These 2 People Actually Bought a “Cheap Old House” Off Instagram. Would They Do It Again?

The Cheap Old Houses Instagram account is an obsession of mine — and, it seems, an obsession for most of the country, or at least a ton of Instagram users. The account’s popularity goes way beyond social media, though; it led to a TV show, a book, and, for a lucky few, a house. Many people have scrolled through the images of budget-friendly fixer-uppers, all of which fall under $150,000, daydreaming about what it might be like to live in a sprawling Victorian that didn’t massively break the bank in a small rural town. 

But while most people can’t say they’ve actually bought an old house off an Instagram post, some can. I became so curious wondering what that experience was like (especially because I did buy an old Victorian home that needed a lot of work), that I reached out to two people who actually did it. They shared what their experience has been like and, most importantly, if they’d do it again.

Dave Rademacher lives in Michigan. You can find him on the Instagram account @good_as_old, and he’s no stranger to old houses — and old things. He runs an architectural salvage business and was mid-restoration on a 6,100-square-foot mansion when he stumbled across his cheap old house.

The Italianate home was in his area, and he’d already done a drive-by when it was featured on the Cheap Old Houses account. That set the plan into motion. “We weren’t looking at the time, but the house and property were just so beautiful. We decided to move outside of town, into the country for it,” says Rademacher. 

Rademacher has extensive experience in contracting, with a specialty in historic preservation, so he had clear eyes going into the project. He took special care to source historically accurate windows and other details while updating heating and cooling systems, electric, and, in his words, “many, many other things.”

But, with the excitement of an old home comes evicting the current occupants… which had four legs and furry pelts.

“The property had not been occupied for a few years and had families of raccoons and squirrels living in various parts of it, as well as some very dilapidated outbuildings,” says Rademacher. 

The logistics of the renovation are often the most intimidating part, especially for those who haven’t done it before. Luckily, Rademacher had experience, and an understanding of what needed to be done before moving in, along with the knowledge that a good house with good bones can be an ongoing project, slowly updated over time. Before moving in, however, he renovated all the major systems and fully restored the second floor and bedrooms.

It was a lot of work.

“It was nine months of every evening and weekend. The thing that I did not anticipate is, with a young family, it became increasingly difficult to balance a large renovation, a demanding job, and family time,” says Rademacher. And, after they moved in, he notes, “Living in a construction zone can get old.”

So would he do it again? While he has since sold the Italianate house, Radenbacher says “Yes, I would do it again, and actually am, in a different way. I recently purchased a cheap old building for my architectural salvage business which still gives me an outlet to work on these amazing old properties while not living in them at the same time.”

Emma Judd, who shares her Quebec-based old house adventures on @imemmaelizabeth and @circashawville, got bitten by the old house bug early. She was just 19 when she and a roommate stumbled upon the house the duo would ultimately buy on Cheap Old Houses — and she quickly realized that she recognized exactly the house they were looking at. “I realized that I knew the house, having passed by it often when I was little,” says Judd.

She showed the house to her parents the next time she was home from college. That led to her grandmother reaching out to the owners, and before she knew it, Judd was touring the house and falling in love with its period details. 

“From the hidden hardwood floors under layers of carpeting, the beautiful fireplace and stairs, and the nearly untouched third floor, there is always something romantic and mysterious about an old semi-abandoned house,” recalls Judd.

She placed the offer from her college apartment, and the people selling it were eager to choose her offer over another because they knew it would be in the hands of someone invested in the local community.

“I had no plans to buy a house at the time, but didn’t know what I was doing after that year of college. I created a plan to turn it into a bed and breakfast. I am fortunate enough to have grandparents who were willing to work out quite a high-risk loan,” says Judd. A year later, the house was finally hers, and she was on her way to navigating a massive renovation and becoming an innkeeper — as a young twentysomething.

The house hadn’t been inhabited in eight years when Judd bought it. She explains, “There was rain in the (now) kitchen, the roof needed replacing, the front porch was falling off, and it was so cold, it was like an icebox.”

Fortunately for her budget, some of the larger projects were done before or just as 2020 started, well before the costs of construction materials exploded. Though she never could have imagined the trajectory of renovation prices, this was a massive stroke of luck. 

While Judd has tackled many of the renovations herself, she did hire out to complete a new roof, update plumbing, and install a new electrical panel.

She’s also leaned on her parents, who’ve helped her navigate first-time homeownership, loans, and insurance, while also pitching in to insulate, paint, and figure out plumbing. “I couldn’t do it without them,” says Judd.

And she continues to navigate this process one day and one podcast at a time. “Often, tasks can be never-ending, especially in these big old houses,” says Judd. “I remember spending much of the spring of 2020 hunched over, stripping paint off of my hundred spindles. There have been a lot of podcasts listened to.”

Five years later, Judd is still surprised by how long of a process this has been, but she doesn’t consider that to be a negative. “I consider it a blessing it took as long as it has. If I had had all the money right at the start, I think I would have made some very different, irreversible changes.”

She looks back at her original attitude, idealism, and grit, fondly. “Although I was under no impression that it was going to be a glamorous task, it was all very ‘Hallmark’ in my mind. I had no idea the craftsmanship skills I would learn, from building walls to refinishing floors and trim to the art of wood window restoration.”

For Judd, the answer is easy, regarding whether she’d do it again. “100% without a doubt. There may be things I would do differently; however, there is nothing more rewarding than being able to say, ‘I did this.’ My independence and confidence have flourished, in ways I never could have imagined.”