110 years old duplex in Cleveland Ohio with CoC 10.5%

[Robert Flores]

I know the building is old but it has a nice CoC.

I am asking my realtor to get the maintenance/repair records to see what has been done in the past.

This will be an OOS investment and my first investment. My realtor was an investor too and he see's this investment as cash cow, but I am scared because the building is old.

Any advise how I can overcome my fears?

[Andrew C.]

I have a 104 YO rental duplex in the midwest (Milwaukee). They are extremely common in parts of the larger midwest cities. Definitely find a good inspector. But a few things to start with:

1) was it built as a duplex? many are, and they're designed to make access to things easy. Many of the SFH->duplex conversions on older holes are pretty wonky. I'd be extra skeptical of that.

2) check the foundation. Have the inspector check the foundation. Minor issues can be safely braced, and you should then check above ground and look at drainage. If major issues are found I'd walk.

3) check the circuit breaker panels. For starters...does it have them, or is it still fuses? If it has circuit breakers, then likely someone has replaced the knob and tube wiring with something more modern. Are they 60amp or 100? If 100, then electrical has been touched more recently (good).

4) it's probably galvanized plumbing...which works fine, until it doesn't. When that happens you may end up needing to replace decent chunks of it. Touching the super old galvanized pipes seems to cause them to leak in other places. OTOH, that may not be a huge deal. I'm about to replace the galvanized in the lower unit from the primary shutoff valve, all the way out to the lower level hookups, with homerun-style 3/4" pex setup, and it's not that big a deal. The plumbing is super accessible in my unit from the basement. Something to check on.

5) furnace or boiler? Boilers can last a super long time (there's not a lot going on in there), but are like 8k if you have to replace one.