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With the real estate market hotter than ever, it may be hard for prospective buyers to imagine finding a house with good bones, history, and character—all for under $150,000. But these affordable, diamond-in-the-rough residences are just the sort featured on @CheapOldHouses, an Instagram account and subscription newsletter created by husband-and-wife Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein. (You probably recognize Elizabeth's name—she's a long time contributor to Country Living and our favorite hunter of old house real-estate listings!) "We both grew up with old houses in our lives," says Elizabeth. "My family fixed up an 1850s Greek Revival and Ethan spent his summers in a house from the 1700s on his family's 200-acre New Hampshire farm. We both still love a good fixer-upper and have always kept our eyes open for them."
The pair started their Instagram account as a pet project, a place to show off houses for sale in need of some TLC but full of potential. "We wanted more people to see the amazing details of old homes that can get overlooked when listings don't have professional photography," says Elizabeth, who holds a masters in historic preservation. "It was important to us that these special houses were found by the right people. Instagram is full of 'after' photos, and we thought we'd bring the 'before'." The account quickly found an audience of historic home enthusiasts (Jennifer Garner among them) and has reached 1.6 million followers, a number that's bound to grow with the premiere of their new HGTV show, also titled Cheap Old Houses.
The season sees Elizabeth and Ethan traverse the country behind the wheel of their vintage truck "Old Blue" in search of the best cheap old houses currently on the market. In each episode the couple walks through two property gems, exclaiming over architectural points of interest, sharing the home's history and, helpful for renovation novices, imagining ways to restore each property with the assistance of 3D graphics. "For me, a great old house has lots of original details remaining, even if they're not in good shape," says Elizabeth. "It should feel like a bit of time capsule."
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In every episode the pair also visits homeowners who have already restored their own properties to hear about the process and see the end results. "What we're hoping to do with this show is to introduce viewers to the amazing real people who save up their money to work on these houses room by room," says Elizabeth. "It's so inspiring."
"Ultimately, the people who restore these places are investing in more than just the old houses, too," adds Ethan. "They're committing themselves to the communities and local businesses that surround them. During filming, we discovered that historic homes are a great connector—everyone has an old house in their life they love—and it's been so fun to see the country through those eyes."
Cheap Old Houses premieres Monday, August 9th at 9pm/ET on HGTV and can be streamed via discovery+
