, and those were nasty wrecks, but often the concrete was solid below the walls. The unknowable viability of these old homes means these are likely asymmetric bets for an end user as well (at nearly $600k), who may stretch his or her finances to buy them and end up heavily indebted with little cash in reserve for repairs, and none of the skills to fix systems that are 80 years older than their owners. Yet these are priced way higher than land value, indicating the homes are retaining considerable value as they age, and older renovation cost is added to today’s price. I’ve torn down homes and felt that raised the property value once the demo was complete. My only comment today is markets change. What will these be worth in another 20 years ? Can’t even guess at the future value or remaining lifespan of a pre WW1 structure.
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