This house was built in 1898 and was not holding together very well, the front of the house had no framing or insulation.

My current home wouldnt pass the current code ( no house wrap , not enough insulation in the ceiling , walls now have to be 2 by 6 ,  dryer has to be 4 wire , not 3 wire , smoke detectors have to be hard wired ,  fire sprinklers)   I dont have to change a thing , if I did it would be a small fortune . 

The lot actually has a huge 1100 sq ft insulated garage in the back yard which is in addition to the attached two car garage in the front yard.

I can buy a 16x50 front porch model with upgraded features, including insulation, for about 18 K delivered and set it for about 2k, bringing my cost to around 20K.

You do not see this today... in any market that I am aware of .. new construction is not nearly as far over its ski tips as back then.Also there is this thought process that owning rentals insulates one from a down turn... this may be the case in already tight RE markets to some extent.. but rentals got hit very hard as well.

And with a town house you have a insulation on either side of you (other townhouse) and I don’t believe my tenant is getting killed with the oil bill.

Note: That I am temporarily stuck here on Saltspring Island - and I am therefore insulated & isolated from RE Investor clubs. 

This is a great way to go since it makes helps the cash flow and gives you an equity cushion which opens up options for alternate exit strategies (like sell at profit) and insulates you from downturns.Finally, my observation from doing this over the last 12 years is that we are in a highly cyclical market and sometimes buy-and-hold is not the best, or even a feasible strategy.

WE were insulated from this for 6 years as our average loan paid off in 94 days..  

The insulation in the attic was inadequate.