As home prices stay high and rising mortgage rates shrink how much house buyers can afford, some have turned to the idea of buying cheaper, older fixer-uppers. The Instagram account Cheap Old Houses helps people indulge in this fantasy, posting listings for older homes that are relative steals at a time when the median monthly mortgage payment is nearly $3,000.
As former New Yorkers, the Finkelsteins know the struggle all too well. “Every single one of our 10 years we were together , we never had a place over 600 square feet,” Ethan Finkelstein said. They were constantly hunting for their next place to live, so they eventually moved north. “Cheap Old Houses: An Unconventional Guide to Loving and Restoring a Forgotten Home” attempts to inspire people who are considering purchasing an older property that might need some TLC. The Finkelsteins are also hosting a forthcoming show on HGTV called “Who’s Afraid of a Cheap Old House?”
Elizabeth had at the time been running an online real-estate marketplace and had a background in historic preservation. She developed the idea of creating an Instagram account that would be a place to put listings of old, historical homes that were fixer-uppers. “And honestly, I didn’t ever think that we would have a successful profitable business,” Elizabeth Finkelstein added. But the Cheap Old Houses brand has definitely struck a chord, especially with viewers who want a break from reality. Particularly with the Cheap Old Houses Abroad newsletter, “people constantly write to us and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, this is like the catharsis I need during my work,’” she said.
Ultimately, their ability to surface these old homes to their audience has attracted a large following because it shows it’s possible to live the dream of lovingly restoring and building your own, beautiful, historic home, the Finkelsteins said.