Perils of older home purchase

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by bangorme

I loved my old Victorian Home. BUT, every year I budgeted for updates/major repairs. Here are some examples:
Repair Foundation
Pave driveway
Restore tin ceiling
Repaper walls
Repair and paint walls
New furnace
Paint house
Insulate windows
Replace door
Repair back porch
Repair converted horse/buggy shed
Repair outside trim

Any EVERY year I had to do something because I wanted to keep on top of it. Unfortunately, the two subsequent owners didn't do the same and the house now looks run down. But my point is, when you buy an old house, you have to count on annual upkeep.

When working with buyers before and after a building inspection I encourage them to have a 1, 5 and 10 year list of home improvements. This is a very good list.

[TopKick's Girl]

I think you have to really love an old house if you buy it, otherwise all the things wrong with it will drive you nuts. Like bangome, we budget for one large reno a year. After 15 years we have, replaced the furnace, relined the chimney and had the cap rebuilt. Replaced the fuse boxes with circuit breakers and had the knob and tube removed. Redid the kitchen, bathroom. We have big projects done by professionals but grunt work and anything small we tackle. 16 layers of paint and wallpaper were scrapped off the old horse-hair plaster walls. Every 5 years we scrape and paint the clapboards, so if we are still here in the fall we will be out there ascrappin.

[Rhapsodie2014]

Originally Posted by TopKick's Girl

I think you have to really love an old house if you buy it, otherwise all the things wrong with it will drive you nuts. Like bangome, we budget for one large reno a year. After 15 years we have, replaced the furnace, relined the chimney and had the cap rebuilt. Replaced the fuse boxes with circuit breakers and had the knob and tube removed. Redid the kitchen, bathroom. We have big projects done by professionals but grunt work and anything small we tackle. 16 layers of paint and wallpaper were scrapped off the old horse-hair plaster walls. Every 5 years we scrape and paint the clapboards, so if we are still here in the fall we will be out there ascrappin.

I think that you have just revealed the big secret of how old, beautiful homes stay that way.......and people's eyes bug out......like a house in a post card......must religiously keep it up..............what you present is the only logical way to proceed.
If left to go into disrepair, but has great original architecture......it falls into the hands of an invester who then "flips" it......I do not know if that is a big thing in Maine, might not be...

[maineguy8888]

a lot of people would rather buy a trailer versus an older home.........I would never do that but to each his own

[Tenebrae]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

You've been watching HGTV, haven't you? Admit it!

Most buyers these days employ a home inspector. I did. And the person who bought my 25 year old bi-level in PA back in 2011 also did.

Most of these things will be seen by an inspector.

People get too wiped out on homes by watching way too much HGTV. The Property Brothers and Love It or Leave IT are paid to find horrible things wrong with houses, otherwise there would not be much of a show. They have to be able to fix the nightmare.

...Guilty. I've been watching HGTV while I work out on my lunch break. I've never owned a home and have always rented apartments, so I was thinking maybe this would give me some ideas of things to watch for and how much it could potentially cost to fix things and do it "right".
Of course, after watching one of those house flipper shows (I think it was the Vegas couple), I will probably never buy a flip unless I could have somebody personally vouch for their work. The one in the show that I saw used the cheapest possible solutions. If it comes down to that, I'd honestly rather buy a cheap reno myself and then get it fixed up properly with the finishings that I like.

I know a lot of it is basically scripted reality TV, but I wouldn't even think of some of the stuff these guys suggest when looking at a house. Just...doin' my research and taking it with a big ol' grain of salt!

-T.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by TopKick's Girl

I think you have to really love an old house if you buy it, otherwise all the things wrong with it will drive you nuts. Like bangome, we budget for one large reno a year. After 15 years we have, replaced the furnace, relined the chimney and had the cap rebuilt. Replaced the fuse boxes with circuit breakers and had the knob and tube removed. Redid the kitchen, bathroom. We have big projects done by professionals but grunt work and anything small we tackle. 16 layers of paint and wallpaper were scrapped off the old horse-hair plaster walls. Every 5 years we scrape and paint the clapboards, so if we are still here in the fall we will be out there ascrappin.

I can relate to this I have a 30 ft ft deck, and been thinking for years to get some composite "boards" to replace the wooden ones...

I could have paid for them by now considering the paint ive used thru the years...let alone the labor/time I could be doing something else,,maybe enjoyable..

I should bite the bullet and just do it.....


maybe i'll do like the johnny cash song,,,,one piece at a time...

[LiveLoveLaugh]

My house was built in 1886. Ever since I was a little girl this is the house ive dreamed about.It was love at first sight 10 years ago, it's like living in your very own b&b, ahhhhhhh....I love my beautiful blue ridge farmhouse

[bangorme]

There is something special about lying in bed in a house over a century old, listening to the blizzard outside, and knowing your house has heard this many times before.

[maineborzoi]

Originally Posted by bangorme

There is something special about lying in bed in a house over a century old, listening to the blizzard outside, and knowing your house has heard this many times before.

Exactly !!! With the age of our home at 162 years, we said that several times this past winter " this home has seen it before " with a nodding smile of assurance