Thoughts on Salem and historic MA properties in general

[Ian Maxwell]

Hi all, I'm fairly new to the forum and have never formally introduced myself. I'm Ian and I have spent the last six months or so educating myself on REI and reading through the forums. I have started to form my "team" and I'm ready to take action.

I'm currently living in the Boston suburbs and looking for a 2 or 3 family BRRRR/house hack within the 495 belt, preferably something close to the commuter rail. One area I'm particularly interested in is Salem. It's a lively place with some charm and a good location for me - close to the commuter rail and a good midpoint point between work and family in Maine.

I've heard the drawbacks - traffic, "one way in / one way out", public schools aren't great, Halloween is crazy, etc. I'm wondering if anyone here has lived and/or invested in Salem, and would be willing to share their thoughts on the town and/or the market.

I'm also curious if anyone has invested in a historic home that required reno, either in Salem or elsewhere. Does that significantly complicate renovation work? Any insight on what to expect from that process would be great. 

Thanks for reading and for your insight!

Ian

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Ian Maxwell  Many years ago, I lived nearby in Lynn and I had in-laws in Salem.

The Salem waterfront has a lot of charm.  Good restaurants, active night scene if you're into that sort of thing.

The downside of working with antiques are:

- Complications due to ancient design, construction and materials.  Many will be really solid, but I've been in some (and had one as a listing) where the wide pine flooring was so thin that it flexed as you walked across it.  

In the one I had listed (built in 1814), I had to convince the seller to empty the china cabinet, because every time we'd walk across the kitchen floor, the plates would all rattle!

Almost always, the depth and pitch of the stairs are so steep that they feel a lot more like a ladder than steps.  Families with small kids are very unlikely to buy these homes.

Of course, antiques definitely had knob & tube wiring at some point.  It might all be gone - or not.  And the plumbing needs a close look as it could be over 100 years old.  

Don't forget that there can also be asbestos insulation around pipes and furnaces too.  Many, if not most basements will have dirt floors too.

Another "quaint" feature is that homes from the 1600s and 1700s were commonly built right next to sidewalks.  There are plenty of those here in Plymouth where you step out the front door directly onto the sidewalk.  Not good for the "peace and tranquility" crowd (like me).  There is often literally not an inch of buffer, but back 400 years ago, I'll bet that was a "feature".

Antiques also tend to feature cedar posts in the basement.  These shrink a tiny few millimeters per decade.  But you add up enough decades and your floors are all out of level.

- Marketability.  Antiques appeal to a very limited sector of the buying public, making them harder to sell.  Decorating the home takes a lot of care if you want to maintain the antique character.  Elizabethan decor, which is where many head to, can be hard to distinguish from a funeral parlor.  Colonial decor is hard to find.  The buyer is doomed to many long walks through flea markets.

- The Hysterical (Historical) Commission. Many of these towns have little old ladies - with clipboards. They have been given power to dictate what you can do when you renovate. From the color of your doors and shutters to siding choices and in some cases, they even have to approve any changes to the layout of your floor plan. They can make the worst HOA look like a bunch of pansies.

I like to visit antiques to see how people lived when the Pilgrims landed here in 1620.  It's a nice history lesson and a reminder to be grateful for modern amenities.  But there is no way on God's green earth that I'd want to live in one.