• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

newer home vs. older home

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
iambrutus

iambrutus

Screw Blue
    • My wife and I are looking at all kinds of houses and one thing we have gone back and forth on is if we want a century home or new construction. IMO they both have their ups and downs. I love the charm and craftsman ship of an old century home, but they sometimes need a lot of work, which is where new constuction is nice because they are brand new and you shouldn't have to do anything to them, but i've seen how some of these are just slapped together.

    so where do you come down?
     
    Taosman;764584; said:
    I believe a new home will be a lot less trouble! You got a baby to take care of. That's plenty. What ever you buy, get a professional house inspection!
    It will be money well spent! $300-400
    Good hunting!
    Click to expand...

    Agree, what time will you have to rehab a house?

    You don't want your child living in a construction site.

    You can still find nice older homes that have already been rehabbed that require little work.
     
    Upvote 0
    Thump;764591; said:
    Agree, what time will you have to rehab a house?

    You don't want your child living in a construction site.

    You can still find nice older homes that have already been rehabbed that require little work.
    Click to expand...

    thats what i want - and we had one lined up when we thought we sold our house this summer, then the buyer fell through and we lost out on the house. It was built in 1898 and had been restored in 1997, it was so nice.
     
    Upvote 0
    Here ya go

    high_trailer.jpg
     
    Upvote 0
    I'd go with a home that's historic, no doubt. The newer homes don't have the same "wow" factor. Then again, with an older home, you either need (1) to be handy to fix the place up or (2) have a ton of money to pay for one that's already been restored.
     
    Upvote 0
    iambrutus;764576; said:
    My wife and I are looking at all kinds of houses and one thing we have gone back and forth on is if we want a century home or new construction. IMO they both have their ups and downs. I love the charm and craftsman ship of an old century home, but they sometimes need a lot of work, which is where new constuction is nice because they are brand new and you shouldn't have to do anything to them, but i've seen how some of these are just slapped together.

    so where do you come down?
    Click to expand...

    Six one way, half dozen the other.

    Benefits are:

    Foundation, structural --> older homes​

    Amenities, "skin" --> newer homes​
    We have a home built in the 70s. Great foundation, thick beams, etc. But we're having to redo some of the electrical, plumbing...HVAC had to be replaced two years ago...and on and on ya go. The plan is to tough it out, then build the dream casa and pay a contractor separately to go behind the builder and make sure everything's to spec and code.
     
    Upvote 0
    Save yourself the trouble and get a newer home. You'd be surprised with how many problems can come up with older buildings, as me and my dad have seen with older rental properties we've had to take care of.

    If you are going to be living with just you and your wife, however, and have the patience and money to get the house into good shape, then you might want to go ahead and look for an older house if thats what you fall in love with. But if you have kids, i'd take the safer route and get a newer house, maybe even build your own. If you get in the right area, the value could also appreciate and you would make some money.

    Go with an older house down the road, when you will have less to take care of, and can appreciate it more.
     
    Upvote 0
    We live in a ~100 year old house and absolutely love it.

    One benefit about older homes is (typically) location. We are located in the old part of town and are very close to the grocery store (2 blocks) restaurants, stores, bars, wife's work, library, parks, etc, etc.

    Also, our home underwent an interior renovation by the previous owner (they bought it from a dead beat alcoholic, renovated the inside and flipped it) It was well worth it for us, as we had completely redone our previous house (1920s construction) and didn't have the energy to do another one. The exteriour was in shambles, though, so we spent our for 2 summers sprucing up the outside of the house and landscaping the yard - which we both enjoyed immensly).

    Downside of old homes: expensive items *will* eventually come up. We had to replace our roof last year, and while we were getting that rolling, realized that we should probably have the chimney rebricked while we were at it. But, we couldn't just get a new roof, we needed to somehow improve the house, so we went ahead and had 2 skylights and a 'solar tube' installed to brighten up the upstairs. We're very glad we did it, though - looks great w/ the newer 'dimensional' shingles.

    I can certainly see the attraction to new construction, but location was our biggest criteria in purchasing a few years back, and old construction was pretty much the only option in the area we want to live.
     
    Upvote 0
    iambrutus;764576; said:
    My wife and I are looking at all kinds of houses and one thing we have gone back and forth on is if we want a century home or new construction. IMO they both have their ups and downs. I love the charm and craftsman ship of an old century home, but they sometimes need a lot of work, which is where new constuction is nice because they are brand new and you shouldn't have to do anything to them, but i've seen how some of these are just slapped together.

    so where do you come down?
    Click to expand...

    Go for the best value after factoring in all things, like: price, size, quality of construction, landscaping, utilities (like does it have city water, gas, trash pick up), ammenities, location, quality of schools, taxes, and resale potential, etc.
     
    Upvote 0
    Taosman said:
    I believe a new home will be a lot less trouble! You got a baby to take care of. That's plenty. What ever you buy, get a professional house inspection!
    It will be money well spent! $300-400
    Good hunting!
    Click to expand...

    Definitely well-spent, but only applicable once you've picked out the house. No good if you haven't decided what to look for. Worth the money, though. :)

    We just went through this process about 6-8 months ago. We ended up opting for a Cape Cod built in 1940. Here are some of our thoughts on why we should be looking for an older home:
    -a house that's been standing for so many years already can't have too many structural issues. Hopefully, any issues with the construction would have emerged already.
    -It seems like most older homes are in older neighborhoods and older neighborhoods meant the presence of mature vegetatation. Not a huge deal when it comes to serious $$ issues, but it sure makes the backyard more pleasant. We won't have to wait 10 years for there to be shade in and around the house. It is a pleasant neighborhood with plenty of trees.
    -It's in an established neighborhood. There are people that have been living on this street for 30 years. We aren't at all concerned that our neighbors are going to neglect their homes. Some of these new build areas look like ass after three years due to high turnover. I'm probably generalizing here, but it seems like more poeple will buy beyond their means for a new-build home, which means higher turnover and often more foreclosures in those areas. Plus new home builders are evil bastards.
    -We aren't nearly as worried about the latent flaws in areas like plumbing and electrical. We know exactly what we have and know what will need to be upgraded. Very little concern about shoddy workmanship behind the walls. There shouldn't be any unexpected failures. We did have to invest some additional capital into repairs/upgrades in electrical and plumbing. We ended up spending 2-3k on parts, but we're very lucky in that my father-in-law is a handyman extraordinaire and we know have top-line parts for a large portion of our home.

    In the end, a lot of it ends up just being personal preference. Good luck, iamb!
     
    Upvote 0
    iambrutus;764576; said:
    My wife and I are looking at all kinds of houses and one thing we have gone back and forth on is if we want a century home or new construction. IMO they both have their ups and downs. I love the charm and craftsman ship of an old century home, but they sometimes need a lot of work, which is where new constuction is nice because they are brand new and you shouldn't have to do anything to them, but i've seen how some of these are just slapped together.

    so where do you come down?
    Click to expand...

    We have just come off a housing boom. With any boom, quality during that period always goes down. Its just a simple fact of people rushing things off the assembly line to make a sure buck. With the current market conditions, I can see myself looking for a house within the next 18-24 months (subject to change). That said, what that times comes, I will instruct my realtor the following - "No houses made after 2000." Stories are already coming out about shoddy construction of homes made during this period. No thanks - Id rather have something made during a time where its very hard to sell it - not very easy.
     
    Upvote 0
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top