Hey greenjeans, sorry re: my late arrival on this thread, you KNOW what stinky's been busy with lol....
My house is 107 years old and was renovated in a half-assed way into a 2-family right after WWII. Seriously, ask the Yeag about how you have to be able to twist yourself into a pretzel just to get up the stairs to my bedroom!
A lot of the problems you are dealing with are already taken care of but it still never ends!
I know the sotry of your realtor and lack of inspection from the email... it happens, whatever, you're a tough chick and will get it sorted out somehow.... for anyone else who is considering buying, GET YOUR OWN REALTOR WITH A BUYER'S AGENT CONTRACT!!!!!!!!!!!
Mine was like a bulldog- his job was to chase papers and keep the sellers and their agent (who was a SLIMEBALL) honest. Worked like a charm. At my inspection, I had him, the sellers agent, a licensed home inspector, and my favorite ex boyfriend who has held a MA general contractors license for over 25 years and is one of the biggest players in real estate development in the valley.
Needless to say, everyone was on thier best behaviour and I got a very nice inspection report to wave at the sellers.
Victorian era houses are amazing, I love them, they are beautfully laid out, and any work you put into them is well worht it in the end!