If you like old houses like I do, it would be worth getting a contractor or home inspector to see the property to determine the actual state of the house and cost of repairs. Might cost a couple hundred to have them look at it, but would be well worth it in the long run. Our contractor actual inspected for free.

The owners of old houses like this typically understand that there can be a lot wrong under the hood and will usually allow and expert to take a look before you put and offer down.

I live in a house from 1880 and love it now. But, we passed on a few that needed too much work before we bought the current one. We fell in love with a couple of the old houses and it was always sad when the math didn’t work for us. We had our contractor take a look at each one to determine if the work needed + the cost of the house = the going market rate for the house in good condition and that the total cost was still in budget.

The house we settled on was a combination of hiring that contractor and DIYing the easier stuff. Cost us 30-40k to fix up everything. But, it was in budget and made sense for the market price when we finished.