[kazen44]

the issue with old housing in the end is simply heat isolation. Old houses leak away alot of heat (especially if deep cracks are present in the brick and mortar, which is very expensive to fix). Which in term will mean you pay a significant amount of extra cash to keep the heat on. Renovation is possible ofcourse, but not always worth it?

[TimJYoung]

Many of the older homes here are wood (typically, balloon frame) with a sandstone foundation, so you can reduce the amount of heat loss by making sure that the sandstone mortar is in good shape, making sure that all windows and entrances are properly-sealed, and strategic use of insulation. I say "strategic" here because you have to be careful about making the house too tight, which can cause moisture to get trapped and result in very bad things like sill rot.

The key is that these old homes have very good "bones", so even a gut job can use the original structure intact. Combine that with the fact that Buffalo's real estate is relatively inexpensive still (it's starting to get up there, though), and extensive renovations aren't too bad on the wallet.