buying an old house

[floridaorange]

Anyone here buy an old house? We are going under contract on a home built in the 20's. We love the original hardwood floors, floor plan, original doors, archways and especially the neighborhood. We have had inspections done and there is a list of typical old home work that needs to be done. We have about $25k allocated for repairs, upgrades. Anyway, just wondering if anyone on MS has bought an old home and fixed it up and would like to share their experience.

[Jenks]

Re: buying an old house

Anyone here buy an old house? We are going under contract on a home built in the 20's. We love the original hardwood floors, floor plan, original doors, archways and especially the neighborhood. We have had inspections done and there is a list of typical old home work that needs to be done. We have about $25k allocated for repairs, upgrades. Anyway, just wondering if anyone on MS has bought an old home and fixed it up and would like to share their experience.

I used to buy, rehab, and sell houses for a living from 2004-2008ish (until the housing market crashed.) Most homes were early 1900s. A few were complete gut jobs (down to studs), others required less demo- but I always gutted the kitchen and baths as those are the best areas to improve for ROI. Feel free to fire any specific questions my way, I did most of the work myself. I love the character you get with older historical style homes- you just can't build that today. Congrats!

[Kamal]

Re: buying an old house

We bought a house that was built in 1973 and by the look of it, hadn't been upgraded since then. We allocated nearly double for upgrades and improvements (not necessarily repairs). It was a nightmare of a project because it took too long and more importantly, the Mrs and me disagreed on EVERYTHING. After a couple of months, I just gave up and went with everything she wanted. Less stress, the house gets more compliments than I imagined and she's happy. A win for all

[diegoff]

Re: buying an old house

My mother got married (3rd time) 2 years ago, and they bought an old house (1910-1920), and repaired it. The good things: big spaces, tall roofs, some great objects that they could recycle (doors, windows, fences, pictures, and small articles that were left behind in a backroom by the owner). But, of course, they spent a lot of money to repair it (walls, floors, kitchen, bathroom). Anyways, I love it, it has a lot of light and air, and the rooms are big.

[floridaorange]

Re: buying an old house

I had a feeling I'd get at least some input from MS, thankfully you guys all have had real experience and I appreciate your input. From what I gather, there are 2 ways to go - livable vs. full restoration. Having talked to a friend of mine he suggested since this isn't a victorian in D.C. focus our money on making the inside livable and don't worry about the foundation unless the house is the leaning tower of pisa . Anyway, right now we are basically waiting to meet with a contractor to get a ballpark on what it will cost to fix the structure in required places (roof, etc) and tonight the foundation is being inspected. Then we HOPE once we know all of that we'll be able to lower our offer to account for the most important issues. If it wasn't in such a great location I would have already walked. Fortunately I've got a few friends who can also help steer me in the right direction so I don't over pay for anything if we do in fact end up buying this house. I'm maybe most looking forward to clearing the backyard of all these plants and things because it's going to look great once that's done, then replace the rear deck. Wife has a list of things and as you said Kamal I don't agree with all of them, but I'm not going to fight her on them. Her mom is an interior designer from Northern Cal so fortunately she's got great taste. At this time Jenks I don't have any specific questions that you could answer unless you were here I don't think. There are so many items that need to be addressed it's a bit overwhelming, but the main thing is if we can afford to make this place feel like home or not. Some good news is all the windows are brand new and so are the cabinets in the kitchen, both potentially pricey items. The ceilings are very tall which I like a lot Diegoff, and the floors looks amazing and will be even better once they are re-stained. Major questions are how much termite damage and other WDO damage. How much foundation damage, and water damage. Most of the experience for me is going to be fun, but not so much for the Mrs. Too much stress for her , but we'll press on. The character and charm factor is where it's at, especially living on the east coast.

*edit - I guess I should mention that the home was evidently vacant for 2 years and Freddie Mac bought it for a really low price (not sure how they did that), and are asking $36k more than they bought if for. No investors are allowed to make offers on it until Nov 28th. Of course that time period has passed, but we have made a verbal acceptance of the sellers counter offer, so I think we are good for now. If we don't get this home, I'll know it wasn't meant to be, and although there aren't very many more in our price range like this one, I'm sure there will be more coming online in the near future.

Jenks on a scale of 1 - 10 how naive are we?

[Jenks]

Re: buying an old house

Foundation damage is a big issue. Everything else should be secondary until you find out how bad it is, and what it's going to take to correct it. Are we talking just cracked wall in the basement with some water coming in?? or are we talking sunken floors, multiple visible and separated cracked walls, ceiling cracks etc from a settling substructure? I wouldn't take the foundation issue lightly, nor is termite damage something to brush off. These two things will impact everything in the house literally from the bottom up. I'd get a couple of professional opinions on the severity of the damage, and the cost to fix it depending on what your inspector says.

If we don't get this home, I'll know it wasn't meant to be, and although there aren't very many more in our price range like this one, I'm sure there will be more coming online in the near future.

^This is the right attitude. If it's not meant to be, move on, there will be many others.

[toasty]

Re: buying an old house

Our house was built in 1893, and most of the homes in my neighborhood are from that era. The fact that the windows have already been replaced is a great thing, as you'd be stunned at what a difference that can make in your heating and cooling. A neighbor of ours moved into a house with original windows and while that sounds great from a historical/aethestic standpoint, their first gas bill of the winter was a jaw-dropping $837 because the windows were just like sieves.

I unfortunately can't offer any real wisdom about the process of rehabbing an old property, because our place was gut rehabbed right before we moved in so it was basically like moving into a new house in the shell of an old one by the time we got it. That said, I LOVE living in a neighborhood with older homes. These places have a lot of character, and in my experience, the type of people that are seeking older homes are also the same type of people that take great pride in their homes and their neighborhood. They are not without their unique challenges, to be sure, but I think the payoff is worth it, provided you don't have any serious issues, as others have suggested.

[Kamal]

Re: buying an old house

That said, I LOVE living in a neighborhood with older homes. These places have a lot of character, and in my experience, the type of people that are seeking older homes are also the same type of people that take great pride in their homes and their neighborhood. They are not without their unique challenges, to be sure, but I think the payoff is worth it, provided you don't have any serious issues, as others have suggested.

Toasty, do you have a picture of your street? Would love to see it.

[clintlove]

Re: buying an old house

We would have loved to buy an older home, not just for the difference in character vs a new home, but also for the nostalgic value. Always dreamed of buying an older home in NOLA and renovating it. There's some awesome character in homes here that you just can't find anywhere else. But we did what we felt was the smart thing to do and of course the affordable thing and bought a brand new house. It's a 45min drive north of NOLA, which kinda sucks now, but for the money.... we wouldn't of been able to buy a half an unrenovated shotgun house in NOLA. It's a starter home of course, but the price that we paid for a home that was brand new and never lived in was something, as a new family, we couldn't pass up. I will say that since our neighborhood is a new development, we'll definitely make a profit when we decide to sell. When we first moved in 2.5 years ago, our house was only one of 8 completed houses in the neighborhood. It's a 250 lot development with room to expand. Now there are over 150+ built/sold houses and 20+ currently under construction or available for purchase. It's been crazy to see the neighborhood develop so fast and also very reassuring.

All that being said, we are definitely looking forward to the day where we can buy a house that's a little more "us". If you have the means to do it now, definitely do. But also beware of things like foundation/structural problems as major problems like that can render a house worthless. It's been nice to have the homebuilders stand behind their product and offer repairs, free of charge, from minor cosmetic repairs to pouring us a completely new driveway.

[floridaorange]

Re: buying an old house

I read the new report today Jenks and it mentioned normal settling of the house with only 1 hairline crack. There realty isn't any noticeable dips or waves of any kind on floors either. The foundation report will be ready tomorrow though so I'll let you know. As for the termite damage I am hoping it can be fixed without spending too much, we will see. We plan to add a 2nd bath where the current washer/dryer is making it a 2/2. The street it's in is very wide as well, especially for college park. The plumbing and electrical seem to be good, but there needs to be more outlets in a few of the rooms. Know what that may cost Jenks?

Toasty that sounds rather amazing, I'd like to see a photo of your street as well. What year did you buy your home?

Clint we are living in a newer home now and really like it, there are definitely pros and cons to an older home like you said. Only time will tell if we made the right decision.

Jenks I'm not that emotional about any "thing" it's all just stuff and it doesn't make me happy.

(btw Clint, I just got an agent in NOLA, hope to be working in NOLA in the near future and crashing on your couch, ).

[clintlove]

Re: buying an old house

(btw Clint, I just got an agent in NOLA, hope to be working in NOLA in the near future and crashing on your couch, ).

Hell you'd have your own bed. Hope that works out, would love to hang out.

[floridaorange]

Re: buying an old house

^That would be excellent man thank you .