Buying a 100+ year old home.

Hey, wolf lady. Our home in Virginia was over one hundred years old, and I loved it. I especially liked the formal dining room, which we don't have here in Florida.

However, gal. Renovation is cheap compared to restoration. I love that house you're showing, and it looks in good shape from the picture.

the relator says its in good shape too.
but seller insists it is sold AS-IS..
and that kinda worries me

so, restoration would be more expencive because....? That is basicaly returning the home to its original state right? Wich would mean more special equipment, products, etc..?

Is it easier to 'work on' an older home?
The wiring and such?

Shewolf,

Older homes are easy to fall in love with. They can be a very sound investment. I know a guy that spent close to half a million for his newly built home a couple years ago. It's a money pit! He's constantly fixing something. I have another friend whom has a home that was built back in the late 1800's! I think it is something like 1888. Beautiful home! Solid oak throughout. Sturdy as a fort! Huge windows. Some with beveled glass. Just an amazing home.

What I would do if I were you....... is to place a contingency in the purchase contract, stating that the purchase is contingent upon a full house inspection, paid for by the seller. This inspection will be with someone that YOU pick out. NOT someone the real estate agent recommends. Make sure they are ASHI certified and they have E & O insurance. The errors and omission insurance protects you if the inspector misses something. Also with it being an older home, I'd personally want a test done for Radon.

Once you have the report ..... you can decide from there whether to go through with the buying process or not. Being an older home can be a very good thing in many ways!

The house looks great! Is excited for you! And the price! Wow! Can't go wrong there!

Well, honey. The house we had in Virginia had a flue in every room designed for heating stoves. That, of course, was expensive due to losing heat, etc. It also had exposed wiring and plumbing. Ugly and possibly dangerous, so that had to be taken care of.

We were fortunate, because our Irish friend was great at all that stuff.

How about renting with an option to buy, if possible.

I know!
the price is just.... BLOWING my ever lovin little mind!!!!!!
but it is also part of why im thinking.. " Ok, too good to be true.. usualy means... (humph) "

but thank you for that.
I will look into getting an inspector if we decide on this one.. wich is the one we are leaning to HEAVILY.. hehe


the relator said that leasing this exact place , isnt an option with the seller. They tried that before, charged 1,800 and had many problems.
I believe, that is why they are selling so cheap and are so willing to work with us.
I BELIVE.. they live out of state ...
so i can see why they would be willing to get rid of property they are 1) not around to take care of 2) dont have TIME to take care of

home inspection
home inspection
home inspection

don't fall in love with any house without having the results of the home inspection first

My house is just about 100 years old.
There's always something.
But so far it's always been something comparatively minor - other than the roof - which in the context of the selling price was still comparatively minor. I've seen some horrid things happen when people have gone with their hearts, and skipped the home inspection step.

You'll have to determine who pays for the inspection in your market.
Here it is the buyer.
I know that in some markets, the seller is expected to arrange and pay for it <which would make me a bit nervous>.

home inspection
home inspection
home inspection

shewolfnm- The house itself looks gorgeous............but remember, it IS being sold with a caveat. The fact that it is being sold, "as is" means that the seller is not willing to make repairs.

Is it air conditioned? Does it have sufficient amperage to handle an a/c, washer, dryer, computer, and all the other modern stuff that most people want? Apparently, it is made out of wood. Is there a termite problem? How's the roof? Does it need to be replaced? How's the water heater? The heating system? Plumbing? What does the seller mean by, "special addendum"? Water heater?

I think that the seller is being very honest in his description. It is a wonderful house if........................you are very handy, or you can afford to make the repairs. You could easily spend 10-20 thousand, or more, to bring the house up to modern specs. And I am not even thinking about furnishing and decorating.

I really don't want to "rain on your parade". It looks like a great house. But you need to know from the getgo, what you may be facing if you buy it.

Another thing that bothers me is "~lender owned~". That means that he would hold the mortgage. If you had to get a mortgage from a bank, the bank would insist on the house passing certain inspections, before they would give you the mortgage. They would also have the house assessed, to see if the house is worth the money that they are lending you. All this is bypassed when the seller assumes the mortgage.

I bought a few year old house 11 years ago, that was in excellent shape. The first owner was a fusspot, and wanted everything "just so". In spite of that, over the years, we have had to put a lot of money into maintenance.

I just read the top of your MLS listing. It says this home is "lender owned." I didn't see that before!

That makes this house what we call in the lending industry an REO. It apparently was foreclosed upon by the bank. Once the bank buys back a home and it gets out of the hands of their lawyers, and into a real estate agents hands to be sold... it is classified an REO.

They are trying to sell it "as is" ... to recoup as much of their loss on the home as possible. They don't want to spend money on repairs if they don't have to. This is why you can buy bank owned homes at a decent price, most of the time.

When the bank took this home back, they would have cleared out any leins that showed up on title. Word of caution, though.......make sure that you have a good title search done and also, it's always a good idea to purchase BUYERS title insurance. Title insurance fees that show up on the Hud at closing are LENDERS title insurance. Beneficial to the lender but doesn't do much for you. So go the extra mile and get a policy that protects you too. Not that expensive, really. Taking a purchase price of 65,000 ..... you can expect to pay around 325. Not bad for peace of mind.

Do you know what the "special" addendum is - that it talks about?

Shewolf - I love old homes! They have character and little details..... But, they do have needs too. Over all I'd prolly go with this little house AFTER having a home inspection. Those guys look at everything! If it's like Brooke said, there's your reason for the sold-as-is caveat.

If it passes professional inspection, and you can handle it, buy it. I seem to recall that if the home has already been inspected, the agent is required to tell you - if you ask. They may be required to show you the results, too. Ask about that.

Our house was built in 1896. Electrical was okay and my Dad (who is a retired electrical engineer and knew what he was doing; otherwise, get a licensed electrician to do such things, that's for your own safety) updated most of the outlets from 2-prong to 3-prong (grounded). We have done a lot of painting. Front porch steps were recently redone. Back porch was redone a couple of years ago. We have replaced all of the appliances and I mean all of them. Part of the roof was done. Some blown-in insulation was added. We ripped out some paneling from the 70s. Fireplace was cleaned and repointed. Got a new oil burner.

But plumbing is the world's biggest pain in the patoot. Without anyone we know, we have paid through the nose - twice! The first time, it was my secretary's (2 jobs ago) brother-in-law. He was cheap. Now we know why. Now we work on having his "work" undone and better work performed. Over 100 years old means lots of things are super-old, such as the huge honkin' cast iron sewer pipes. Brittle like nobody's business. All replaced. So, prices (keep in mind these were not all done at once, plus we live in Boston) these are estimates, from what I remember:

• Electrical - mostly free because Dad provided most of the stuff. I'd say $100 - $200 in various tools and stuff. Expect it to cost a few grand if you get a licensed electrician but this is needed to get you up to code and keep you there, and to keep the place from burning down due to a short.
  
• Painting - at least $1000 - $2000 and we did all the work. This is the cost of paint and equipment, and time off to get the work done. It's less if you are not working. Get good quality paint and you won't have to do as much of this. That's a lesson I wish I'd known before I started.
  
• Front porch steps - $3000. Guy did an excellent job. We will paint them in the Spring, but for esthetic reasons; it's treated wood.
  
• Back porch - $3500. Excellent job, treated wood.
  
• Replaced all of the appliances (stove, fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer, freezer) - something like $3000 this includes delivery charges plus tips for installer. We have gas cooking and a gas dryer so a plumber had to be called for both in order to do the hookups.
  
• Part of the roof was done - about $5000 but it was covered by insurance except for the deductible, which I think was $500.
  
• Some blown-in insulation was added - $2000? But we pay less for heating and A/C now so take away at least $500 in savings.
  
• We ripped out some paneling from the 70s - free and very satisfying.
  
• Plumbing - eh, I'm not sure, $2000? This includes major work on upstairs bathroom.
  
• Fireplace - $750? We will need to do another cleaning, probably next year.
  
• New oil burner - $5000, paid over time, 0% interest rate

TOTAL: $20,000, more or less

I've overestimated some, I'm sure, I just don't remember all the prices. We've lived here for a little over 10 years. We love the place and won't move, but be aware of what you're getting yourself into. I predict our next expenses (other than the usual emergency plumbing we seem to get about twice a year) will be masonry and gutters. Eventually the remainder of the front porch will need to be replaced and I have every confidence that that will be a five-figure job.

Other upcoming jobs:

• Replacing the windows
  
• Repairing a skylight on the third floor
  
• Driveway
  
• Various curtains, shades, blinds, painting
  
• More insulation
  
• Replace aluminum siding (in good shape now, won't be forever)
  
• Plumbing, as always
  
• Redo downstairs bathroom
  
• Rest of roof
  
• Central air when we need to replace the oil burner again. We already have the ductwork so this might only go a couple of thou

Did I scare ya? I don't mean to, but really, get a good inspection, know what you can do or learn to do AND will have the time and energy to do (and do not kid yourself!!!!) and keep all of this in mind before giving your heart away.

My heart is never the number one deciding factor.. unless my clothes are off ( did i say that out loud?)

In this case, this house has only been viewed OUTSIDE by us and it wasnt a scheduled visit.. it was simply a quiet drive by.
For the upfront price of 65,000 it is well UNDER our price limit to the point where it is definatly a considerable property.

Not to mention the fact that it is friggin HUGE.
This picture doesnt do this home justice.
Large bay windows on the sides and back of the house, all fenced in , fresh mute yellow paint.. >sigh<

looks alone make it perfect.
being sold"as is" makes it a red light.. !

It is not, however , number one for us , due to its age.


Living here with MIL, her home is only 34 years old and we have learned first hand that wiring isnt always up tp par with modern technology.

We have to unplug the microwave to turn on the dishwasher, re plug in the toaster to operate the dryer.. etc..

So i KNOW with out a doubt , that this will have to be changed in that home as well.

To the tune of 10,000 this I didnt know..
but makes sense.
This is , in fact, 2000+ sq feet.

Entire home inspection? I didnt know that you COULD get that on older homes.
This is nice to know.

Some where, in the depths of my mind, I had the idea.... and my idea alone... that inspections were only applicable on modern things.. ?
Nice to know that too is wrong. hehe

Being sold 'as is' was basically brushed over by a diffrent realtor who said that it was due to constant renting and leasing that left the owner unwilling to maintain the place. Wich.. makes a bit of sense, but now that I think about it, renters are not as careful or as worry-some with property they dont own.
I know from people I used to live next to in apts, that renters can be hell on the smallest of things.

Molds being another issue here in this hot humid area, is yet an even bigger concern with houses. Espically ones that reside near water.. as this one does.

can i find some of this information and how to's on websites from realtors?

Things like -
what to have an inspector look for? Or do they just look for everything no matter what?
how do I understand piping.. ?
Will inspectors tell me how much to expect to spend on repairs they see that need to be done?

Have a home inspection and based on what's wrong,
make a low offer and buy it. For that price, it pays to
have things fixed up.

New bathrooms don't cost that much and Home Depot
gives also classes in how to put tiles down. They have
other handyman/woman classes as well.

Check out kitchens at IKEA and you'll find them very
reasonable and most of it you can put together yourself.

This house looks lovely and has a lot of potential.

Castle Timber's original structure dates to the late 19th Century - it was among the first dwellings in the area. Previously, I had occasion to become ever-so-familiar with a just-post-Civil-War-Era home. One thing I can assure you; the entertainment value of such critters is immense. Get yourself one, and you'll likely find yourself well provided with necessary, even urgent, projects.

We knew what we were getting into when we bought Castle Timber (like, new roof, new wiring, new plumbing -including a new well - new flooring, new windows and doors, on and on and on) and we were ready for it. Lotsa folks aren't ready for the discoveries they make once they own and are responsible for a "charming, historic home".

If you can handle the baggage, enjoy the trip - its full of discoveries and surprises. If you're more comfortable not doing - or paying for - remedial maintenance and repair and function-enabling reconstruction, don't board the bus.

That's right timber.
I always found it better to buy something less desirable
and remodel it you my liking. Plus I did identify a lot
more with the house, once my own sweat and tears went
into it. And at the end of the day, it is a lot more satisfying
to do certain things yourself.

house buying
make sure the inspection is done by a...LICENSED HOME INSPECTOR....
you can find this information for various states.
you should probably add a good amount of money for improvements upfront.
as was pointed out already, "good title" is of utmost importance; you don't want to buy the house, fix it up and have someone come along taking it away from you - that does happen !!! if you can get title insurance , get it !!! have fun in your new/old home. hbg

Shewolf.......the listing says that the property requires a special addendum. See if you can find out what this is. Since this home is a repo and owned by the bank or Hud and not an individual .......that could mean a ton of different things. You mentioned mold. That was the first thing I thought of when I read about the addendum.

If nothing else, you could always call up your real estate agent tomorrow and get a copy of the property disclosure form, to start with.

Good luck!

Echoing the home inspection stuff.

Don't let the quality (or lack thereof) of a 34-year-old home influence you. I specifically looked for old houses because the workmanship tends to be much BETTER. As in, a house built in 1920 can last 200 years while a house built in 1970 is falling apart all over the place in much less time.

I got a lot of good advice here before buying my house (built in the 20's):

Better to buy a newer or older home?

home inspection :
just read this in the home section of our newspaper : if there are any "sealed" areas, such as attic or crawlspace, make sure they are opened up, and that what's behind it is thouroghly inspected.
the case concerned an old house with a "sealed" attic access. the buyer did not want to pay for having the sealed space opened up. home inspector so noted it on the report. later it turned out that the rafters etc were beginning to split and rot. buyer sued home inspector. buyer lost - end of story. hbg