What is DO NOT SEE ... any sign of water damage on the ceilings. That's good.

This would not need "gutting" as much as removing the poor materials from the 1960s ... the dropped acoustic ceilings, the carpet, etc.

If I had the 99K, I would

1 - have the roof checked

2 - clean and paint.

3 - live there a year while I drew up plans.

"Four railroad style bedrooms plus another full bath on 2nd floor. " What is this? Do they all have openings into eadh other.

One think keeiping it on the market is the BUTT UGLINESS of the interior. Most of the moldings look intact. wood fgloord can be refinished /// it's a gamble, but it the electric and plumbing aren't dangerous this coulf be really nice place.

What's to gut? It looks completely livable as well as large enough to do it room-by-room (have to have space to shuffle everything around!). Obviously I can't tell anything about the basic structure and systems, but it looks like it has been maintained. Just a bit iffy in terms of taste. It's totally worth investigating if it's where you want to be. (The '50s kitchen is not at all horrible!)

Gut job seriously? Theres nothing wrong with it that painting and removing carpet carpet and dropped ceiling wouldn't fix! I like the kitchen - its a good candidate for scrubbing down and painting some well chosen vintage-y colors - change cab hardware, light fixtures, etc.

Oh. Maybe gut job wasn't the right term. I wouldn't remove the walls or floors or moulding, etc. I love that stuff. But the paneling, carpeting, etc. need to be removed, plus, like people have mentioned, the systems are always a question.

I dont think it's un-liveable. Of course they didn't show the bathrooms! I'm trying to convince dh to take a look...

Go look. And bring a camera please. =D Everyone wants to know about the bathrooms!

Yes! I'm always terribly suspicious when they don't show the bathrooms or only show a closed shower curtain. :)

I'd buy it just for the porch!

I'd also worry what's underneath the dropped ceilings. Why did they drop the ceilings?

I'll take pics if I can convince dh to go!

I wouldn't worry about whats under the ceilings.....there was a fashion for installing them in the 70s to save energy. At worst the plasters fallen and theyd need to be drywalled or repaired - not a dealbreaker imho. Still it would be easy tolift up one of the tiles and peek in with a flashlight, if you really want to know. Similarly the paneling - that was the height of style in the 60s so very possibly it was not put in to hide anything and original plaster walls only need hole s patched.

Btw. Don't let a professional drywaller anywhere near authentic plaster walls. Their business model is to install drywall - that's how they make money and I certainly don't begrudge them that, but I do question any of them claiming to be any sort of authority on when plaster is too far gone to repair. Plaster and lathe IS the superior product and should be saved whenever , wherever possible.

Sorry OP - "gut job" conjured up all kinds of images ofmayhem and destruction in this readers mind - I know what you mean, though - there should be a term for stripping out all the gack - crappy old carpet, tile, dropped ceilings, wall paper, paneling, all the layers of ticky tacky crud that was added on - and taking the house back to its bare original state as much as possible. That was the approach I took with my house in similar condition with excellent results.

In short it looks like the kind of house that makes the best renovation project IMHO - still has most of its original features intact, but not too far gone or neglected.

Oh one more thought - I would see whats under that white paint. Without getting into the debate about painted wood vs non painted, it doesn't look like that great a paint job. Even if you don't strip it back to wood you might still want to work on it to get a really SMOOOOTHHH surface. And then can we see something besides white - generally creams, grays, beiges look better and more appropriate in a vintage house than stark modern white - take a look at historic palettes.

Aside from the kitchen and the fact that the pictures just look dirty, I think it looks to be in good shape.

Go to the open house and see how it feels- are the floors sunken? How is the condition of the cellar? How's the mortar look in the foundation (if it's not rubble)? If you can see any joists, look for signs of rot/splitting/holes where plumbing or electrical has been run. Bounce on the floors in each room- creaking is fine but noticeable give/sponginess/bounciness is not so good.

As the owner of a house built in 1855 (and someone who is currently renovating), these are the things that I would look for. Aesthetic issues can always be addressed later, but if you discover substantial structural work, not only does it cost money to repair but you may be forced to re-do more of the house than you thought (ie- if joists are rotten, it's difficult to fix that without ripping out the floors, and then if the walls are plaster they'll be kind of sensitive and may crumble when the floors are touched...)

None of is this to dissuade you! Just walk in with eyes open. I love the exterior of that house and would totally go to view it were it near me!

www.greenwoodframed.com

I would take that on. It looks beautiful! Love an old house with charm. And from the photos, not in terrible shape.

Our first house was "light" cosmetic repairs: remove paneling, fix plaster walls, rip out carpet (and nasty carpet adhesive), refinish hardwood floors... The house was sound, with good plumbing, heating, electrical systems and a good roof, windows and siding.

If you make an offer and it is accepted, the inspector will fill you in on the roof, electrical, siding, ect... Those details are NOT as easy to fix as wallpaper and carpet removal, in my opinion.

I agree with the above comment, restore the plaster, don't replace it with drywall! Same with the windows (but be lead safe with the kiddos around).

http://thecraftsmanblog.com/5-worst-mistakes-of-historic-homeowners-part-4-plaster/

I don't know the market, but $99k seems low for a house of that size. Because of that, be certain to do your due diligence. Have a thorough inspection done by a trustworthy inspector. Watch for big ticket repairs (roof, electrical, plumbing, foundation, water damage, mold, etc.). Otherwise, looks like a very doable project.

I'm definitely onboard with the advice of living with the space for a year before doing anything. Get used to the space, see how you use it, make some drawings, hit up Houzz for ideas, then jump in!

Its Victorian rather than Colonial and probably got painted white when the Colonial Revival style became the dominate fashion. Don't believe anything the realtor tells you; check the records at the building department.

The issues of greatest concern are the heating and electrical systems. The house would have had gas lighting when built and knob & tube wiring added later. That might have been modified in the 50's with even less safe metal sheathed cable or perhaps later with aluminum wiring. The heating system might have originally been gravity hot air air fueled with coal but I see pool located radiators that might have been added later and might be steam or hot water so it doesn't have central AC.

The need to remove plaster will be determined by the need to replace the wiring and where you might want to open up the tight floor plan like at the kitchen.

It looks plain now but with Victorian paint colors it could look fantastic.

Okay, thanks for all the input!

I am not going to look at it...drove past yesterday and I really don't like the area. The house is surrounded by lots of broken down looking neighboring houses

I guess we will never know about those bathrooms :(

That explains the price.

"I'd also worry what's underneath the dropped ceilings. Why did they drop the ceilings?"

Why? Because people had gawd-awful taste in the 1960s when it came to just about anything related to architecture. For some reason dropped ceilings were considered in vogue.

The good news is they just put in easy to remove acoustical tiles and not a full Sheetrock ceiling job. However, I would imagine the possibility of some cracked plaster up above. I'd also imagine there might be a possibility of some coved ceilings in the more "public" spaces of the house such as living room and dining rooms.

I can't believe how inexpensive that house is. The price would be triple, at least, where I live on a MUCH smaller lot.

I'll agree with the others though, the interior is horrendous. The colors, the materials, the furniture, everything! Waking up inside that house every morning would put me into a deep depression unless I had a plan for a full scale interior remodel (Note: not a gut job)

The inside of the house got beat up, down, and sideways by a 1950s and 1960s ugly stick! It can be saved though.

Even though you're not looking at that particular house, please don't be dissuaded by the comments posted by acadiafun1 . They obviously do not like old homes, so most every comment was a negative one.

I bought a 1916 Craftsman home 9 years ago. Yes, it needs work, but I don't care. My windows had most all lost the weights inside. No big deal, not hard to reconnect.

So what if the place needs some love?

"Old plaster on an old house that has settled is usually full of cracks
that may or may not break off in chunks." That's not necessarily so, and even if it is, it can be patched.

"These old houses are dusty. " Um...last time I checked, every house gets dusty.

"I suspect the windows are the old storm window type with many painted
shut. " Not sure what they mean by the "storm window type", but even if they are painted shut, take a stiff metal scraper & tap with a hammer...done. Problem solved.

"No AC . Looks like boiler heat so unless you add ducts and a new
furnace/AC expect to add window AC units." My place doesn't have AC either, but I also have a massive shade tree on the South West corner of my property that acts like an umbrella over the house in the summertime. Yes I use window units for a couple weeks at a time in the summer when it gets super muggy. It's a small price to pay.

One thing JDS mentioned rang SO true. Don't believe the realtor about much of anything. The flyer for mine stated it was built in the late 30's. A thorough deed search proved it was between 1914 & 1918, so I went middle of the road & say 1916.

You can do a deed search on any property. Any time. It's public information. I wish I'd have done it before I bought. I saw what the last guy paid & I'm betting I could have gotten him to drop the price even more!!