I dont know the laws in NY, but here in San Diego,CA, we have a act called the Mills, its tax advantage on older classic home that qualify, you cant change the inside all you want but not the outside, so in Point Loma this area here there is a few so i bought a home with a partner not long ago it was a old classic home, asking price was $1,185,000 which we taught was high the house was ugly inside i mean ugly i wish i have pictures still and most people saw the historical designation and were turn off thinking they couldn't do anything but know i studied my Real estate california books so i dig into and took a risk and waited, for about 3 months the property was reduced to $1,050,000 or so, after multiple counter offers and lots of talking we got the property at $890,000. we put all this beautiful classic stuff into it about $350,000, so we were into it for $1,240,000 which people taught we were crazy but the house was perfect we were allowed to paint the exterior, its original 1901 color, and fix the yard and make a car port but not a garage, so after almost 7 months, we put it on the market and in about 35 days a buyer came and we got $1,800,000 which were very happy with. so yes there is possibilities
