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Is An Old Home for You? - The Cons
So you think you might like to buy an old home? Perhaps even something old enough to be historic? It's a good idea to carefully evaluate the pros and cons before you decide. There are plenty of both. Will the pros be valuable enough for you to be willing to cope with the cons? Where shall we start? With a cautionary tale, I think. The Cons of An Old Home In 1972, my husband and I bought a house built in about 1825. We moved in on August 15th. My husband had an out of town business meeting and left about 5 AM the next day. (What makes him so smart?) About an hour later, I started downstairs and flipped the switch to turn on the chandelier in the downstairs hall. Boy did I get light. There was a flash, and then what looked like lightening ran up the cord. I turned the switch off, but the fireworks continued. I ran and yelled for our sons (10 and 11 years old at the time). We got out a door off another hall and ran to our next door neighbor's house to call the fire department. (This is a very exciting way to meet one's new neighbors.) The fire department was really fast and got to our home before we got back ourselves. By the time my husband returned late that evening, we had been visited by not just the fire department, but also an electrician (old wiring needed to be reworked and a fuse box replaced with circuit breakers), a painter (to get a price on fixing water and fire damage), and a floor refinisher (same reason as the painter), and both our sons had been offered marijuana. (Did I mention that beautiful old houses are often located in intercity areas and sometimes the whole neighborhood has not yet been completely restored to its original state of gentility?) We were asking ourselves, "What have we done?" Well, we had the wiring fixed, put off having the floors worked on and did the painting ourselves. We also paid tuition and fees to keep the boys in their old school district. You have to be flexible to happily live in an old house. Nothing is a standard size. Right angles are purely coincidental. (The water damage mentioned above had showed us that the floor on the outside edge of the front hall is about six inches higher than floor on the far side of the living room.) Go to Lowes or Home Depot to buy a standard replacement this or that? Forget it. You're probably going to have to fabricate it yourself or have it done. You need to either have a large home maintenance budget, be prepared to invest a lot of "sweat equity" or both. We've lived in this same old house for over thirty years now. Items we've had adventures with include: 1. Plumbing, 2. Bringing in more electricity, 3. Replacing the heating system, 4. Repointing the chimneys, 5. Having dampers made for the chimneys so heat doesn't escape from them when they're not in use (did I mention we have four working fireplaces?), 6. Increasing the insulation, and 7. Painting many, many times. Our house is real wood, not vinyl, and the roof is standing seam tin - the original roof. That, of course, means there is a lot of surface to paint, and, since the house is two stories and has high ceilings, some of the surfaces are pretty high. (Did I mention that my husband has fallen off the roof twice?) We're in the process of having our home painted (not a do it yourself project this time) yet again. The bids we got ranged from $15,000 to $20,000. (Did I mention you need a larger maintenance budget with an old house?) Whew! I think the cons are clear, don't you? Owning an old home is wonderful. Just make sure you understand what you are getting into. Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.
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The Wall Street Journal Law Firm Real Estate Report Law360 Ask The Expert: Vienna shares updates on real estate relationships, fees Niagara Frontier Publications real estate market and insurance Sacramento Appraisal Blog Real Estate Roundup: 'The Cove' in Hume sells for nearly $19M and more Fauquier County transactions Fauquier Now The Folly of China's Real-Estate Boom Was Easy to See, but No One Wanted to Stop It The Wall Street Journal Public records: Muskingum County, Ohio, real estate transfers Zanesville Times Recorder Real Estate Transactions: April 26, 2024 The Recorder The Top 3 Real Estate Stocks to Buy in April 2024 InvestorPlace New national real estate scholarship goes to local youth ECB Publishing 9 Ways Rich Real Estate Owners Save Big on Estate Taxes Business Insider Century 21 Four Seasons Realty expands commercial real estate services Bonner County Daily Bee @properties Christie's International Real Estate Taps Industry Leader to Expand in Fort Worth - CandysDirt.com CandysDirt.com Yo La Tengo, Real Estate and more to perform at Woodsist Festival in Accord in September The Daily Freeman Real Estate Minute – 04-25-2024 KFDX - Texomashomepage.com Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Chatham Borough and Chatham Township Real Estate Report TAPinto.net Rockford Is Now America's Top Housing Market After an Improbable Turnaround The Wall Street Journal Florida & Texas Housing Market Slowdown: Prices Stall as Inventory Piles Up Norada Real Estate Investments JWB Real Estate Companies Announced 2024 Home Giveaway FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX Top residential real estate sales for April 8-12 in Sarasota, Siesta Key, Palmer Ranch, Osprey, Nokomis Your Observer Jacksonville Police & Fire sets private credit, non-core real estate pacing plans Pensions & Investments New Mexico SIC commits $250m to real estate funds IPE Real Assets Placing a $190 million bet – Potawatomi Casino Hotel's Project First Strike - Milwaukee Business Journal The Business Journals Homes for Sale in New York and Connecticut The New York Times Milwaukee Tool's downtown office named Milwaukee Business Journal's Real Estate Awards Project of the Year ... The Business Journals Real Estate Report: Mortgage rates see new high above 7% Hawaii News Now Middlesex County Real Estate Market Shows Robust Growth Amid Favorable Economic Conditions TAPinto.net Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (HOUS) Reports Q1 2024 Financial Results Amidst Market Challenges Yahoo Finance 200 Housing Markets Are Predicted for Price Decline: Zillow's Report Norada Real Estate Investments Inside Savannah Homes $3.1M Tybee home with panoramic ocean view Savannah Morning News Business Brief: Local Agents Honored by Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. for outstanding performance The Commercial Dispatch Real Estate Development Firm Seeking Community Input For Honey Creek Road Property in Rockdale County News-Daily.com Manhattan Real Estate Update: "Embrace the Boredom" westsiderag.com First-ever rural-focused Real Estate Development Boot Camp aimed at emerging housing developers Second Wave Michigan Top Transfers: 65,000 sq. ft. Dublin property sells for $7.85 million The Columbus Dispatch Real Estate Development Firm Seeking Community Input For Honey Creek Road Property in Rockdale County Rockdale Newton Citizen How office market challenges could affect community banks - Milwaukee Business Journal The Business Journals Pro boxer Caleb Truax retiring to become Twin Cities real estate agent - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal Final Offer Launches in Canada Bringing Transparency to the Canadian Real Estate Market Yahoo Finance Nearly 30% of $32M project by N.C. A&T Real Estate Foundation, Cone Health already paid for through tax credits ... The Business Journals |
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