In 2001, I bought an 1835 3 floor row house which had been a shop on the first floor since the 1920s. (and the 1920s was the last time it had been lived in) There was virtually no electric and only a single toilet/sink. It took me $70,000 and mostly my own labor to bring it up to a nice livable house. I hired a plumber and electrician to do the major plumbing & ele, I have filled in some additional since. I figure it would be about 150K to do the same today, with less self work. I still need a new roof, though I have a paint on elastomeric roof which I re-coat every other year. My house was neglected, but not wrecked. it was a time capsule. My first row house, in West Balt was in better condition, even though it had been a rental for about 10 yrs. It was 2 level. I think I put about 50K into it. But that was in the 80s.

It is all doable. Where the difficulty arises is having a team which can assess the needs and a team to do the work.Developers don't want to do that. they want to clear cut and build new stick houses. Small time flippers want to do the cosmetics and be out in a few weeks. I think another real problem is all the hassle in getting funding. The banking industry, was part of the reason for the decay, they do not like the model of restoration and its hidden costs, they do not like the whole idea of working in what they see as the bad lands. If government guarantee for loans could be secured, as was the case with the dollar houses then there would be a greater interest. Also too few Americans have any idea of how to do basic repairs. Even an undesirable paint color can nix a house sale these days.