I was able to up the rent for this unit by $190 a month.November 2019, purchased a Victorian style triplex off market.

To this day, I regret changes we made to a 1865 Victorian home a few years ago.

Many of the properties I am considering in my area are older homes that have been converted to multifamily at some point in time (i.e. old victorians that are now up-down duplexes). 

I buy Victorian houses from REO. 

The house and neighborhood is Victorian -- the duplex is an American Foursquare style built in 1900.

. $120/sqft for Victorian Duplex in West Oakland.

A buddy bought a large victorian in a tourist area, she rents it 200 per night per bedroom great cashflow.

Remember, in these old houses, lumber was milled locally, in many cases on-site, and frequently by hand, so why would you invest effort to mill a support pier that will be unseen in the basement when it makes no difference to its function.As Brian indicated, houses were built experientially back in {pre}Victorian era and lumber was not graded as it is today - mind you, much of the lumber was of a far higher quality than what we harvest these days.The key thing to look at is whether these unmilled piers are set directly in the soil or if a footing (likely stone, but possibly concrete) was put underneath it.

I also like traditional design better, in fact I live in a Victorian.

So, I've always found my own niches, where I didn't have much competition: Major rehab of victorian homes, wholesaling of vacant lots to builders, buying rental property in a neighborhood that most investors don't want to deal with.