Rust Belt Mansions (sale, housing, price, construction)

[windtimber]

I live in something akin to the 1st photo. (1) You have to love old houses. (2) You need to be able to do some of the necessary, routine maintenance yourself. (3) Helps to be conversant with trades and crafts so you know when a serviceman is trying to rip you off - or recommending an action that is abhorrent to good old houses!

Finally, you need a deep pocket for the heating bills!

[Rickers]

Anyone who thinks those places are a good deal at those prices is a moron or has tons of money to throw away. The taxes and maintenance cost would break any normal working person. Who the hell would want to live in the freaking degenerating rust belt anyway. There is a good reason those places are priced at those levels.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by rickers

Anyone who thinks those places are a good deal at those prices is a moron or has tons of money to throw away. The taxes and maintenance cost would break any normal working person. Who the hell would want to live in the freaking degenerating rust belt anyway. There is a good reason those places are priced at those levels.

Even if some of those places are located in the roughest section of some bombed out part of Detroit or Gary IN (which seems highly unlikley given the lovely landscaping and generous lot sizes) the cost to reproduce them is almost certainly many times greater than the asking prices.

I suspect some of these are in smaller towns than may have had a manufacturing base long ago. If those jobs are all gone and all that remains are tourists and lovely memories to enjoy when the weather is pleasant I suspect that SOME people will be happy to consider them. I personally know folks that drive long distances to work in a metro area but live in fringe areas with homes that look to be from similar era.

With some old mansions the actual effort to upgrade system to more efficient / modern physical plant is relatively easy, and mostly involves just a minor reduction in some interior space. Of course new technology is generally either "time saving" OR "low cost" -- rarely it is both. That said it is entirely POSSIBLE to do things that put the ongoing operation / maintenance BELOW that of newer houses on a comparable square foot basis -- once you commit to stone or brick mansion, or even a frame one that is painted in top notch materials the future out of pockets can be minimal.


Similarly the manner is which property taxes are determined is NOT uniform across the country -- in some areas there are major incentives given to those who preserve older homes. With the right mix of incentives and even tax credits the benefit to the owners of historic homes AND THE COMMUNITY that decides it is in their interest to have such things can be considerable. As I mentioned, some old towns that had manufacturing base now have tourism to support the area. Some have an influx of people because they have an attractive local college that attracts family oriented staff / faculty and a better quality of students that may settle in the area or at least come back to visit on a regular basis.

Anyone that dismisses property with out knowing the full story is missing alot...

[novahousehunter]

Some of those are gorgeous!

I don't think there's anything wrong with people buying those houses, but I think it's more of a hobby/lifestyle choice than just a house.

My parents are into historical restoration, into making sure all the fixtures and colors are historically accurate. They spend way more time and money on their houses than many, but it's what they love to do.

I on the other hand, am pretty indifferent to decorating, either historical or current, so I just live with my 1982 original kitchen and baths. I don't want to spend my afternoon arguing over whether these really expensive old faucets were really available in 1790 or are more of an 1830s look, any more than I want to spend 50K to replace my miles o' laminate.

But for those who do, more power to them!

[ylisa7]

Thanks for the info. Not my taste because they look too big, drafty, spooky, and old. I really don't like old even though I can appreciate the workmanship.

[Anigirli]

Those Victorian Mansions are so pretty, they sure don't make them like that anymore! When I see those houses I see the dying craftmanship that went into building them.

[beachmouse]

You can also find a lot of those kinds of homes in dying small towns in the rural Deep South.

[Rickers]

If they are such a good deal why are they just sitting there for sale even at those prices ?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by rickers

If they are such a good deal why are they just sitting there for sale even at those prices ?

...the shear lack of BUYERS is huge problem. You may recall that a little over a year ago there were a whole series of extraordinary measures taken that were tied to the failure of Mortgage Backed Securities. During the Presidential Election the coverage of this crisis grew disproportionately. A range of pundits and "new media" bloggers fanned the flames of hysteria and real estate transactions ground to a halt with prices falling off a cliff in many markets. The fact that this disease effected not just tract homes or entry level homes but homes of every type and every price goes a long way to explaining why the mansions appear to be bargain priced. Now it may very well be that if the photos shown were taken with a wider angle lens (or the locations given) it could turn out that these are all in areas that are so de-populated that there is no chance than anyone could ever live in them, however it is specualtion either way...

[ex-burgher]

Take a look at this one in Pittsburgh for only 250,000 in a neighborhood (Highland Park) full of houses like this.

910 N Negley Avenue , Highland Prk, PA 15206 (MLS# 783259) - Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services - PittsburghMoves.com