97 year old house worth it or not?

[Christine Taylor]

Hello BP Investers,

I have a question concerning a property that was on the market last year. In my mind, without even seeing the inside; I was thinking this might be a good purchase. Already taking into account the age of the house, it would probably need new plumbing and electrical, basically a total remodel. However the asking price was only $78,000. It is a 5 br, 2 bath home located within walking distance of our local hospital. though it is predominately residential there are many different doctor's offices for various practices in the area. The property is zoned limited office. Permitted uses: Bed & Breakfast, Medical Office, Office in Home, and duplex & SFH. It has 2200 sq. ft. and is a two story house.

So those of you with more experience than I have what would you have done with this home if you found it on the market? 

[David Krulac]

I just sold a 1850 house that had new 200 amp service, new gas furnace, new gas hot water heater, new kitchen gutted to the studs, 2.5 baths, newly refinished hardwood floors and other updates.

From the outside it looked the same as it did before the rehab.

We've had other houses, one of which Civil War Soldiers marched by, and old is not necessarily bad.  You want to look at electrical, plumbing and heating to see what updates have been made.

Once I owned a 1926 house which had the original kitchen which was a wall hung sink with a drain surface on one side of the sink.  It also had a hoosier.

One thing that is of concern to me is handyman updates that are less than code standards, like 6 foot ceiling and other functional obsolescence, like walk through bedrooms, walk through bathrooms, all the bedrooms on the second floor and the only bath on the first floor.  Also look out for houses that were built before indoor plumbing.