Historic Homes: Beautiful Charm or Money Pit?

Falling in love with a historic home is easy. Living with one is where reality shows up.

We start with some studio catch-up, including Anthony’s new responsibility, Maple the dog, plus a very Austin moment: spotting a Jetsons-style autonomous flying taxi at a reggae festival. Then we get into what we really came to talk about: buying unique homes and historic houses, and why the “Instagram farmhouse” fantasy often crashes into closed-off kitchens, awkward room layouts, drafty original windows, and the constant question of how to make modern life fit inside an old floor plan.

From there, we talk Central Texas real estate strategy for buyers who want charm without paying peak Austin prices. We name the towns and pockets we’re watching, including Bastrop, Smithville, Lockhart, San Marcos, New Braunfels, and Temple, and we get honest about what makes each one appealing and what can make it complicated. We also dig into old house renovation costs that don’t photograph well: high energy bills, ongoing exterior maintenance, insurance problems on older homes, and the risks of outdated systems like knob and tube wiring.

We wrap with a story about the emotional pull of a Queen Anne Victorian and why even a realtor sometimes needs a realtor to spot moisture, cheap remodel choices, and pricing that doesn’t match the comps. Then we play “historic treasure or money pit” to stress-test common scenarios like unpermitted renovations, wells and septic, and foundation fixes.

If you’re considering a historic home in Texas, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend who loves old houses, and leave us a review with your biggest dealbreaker when you tour an older property.

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Transcript

Studio Catch Up And Maple

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome back to the house next door.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Where real estate meets reality.

SPEAKER_03 0:04

I'm Anthony Harris.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And I'm Barbara Julio. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_03 0:08

Second episode in the studio.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

It's our second episode in the studio. It's like it's not our second episode of the season. But yeah, I'm starting to. I know. I'm starting to feel professional. I was so nervous the the first I'm getting I'm less nervous, less than.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Now we just need a live audience.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Oh yeah. Yeah, that that that's our that is our next segue.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

We'll go to the comedian stage. They'll love us.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Oh gosh, no, they won't. I would never, never. Oh my gosh. People are mean. People are mean to comedians.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Oh, I know. Well, and comedians are mean to people too. Well then so the last episode we were making fun of lesbians. Now we're making fun of comedians.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

I'm not making fun of anyone. You are. I'm the problem. Yes, you are the problem. So I want to talk about Maple. Yes. So we gotta do a little catch-up. Anthony, our young Anthony, has a responsibility. Yeah. He's he's a kind of afraid of commitment, but he's committed to to Maple the Dog.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Yeah, Maple the Dog.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

So tell us about her.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

She is a one-year-old golden retriever mixed with maybe your German Shepherd. Oh, she's cute. Yes. She's very cute. I'm on like week one with her.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Yeah, and he has not posted any pictures on social media because he doesn't want to commit.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

Because I'm not a Gen X or Gen Z, what it I don't know. I'm old soul.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Gen X is me. Millennial is you're probably a millennial. Oh, I'm a millennial. But you might be a Gen Z, like an early Gen Z.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

I'm the last year. Oh, okay. Yeah. But yeah, so Maple has not made it to social media yet.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

You haven't, you haven't heart launched Maple.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

She got put on my story, but no text. She would love it though. We went to a coffee shop this last weekend and she she got all the pets.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

She did. Okay, where did she go? You went to a weird thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Yeah, we You went to a reggae festival? Oh, that was two

The Flying Taxi Cab Moment

SPEAKER_03 2:05

weeks ago, yeah. So we went to a reggae festival. Actually, uh that was the same week. Um went to a reggae festival, downtown Austin. Um and you know how the last episode you were talking about, your little robot incident. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

So how I almost ran over one. Because Broncos are not made for downtown.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

In Austin is very tech friendly, tech forward. So when we were down at our um at the reggae festival, they had these flying autonomous taxi cabs. What do you m what? They What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

They look like Jetsons? Yes, exactly. Exactly. Wait, you're exactly wait. It's a s like a spaceship. Wait, a spaceship? Yeah. It looks like- So many questions!

SPEAKER_03 2:43

It looks like a a drone that's enclosed with lots of propellers around it and it goes pho.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

You get in it?

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Yeah. There's no like steering, it does it all by itself.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Well you get in this bubble.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

And it goes up. It flies. It flies.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

And it's electric powered.

unknown 3:02

Oh!

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Battery-powered, so you better make sure it's charged.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

How high does it go?

SPEAKER_03 3:07

I don't know. They said that it can get you to work in 15 minutes or less.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

But like how high in the air? Are we like 10 feet or are we probably a thousand. Oh my god. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

So this is this is like an aircraft.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

They finally did the Jetsons. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Did you did you get in?

SPEAKER_03 3:26

No, no.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

How much is it?

SPEAKER_03 3:28

I don't know.

unknown 3:29

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I don't think that we can't.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

I don't know if they'll let me.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Could you use it from Smithville to get to downtown?

SPEAKER_03 3:34

It only has 15 minutes of battery left.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Oh no, you're not.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

How fast does it go? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

You're not sitting in traffic. Hopefully. You might hit a tree along the way.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I don't know where I've been, but I have not seen the flying saucer taxi. Okay. Very cool. Okay, so you saw that at the reggae festival.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

And I was not high. So I was not imagining it.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

I know, because I kind of don't trust that you're telling the truth. No. I kind of feel like you're lying to me. But okay. Well, should we get into our episode?

What Historic Homes Demand

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Okay. This is this is one that's very near and dear and close to my heart, as anybody who knows who knows me. Um, I love historic homes. So the this episode is kind of a little bit informative about historic homes. So it's called The Charm, The Chaos, The Cost, Buying Unique Homes, and Historic Homes. And so I, in particular, am always looking at historic properties for investment and also for my homestead. Um, so I'm constantly living in this world. And and I think there's a lot of people who kind of like follow that and feel that because they see this beautiful kind of romanticized version of historic and unique homes on Instagram, right? And you like follow me in my old house. And then, you know, we have all these great renovation shows where they take um, you know, the guy that used to be in the new kids on the block? What's his name? I can't think, like Joey John, whatever. I don't know. Joey John.

unknown 5:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Well, he lives in Boston, or not Boston, in Massachusetts, and he does farmhouses. Oh wow. And he's so cool. He lives on a farm, he and his husband, and he totally redoes all these historic homes. And so I follow, you know, of course I watch I've seen that. It's like farmhouse something. And um, and so you know, you get these beautiful, like kind of shows, and you think, I could do that. I want to live in a farmhouse. And then you call your realtor and you start looking at them and you go, Oh gosh, where do I put the TV? And I had some clients that were were like that. They they wanted this historic home, they had kids, and we were and they had a great budget, right? So they could get a nice historic home that's been renovated. And they're like, Well, where do we put the TV? Where do we do this? Why is the kitchen not open? And I said, Well, because it's a historic home. You know, we they didn't have you would never in a million years have your kitchen open to your guests in an old home. Yeah, that's not how people lived. You you kept all of that, oopsie, in the back, right? You kept it in the back. No, you would never want anyone to see your kitchen in your mess. I mean, people would think it was crazy back then to know that we entertain in our actual kitchens next door saints, right? Yeah. And so the houses were built up that way. And of course, you didn't have TV. You maybe had radio at one time, but so you didn't need to have these places for any of that stuff. So it's really hard to make you have to fit into the home. The home can't fit into you know, you've got to make a floor.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

It's really hard to make a floor plan different.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, and so a lot of people will, you know, get in there and see, okay, yeah, I like elements of this, but yeah, I'm never living here. I feel like I'm living in a dollhouse.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

That's me.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

That is you. That's how you feel.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

Like, I can appreciate the architecture, I can appreciate the time period, but I don't think I could live in one. Yeah, and you say they're so cold. Yeah, like so the memory that I have is one of my friends lived in one in Bathstrop, and we I stayed over at their house, and the next morning I woke up and I swear it was 25 degrees in that freaking house. And I was shivering and I was covered in blankets.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Because original windows and the AC wasn't or the heat, he wasn't kicking on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yep, it and it's like they're cool, but I couldn't live in one.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Well, I was standing in one, um, had shiplap wall. Oh, so cool. It was built in I think 1907, 1908, and it was uh kind of like a prairie farmhouse type, and it's in Bash Trop. And it had, it wasn't for sale, it was just on a historic tour, and it had shiplap all on the walls. And when you would stand next to the walls, you could just feel the air coming in, even though really thick walls, you could just feel the air coming through, and then of course, air leaking through all the windows. And my mom lives in a house that was built in 1914. Hers doesn't feel as drafty though. Oh, her her electricity bill, and so it's combined with her water bill, but it's uh over 700 a month. Crazy. Because her house just, even though it's big brick, solid, yeah, it's just a leaking energy, which she's fine with because it's very charming.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Put some solar panels on that roof.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

And to be fair, she's from San Luis Bispo, California, and so they keep it 60 like seven degrees, no matter what the whatever's going on outside. It's always 67, it's always coastal California temperatures in her house. So, and it's a big house. It's like 5,400 square feet. So, yeah. And so it's, you know, there's uh it it could be a very different reality when you live

Finding Deals Outside Austin

SPEAKER_00 8:51

in them. So I know there's all kinds of places in Austin where you can find, you know, we've got Rosedale, we've got Allendale, we've got Terrytown, we've got Clarksville, we have all those little pocket neighborhoods where you have Travis Heights, where you have old homes. And we know about those. I want to talk about where we find these old homes where there's still somewhat of a deal and um they're off the beaten path. So not Austin. We're gonna kind of venture outside of Austin and some of the best areas right now to find a historic home where you can still get value was obviously Bass Drop, but people are saying Bass Drop's too expensive, but it's not compared to here. Yeah, true. Not compared to Georgetown. Yeah, you know, so you have to keep it relative. Yeah, but Bash Strop, Smithville Smithville is really the deal right now. But the problem with Smithville is sellers won't too much money. No, no, I mean yes, that's always a yes, right? But the problem with Smithville is a lot of the homes are really small. Oh, you know, they're like 1,700 square feet, 1,600 square feet. So it's hard to get the ones, the ones that are really big, they're just not on the market. And um, and so you kind of you have to go in and kind of make that floor plan work. And a lot of people who are wanting to do that, they want, you know, at least 2,000 square feet. So that can be a little hard. Um, the other place, you know, of course, Lockhart, Lockhart's growing crazy, they have beautiful historic homes. People would argue that's getting expensive, but it's still less expensive.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

It has charm too.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

It does and barbecue. Yes, I was. I mean, that's where the barbecue wars are. Yeah, right there. And then um San Marcus, where you are.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

Yep, there's a few, and they're kind of good size. They're pretty big, the ones that we have.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

And price-wise, what's the average price for they don't ever go on the s on the market? They don't.

SPEAKER_03 10:42

No. Um San Marcus is generally more affordable though.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

It is, that's what I was thinking. So I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

Historic homes never go on the market there.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Well, and when I was looking for, well, I am currently looking historic, and I never see anything pop on. But when I go in down to San Marcus, they have these darling houses in this cute square. San Marcus has a really cute downtown square with great little restaurants. Um, so much charge. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. And then New Bromfels also has some options. Um, it's a little pricier in New Bromffels, just because you're starting to get next to green and all that good stuff. Yeah. Um, and then Temple. Yeah, Temple. Oh, Temple's a bargain.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

And it's affordable, yeah. Very affordable.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Temple is a bargain, but this is the deal about Temple. It's a bargain. So there's the Temple Historic District is amazing. It has big old trees, beautiful old houses that were built really during like the time of the railroad, bankers, lawyers, and railroad people, uh people, railroad execs or whatever tycoons. That's what they were called, tycoons. Um, built these beautiful stately homes in the historic district, right? And then the city kind of just grew around it. And so it's this great little pocket, and there's so much community there. They have, you know, little parades, and all of the people are really close and connected and look out for each other. And it's great little walkability around the neighborhood, and these homes are like gorgeous and big and untouched. Most of them are untouched.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Wow, so they're all original, yes, just update, like not.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, like the one I looked at, original tile from 1920s, original elevator from 1920s.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

Did you go in it?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

And oh, I put an offer in it. No, did you go in the elevator? No, but I put my stepson in it and sent him up. Did he step down? He was fine, he was fine. Um, had a basement, all the pools on like the kitchen was totally 1920s. I didn't want to change a thing in that house. Except that it did need a plumbing and it didn't.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Well, I was about to say, when you say all of that, all I hear is chiching.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Oh no, I love the charm. But um anyway, so that's a place where there's still a deal. Here's the drawback about that. Temple is still evolving, right? There's still there's there's a projects not too far from there. There's um a lot of crime that surrounds it in not so pretty, nice places, you know. Yeah. So you gotta kind of drive through some seedier parts to get to your home. And you know, for some people. Yeah, it's for some people, it's no big deal. Um, for me, I didn't care about that. But for other people, that can be kind of a deal breaker. And when is that area going to, you know, see the gentrification and all that kind of stuff? I don't know, maybe never. It you know, temple could stay the way it is. It's it's kind of, you know, there's nothing temple has some wonderful things about it, but it it doesn't have that same, you know, feel of Georgetown, yeah, or even Belton, you know, the cutesy it's not polished, you know, sort of uh Southern Living Magazine vibe, right? It just doesn't have that. Um, but some amazing freaking deals. Like we're talking good deals under 500,000 for some of these big big mansion type homes. Um yeah, I looked at one that was over 6,000 square feet. It was it needed a lot, but it was I heard. And that one is called the Bashir House, and the family who owned it were big wild game hunters, and they would bring giraffe like I don't know if it was a giraffe, but like not giraffe. They did kill they did kill a giraffe, but they Where did they find a giraffe? Well they go to Africa.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

And then they would butcher a lot of the like they would like what do you call it? Render, I don't know. They you know how you cut your animal up, butcher, I guess. Okay, whatever. They would do that in the basement. Yeah. And so I went to the basement, it was this tiny little stone staircase down. You could feel the dead animal vibe.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Nope.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

It was awful.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

And see, that's another reason.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Even if there if there was a tornado, I'd be like, I'm going up the tornado.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

I'll go with Dorothy.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Yeah, I'm going up the funnel. I'm not going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

That's my other problem with historic homes, is I feel like they're creepy?

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yeah, some of them.

SPEAKER_03 15:01

Well, they can be. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

The one that I for the 1920s one that I loved, it definitely had a vibe.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

Is that the one that we went to?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

No, you didn't see this one. Um, this one had a vibe. I'm pretty sure it was haunted, but I'll say this again, I've said it many times. I will put up with a good haunting for original tile from 1920s. Just gonna put that out there. We are sharing that home with Satan.

Energy Bills And Insurance Roadblocks

SPEAKER_00 15:28

So here's a couple of other things that we're kind of touching on them, but uh like hidden costs of there's a lot. There's a lot. Okay, so one we talked about energy costs, right? They kind of bleed energy, and you can do as much as you can to like my mom has spray foam under her foundation, and it still is high electricity bills. Yeah. And insurance, okay, that's something that you don't think about. You almost can't get these houses insured. Yeah. So my mom cannot get her house insured. Yeah, she has like very basic insurance because when the insurance adjuster came down, they were like, Well, this is a liability, and this is a liability. And that she has this old coal uh burning stove downstairs in her house. It's a borrow, it's a broiler. And it's just been renovated and restored, but not uh connected, right? It's not even connected to anything, but it's how the house was warm, like heated back in the day. And so it's she said that that was a liability, even though because they are liabilities, they're like bombs when they're actually functioning and working. But we're in 2026. Yeah, I mean they there's an HVAC, there's like it's not working, and she that right there made it so she couldn't get insurance. So that your insurance, if you can get it, is gonna be extremely, extremely high.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Which doesn't make sense because statistically, that house has been through more storms, more fires, more, you know, it's 200 years old.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Exactly. Like, exactly. And it so when if you do a brick house versus a wood house, wood house, you're gonna have constant maintenance with you just you know paint and replacing pieces and wood rot. And so you see these beautiful Victorian wooden homes, and you really need to have your painter and your carpenter on speed dial because they're gonna be coming like once every three months to you know just update stuff. So, but for you know, the right house to be a steward uh of these houses and live them in them and feel the history, it's totally our responsibility to take care of them and keep them going and keep their stories going.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

And there's grants out there um with the historic societies if you buy one to help bring it back to original condition and rehab them.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah, absolutely. And my my perspective on buying a historic home and how I see it, my husband grew up in an old home in Long Island, is we're there to make sure nobody modernizes it. And we're there to protect it. We're there to be the next family for it. And we don't care if our TV doesn't fit and all that kind of stuff, but we need at least 2,000 square feet. And we want it to be under a million dollars. So there's preferred. There we are. Um and then one of the other things that I wanted

Historic Versus Just Old

SPEAKER_00 18:15

to talk about is looking at historic homes, what makes a home historic versus just old? Because this is a problem too. Yeah. That was around.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Because and this is where we get our bad renovations, right? And you walk into this beautiful old historic house, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. Look at this millwork, it's from 1940. You've got these retro um art deco curves. It's just like so, oh, it's like so amazing. It just makes me excited. Then I walk in to the kitchen that had a 1990s renovation with fluorescent lighting, and then they paint it over all the rest of the mill work and the hardware and the door hinges, and now a house just kind of becomes old. Yeah, and it loses that historic charm. Don't you agree?

SPEAKER_03 19:03

I do.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah. And so, and they put those jetted bathtubs in, they pull out the flaw foot tub, put a jetted bathtub in from 1980, and you walk, and I looked at one and I was like, I love this home. It's beautiful. It was built in 1900, and they slapped white paint all over all the beautiful woodwork, just kills it. And they put stainless steel, shiny fixtures in with fluorescent bulbs, modernized everything, and I'm like, this is this is a white box. Yeah, it's not historic. It's an old house made into a white box, which is really depressing. And okay, so let's talk about my house that I love.

The Victorian That Broke Logic

SPEAKER_00 19:44

Yeah, let's talk about so this is this is the emotional buyer uh situation that happens with uh looking at historic homes where you you don't worry about the cost of how much it is to maintain it, you don't worry about the cost of it is to buy because it's such a niche buyer for a historic home. You're almost always overpaying, right? You're just overpaying because it is you are buying a piece of history. So I fell in love with this house. I have been watching it for a year. When I I could have bought it before I bought mine.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

You know everything about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

I know everything about it. Um, it's 1402 Church Street and Bass Strop. And I absolutely adore it. It was listed way too high when I was looking, and I just decided to like pass on it. But yeah, see, look, oh, there she is. Oh, she's so pretty up there. And yeah, she's it's a Victorian, a Queen Anne Victorian, lots of woodwork, lots of maintenance. You walk in, like when I stood on that second balcony, oh yeah, my mom was with me and I said, precious sponsor.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

And it literally went up to my knee, the balcony.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

I know, you drilling you cannot have mint julips on that because you will fall off.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

But if you want to get rid of someone, but that's at your own risk. That's remember, it's true crime now. It's true crime at the Victoria House at the Victorian.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

And there's like brocade on the walls in the family, the cartwrights who lived there before, she was a seamstress, so she put all of that brocade on the wall. It's beautiful. I wouldn't touch it. And you have hinges that are, you know, these metal, ornate hinges, and then the door catches, you know, that are all metal and ornate, all solid wood doors, pocket doors that are functioning. And this house they're heavy.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

They're heavy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Beautiful original windows that are on the poles that just go straight up, but the electrical's been updated, the plumbing's been updated. That baby's got four AC AC units. And you know, they did update some things that I feel like I would go back in and I would restore back to its original form. But this house has it all. And so I walk in and I'm like, I don't care. Like, that's the emotional thing. Is I don't care at all. I'm gonna figure out. How I I just bought a house. I'm probably not gonna be able to turn around and sell my house. That's fine. We'll work through that. I just I have got to sell what I will get on OnlyFans and like sell my child because no one wants to see me, but they might want to see him. He's 23, by the way, and he's kind of he's kind of a a hoe, so that would work for them, you know. I want I want this house. That's how much I'm willing to do for this house. We're talking about the emotional pull that these houses have on us. They just they supersede logic. And so this is why you need a realtor to go through this home with you. Because I called Anthony and I said, Okay, I'm losing my mind. Please come and make sure that you know, be my realtor. Because sometimes a realtor needs a realtor. And this is how important realtors are. Like we will help see the home with different eyes. When we're looking at it for ourselves and we're in love, we don't see anything, and we'll sell our children. So Anthony was my realtor. Yeah. And you I pointed out the flaws. Oh my gosh, you saved me. You saved my marriage, you saved my son, you saved me. And so talk about what you you did for me, how you went through the house as a realtor for me.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

So we we walked up and we went through the front door, and you know, we I appreciate the like the light post at the when you first walk in on the staircase. Um, but then when we got upstairs, I saw some moisture probably behind the wallpaper.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

I didn't see that when I went through. I didn't see the wallpaper that was crumbling off the walls. And also warping on the ceiling. Yeah. I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Nope. And then um And I should because I'm a realtor and I would have, but I was in love. And my personal opinion is the primary bathroom, they they ruined the whole house with it.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Well, I didn't pay attention to when you had said there's four different floorings in this tiny space. And I went, Oh, oh yeah, you're right. There is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

And a lot of the house is original or time period original, and then you get to the super ultra modern primary bathroom.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah, which is done all in in all IKEA type, really cheap materials. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Yeah. And so, you know, it to me it was a missed opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

It was a missed opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

And then we started looking at numbers.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

Yes, we looked at numbers and we were looking at maintenance. Like I would have to come in, pull all that wallpaper off as much as I don't want to, and make sure we could either restore it properly or we were going to have to figure out where moisture, if there was moisture, you know, it was it was immediately was gonna be work, right?

SPEAKER_03 24:42

Oh, in that window in the primary, was it in the primary?

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Yeah, I'm fine with that window. Yeah, it just leaks. No matter what, if it rains or whatever, you're gonna have water coming in that window. And I'm like, okay, that's just what the window wants to do. So I'm okay with that.

SPEAKER_03 24:55

But let's talk about the moisture in the mold.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

I'll just put a little fan on it.

SPEAKER_03 25:00

No, um, was it my fat or Greek wedding where they would put Windex?

SPEAKER_00 25:03

Yeah, yeah, basically. But you you really did save me, Anthony, because you all of a sudden the emotional, romantic vision of all my antiques fitting in the house, and I had visions of me doing Instagram, cheesy Instagram posts, you know, next to my vintage staircase. And I was having all these downtown Abbey moments. I was having the Gilded Age moments.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

And then remember, you felt you felt something when we went upstairs.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

I did feel a little something. That house has a lot of history. Um, it was originally the land was well, it was originally there was a school where girls could actually attend school, which was pretty crazy for that time. Then it became a military uh kind of camp and school during the Civil War. And then um it had a doctor bought that land from uh Bastrop, and he was an infectious disease doctor during the yellow fever times, and he was a yellow fever specialist. And so he built that big beautiful house for his family, raised his five boys in it, and then it changed hands um to another family who during World War II opened it up to uh borders and everything during um for the Camp Swift and all that stuff where they had families would come and pretty much all the houses in Bastrop during that time were opened up to allow borders during World War II, and then the cartwrights had it, and then now Gary Schiff has it. And so it's got it doesn't turn over much. So you you you know you're gonna have residual memories maybe lingering there for people who map I didn't feel anything bad, I just felt a little vibe, and I'm like we could live together, we could live together as she pushes you off the balcony, but then we ran the comps again and and we looked at just around ballpark numbers of it. What it really what it really needs to be and what he the seller is willing to do are two huge discrepancies, and then and that's when you go, I don't have a real willing seller, yeah. And you I am a willing buyer, but at a price, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

And that's why it's been on the market.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

That's why it is. Okay. But you you helped you helped me not do that. Okay,

Historic Treasure Or Money Pit

SPEAKER_00 27:09

we have a game. Yay! Okay, we love our games, historic treasure or money pit. Okay. Okay, here we go. All right, so 1890s Victorian and Bastrop. It's not the house I'm talking just talked about, okay. Just so you know. Gorgeous woodwork, brimming with original character, but also brimming with original knob and tube wiring, which is fabric wiring, highly flammable. You really have to like get it taken out of the house and redo all the electrical. It's priced just below market value. It's got is this a lifetime of charm or an expensive headache?

SPEAKER_03 27:45

Expensive headache. You need it cheaper. If it's right under.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Okay, I'm gonna say a lifetime of charm.

SPEAKER_03 27:53

But it's right under how much.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

A lifetime of charm, and my electrician comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas because we know him so well. 1925 Austin Bungalow, fully renovated with trendy finishes, no permits pulled. Everything looks solid, but is this a legal mess when we come to resell or an Instagram dream? No permits.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

I'm gonna say illegal mess, but there's buyers out there, but not many. That will do it.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

And it's anytime you have something that needs to be repaired, there's no permits pulled. So it's like, uh it gets yeah, it could be tricky. For me, I'm gonna say um financial mess just because I don't like trendy finishes. Yep, I don't know. Historic farmhouse in Smithville on Acreage with a well and septic. This is not my house. Um, no update since 1980. Systems are systems are functioning, just old, funky, old in a funky floor plan. It's priced below market. So is this a peaceful retreat? Yes, or a slow financial drip. No, it's a peaceful retreat, yeah. And then turn of the century gym in Georgetown with a historic designation maintained beautifully. You can walk to the square, but because it has everything done and it has a designation, you really can't do a whole lot to it, and you have to make sure you're following all the historic guidelines. So is this like prestige and charm or a creative prison? Prestige. Prestige and charm. Like, yes, thank you. Do all the work. Yes. 1907, home with the original windows, doors, hardware, so like totally solid bones. But it's had the foundation fixed twice, and while you're touring it, you notice that you're going up and down and up and down. That's common. So is that character? Yes. And you can build on, or is it a money pit? Yeah, because she's just especially if it's Pyrambean, just you know lift it up. She's gonna need, she's gonna need a little help with the sagging over the years. I agree. Yeah. Do that again. We all need a little lift every now and then. Don't judge.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

After a hundred years, what do you expect?

Final Takeaways And Goodbye

SPEAKER_00 30:05

So, well, that's it for today. And our talking about our historic home. So until next time. Until next time, we'll see you.