If electrical is the ancient knob and tube, it may or may not be in need of work in the future.The duplex I am living in now was built in 1880, but all plumbing and electrical had been updated in the last decade so those systems are as good as in a new build.

You'll find a lot of multis built in the late 1890s to the 1930s and those come with all the usual physical plant precautions - knob & tube, cedar pilings, ancient plumbing, etc.RPR is a good tool, but more than that, I'd be looking at Trulia's crime heat maps and MLS rental histories. 

The owners usually slam crappy tenants in and then claim the property is stable after 1 year etc. with minimal repairs and the expensive stuff to replace is ancient.

We have all kinds of proof of change in our planet, from underwater cities, to ancient tropical plants found in the ice on Antartica.

Replying to an ancient post.

Well I am an accountant that started with using Yardi Enterprise (discontinued and it is ancient software).

If I was older I would've kept running on 1031s so my heirs could inherit stepped-up.if your seller isn't ancient, SF is a way out that at least spreads the tax hit out nicely.

(If you go that route we have worked with a couple of good builders and can share the contact info) That said, there are other locations where you can get a 4-bedroom villa for less or a similar price point.For example, the Tulum National Archeological Park is a project that just got announced (Parque del Jaguar) is a federal park with 1,000 federal protected hectares (2471.05 acres) (just to give you an idea Central Park in NYC is only 843 acres), it will have jogging and bike trails with views to the Caribbean, ancient Mayan ruins, 7 new beach accesses, a pier for boats in front of the lighthouse of the park, plant nurseries, viewpoints, butterfly farms, and cenotes.

Didn't realize this thread was ancient.

I know some of the ancient houses might have many potential problems.