Buying a house at 23 is a big step. Buying one that is 100 years old and needs work is a bigger one. The creator behind @mamiejo822 shared a walkthrough of exactly that, describing herself as nervous but excited, with her dad offering advice along the way and her family planning to do the work themselves.
@mamiejo822
Start With The Neighbors
Before she showed any of the rooms, she explained a lesson from her dad: judge a house by the ones around it. She says her new street is quiet, lined with big old trees, with newly finished houses nearby and lots of families. That, she says, tells you it is a good spot. It is a useful reminder that a house is only half of a purchase, and the other half is the street.
Outside, she points out a solid walkway, an iron railing that needs polish, and perennials in the beds, including fire lilies and day lilies that she plans to split and share with her parents. There is a big porch, a beadboard porch ceiling that needs refinishing and some masonry work to be done. Her philosophy, she says, is that everything will be done by her and her family, and that they will focus on projects that add value.
Original Trim And Built Ins
Inside, the house still has its original doors and, to her delight, its original 100 year old mahogany trim. She says it is a once in a lifetime find to get a house with trim like that for the price. There is a working fireplace she wants to clean and may paint, a large walk in dining room, and original built in mahogany cabinets that still have their hardware. She says she may hunt online marketplaces for matching pieces and glass panes. The old windows do not function well, but she says they can be refinished.
The Kitchen And The Plans
The kitchen is where the nice floors stop, she says. It has 1940s details and a 1950s vent, and her plan is to remove a wall, repaint the cabinets and redo the counters. She would like to keep the built ins, though her parents suggest removing them. A former laundry nook, where an ironing board once lived, could become an eat in space leading to the backyard, and she is thinking about a small deck off the kitchen for entertaining. The house has two back doors, so she will keep the most functional one, probably the one in the kitchen.
Downstairs is an unfinished basement used for storage, where the washer and dryer sit and, she notes, the water heater burst. Upstairs, original hardwood runs through the bedrooms, including under the carpet in one that she plans to rip out. There is an attic access she could not open. The biggest project, she says, is an atrocious 1960s bathroom with a tiny toilet, ugly tile and a tile ceiling, which her dad can tackle since he has redone many bathrooms.
She also sees chances to reshape the layout: an overly long closet could be opened up to enlarge the bathroom, and a huge hallway closet that backs onto the kitchen could be taken to open up that room. Her dad’s view, she says, is that buyers want an airy, big, modern kitchen, so making the kitchen larger is the main project. She closes by saying the other rooms hardly need touching and invites everyone to follow along.
Why Her Dad’s Advice Holds Up
The advice to look at the houses around yours is classic for good reason. A house can be improved, but its surroundings cannot, and a neighborhood tends to set the ceiling for what a house will sell for. If the nearby homes are well kept, newly finished and full of families, improvements are more likely to hold their value. If they are neglected, even a beautiful renovation may be hard to recoup.
When you tour a street, walk it at different times of day. Notice traffic, noise, parking and how neighbors care for their yards. Look at what nearby houses sold for recently, and ask yourself whether the home you want would still make sense if you wanted to sell in a few years.
How To Approach A 100 Year Old House
Houses of that age reward careful buyers. Have the inspector look closely at the foundation, the roof, the wiring and the plumbing, since all of those may be original or partly updated. Old wiring and old galvanized pipes are two common concerns, and a burst water heater like the one she mentions is a reminder to check the age of appliances and systems.
Homes built before 1978 may contain lead paint, so test before sanding or scraping, and use proper protection. Keep an eye out for asbestos in older flooring and pipe wrap, and do not disturb suspect materials without testing.
Protecting What Makes It Special
Her excitement about the mahogany trim and built ins is a reminder that old houses often hold materials that are hard to find today. Before ripping anything out, think about whether it can be cleaned, repaired or refinished. Solid wood trim can often be stripped and restored far more affordably than replaced. Old windows can be repaired, weatherstripped and paired with storm windows to improve comfort without losing the original glass and frames.
When you remove or alter features, think about resale. Storage closets and built ins matter to many buyers, so it pays to weigh a larger kitchen against the loss of storage. Taking measurements and sketching layouts before demolition is much cheaper than changing your mind afterward.
Sequencing Your Projects
A sensible order for a house like hers is safety and systems first, then the projects that add the most value, then cosmetic updates. Fix water problems and anything structural, then address the kitchen and bathrooms, which tend to matter most to buyers. Paint, refinishing and decor can follow. Doing work in stages also spreads out the cost, which is especially helpful for a first time buyer.
Family help is a major advantage, and she is making the most of it, with her parents on hand and her dad ready to take on the bathroom. Even so, anything involving gas, major electrical work or structural changes should be handled by licensed professionals.
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