1885 House

[confuzzled]

Is there any one here that has experiance w/ old homes?

We just looked at a home that was built in 1885.....long story short I love it. DH (dear husband isnt to sure). It "supposably" underwent major upgrades in 2000....which it looked like that is correct. We have only walked through the house once.

Is there any suggestions, information that some one in the know would be willing to share...I would greatly appreciate it!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!

[classylady]

My mother bought an old pioneer home. It had some beautiful features but needed some major upgrades that she was unable to afford. It needed a heating system and air conditioning system. There were beautiful fireplaces throughout the home, but they did not heat the whole house. The kitchen was a later add-on, and was awful. There was some termite damage too. The wiring was old, but I guess adequate.

I would have an inspector go over the house and make sure everything is in good condition.

[annewandering]

We bought an old house. The wiring is inadequate and we have replaced the plumbing. The roof needs replaced and a joist sags. On the other hand the materials are real. We have that wainstotting ceilings. After we took down the fiberboard fake ceiling.

It can be a lot of work but I do love it. I completely agree with ClassyLady. Get a good inspector to go over it and do a realistic calculation on repair costs.

[Guest]

If you're seriously considering it, absolutely make the purchase contingent on inspection. Then if there's anything wrong that you don't want to deal with, you get your earnest money back. We did that with a cute little investment house built in 1905 that we almost bought . It's a good thing, too, because it had good lipstick but it needed pretty much everything major replaced. We were out the inspection money, but it was totally worth it to not be stuck putting more into it than we would have paid for it.

[mnn727]

My first home was built in 1895, updated and added to a few times.

Plumbing and electrical were not up to modern standards. in some cases they actually caused problems.

Had to peel 5 layers of wallpaper off the wall, then fix and sand the walls to be able to paint.

Nothing is perfectly square -- I laid tile in 2 rooms and with the cuts of the tiles it was obvious that the rooms were not square.

Unless its already been changed out you'll have plaster and lathe walls, rather than studs and drywall - meaning hanging things on the wall can be a challenge.

If you are both handy doing repairs and mechanically inclined, have money and time, then go for it.

I'll never do it again, but I did learn a lot.

As Eowyn said always always always make the purchase of any house , old or new, contingent on the inspection. Every house can have major major things wrong with it that the average buyer misses, even new homes.

I would add always insist on the sellers providing the home protection warranty, it costs them about $350-$450 (through their Realtor) but is worth every penny (and yes you will actually end up paying for it as part of the purchase price; a bit over $10 per year on a 30 year home loan). I once bought a house in Florida (modern home, about 15 years old) and within a month the air conditioner went out, of course I had spent all my money on buying the house and had little to spare but you can't really live in the city in FL without AC.

Edited September 29, 2012 by mnn727