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Comment by endtwist | Hacker News Reader

Sheerly out of curiosity, how much is that 23-unit building going for?

Edit: Also, you should put an email address in your profile.

I dunno. I'll ask tomorrow. It can't be much; it has no parking, there's no work here, and my guess it would need roof work, electrical upgrades, and plumbing. If they're asking more than $500,000 they're dreaming. (Frankly, if they're asking for money at all, they're dreaming.)

Edit: I do have an email addy in my profile.

Edit: um, now.

$109,000 and change. For 23 one-bedroom apartments and a third-floor dormitory with 18 sleeping rooms and a communal area. It was built in 1928 by a Cincinnati architect as a dormitory for the women's business college that has since evaporated (I believe it is now the Wayne County Historical Museum).

There's another 18-unit building for $179,000 with all hardwood floors, big units, French doors, these all have balconies - it could be sweet! (The realtor lady thought this idea was pretty exciting, for obvious reasons.)

What sort of shape are they in?

I think the larger units are the most interesting. The chances of fostering success go up linearly with more entrepreneurs but there is also a much greater chance of having synergistic effects.

They need a lot of work, of course. That's OK; given some startup capital (I suppose this would be metastartup capital) I could easily do a reasonable job of making them livable, then comfortable, then nice. It wouldn't even cost all that much - even if I hire people to do the work. The Amish are only charging $9 an hour right now; there's just not enough construction work to go around.

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