Buying SF house with old boiler

[Uwe K.]

I am looking at a single family house as a potential flip. It has radiant heat with a boiler that's probably as old as the house (90-ish years) and as big as van. It has been converted to gas.
Although someone bought the house with that monster at some point, I think it will be a potential deterrent for a prospective buyer, and a new heating system is a nice selling point.

Has anybody dealt with that situation? What cost am I looking at for a new system? How about removal of the monster? Is there possibly any asbestos involved which creates more headaches?

As an alternative I was thinking of replacing it with a forced air system, though with 2 stories that may take up the whole rehab budget.
But just wondering if leaving the monster (and avoiding possibly high removal cost) and just adding a system in the basement and ducts through the floor, plus another in the attic and ducts through the ceiling would sound like a smart idea. I agree it will look weird to a buyer having that baby octopus still in there. But it would also allow me to just add central air without much fuss.