Buying a 100+ year old home.

Well my home is almost 100 yrs, because I bought it for a song and the area that its in has trebled in prices within the real estate market, so I dont mind spending extra...
The first thing I looked for was dry rot....most important for a house that old.
After purchasing, the next thing I did was to repile the whole home
2. had all the wiring and fuse box replaced
3. re plumbed and put all new vanities etc throughout the home
4. new kitchen designed, and fitted by the builders-trust me, dont get any of those DIY kitchens because with a home of that age you will find that the walls are not square, and you will end up with gaps in your new kitchen fittings, between the bench top and walls

....and yes Im still renovating

Wow.
thanks everyone.
I am now loaded with information!!

I am going to send these questions to the realtor and see what he says.
He has been out of office for a week ( pregnant wife ) so when he gets back to me, Ill tell you what all he said.

Cast iron pipes?
That isnt legal anymore is it?


soz-
that is the entire reason we have taken into consideration looking at homes built before 1950.
Out of the dozen or so homes we have looked at that were 30 years or newer, it seems that everything is falling apart.
One in particular was offered as a HUD had pieces of the roof caving in. It was built in 1989.. surprising.

Another was built in 91' and the foundation was cracked right down the middle. You could see the seperation in the walls where the slab was giving way.

for that price, i'd buy ANYTHING and spend years renovating, if need be. then again, i'm not the most practical creature and i'd forego comfort for looks/atmosphere/feel of an old house anytime.
renovations can be done cheaply, if you have time/manpower for them. with bean on hand, that might be a little more difficult, but maybe still doable. we gutten the kitchen in my ex home - including removing linoleum and putting down hardwood floor, new sink, countertops, we painted the cabinets already in there white, walls red.... all under $1,000 total. it was a lot of work, but we were young and we were in love.

now he's engaged to someone else, haha, and the house was sold. for extra $90,000. which may be something to consider - if you fix up the house somewhat, you can sell if for a lot more. curious about that addendum though.

I have thought about doing alot of the work myself too dag.
We have a community college here that is very cheap and offers small classes like wood work, painting, basic plumbing.. etc
Most of those classes are 400 and under.

Then, as CJ said, there are places like Home Depot that offer small free do-it-yourself classes as well.

( flexing )
i can do it !

I've been told time and time again that even if the house has been insepected, get your own inspector to do it again. Just to be sure that the inspector isn't a friend or has shady motives. Better to spend a few bucks up front than to find thousands of dollars in repairs later.

Home Depot offers classes, too. For free or for real cheap, waaaay less than $400. Painting, carpenting, plumbing...you name it. Usually on the weekends. They can be fun.

of course, i'd still do the inspection. but man, for sixty something thousand dollars it's worth it even if the condition is abominable.... well, in my little world that statement seems perfectly rational.

If the house will assess for more than the purchase price, then you could get cash back at closing for renovations.

it is almost worth it
but, realize, we have a tiny budget, so expencuve surprises have to be avoided at all costs.


it has crossed my mind to , ( with the example of this house and price ) get a home loan LARGER then the amount of money the house costs, and use the extra to do some of the work.

Keep about 5,000 in a savings just for unexpected surprises in the first 2 years.. and go from there.

tax returns every year bring in about 5,000 so there is working money as well..

i love older homes. Absolutly LOVE them
with their 20ft tall ceilings, rounded walls, larger then life door frames ... and spooky haunted feel.
>siiiiiiiiiigh<

the little girl in me always fantasizes about finding an old diary or the very first owners... or old jewlery hidden in some secret loose board that has gone untouched for 60 some years...
or a ghost...

hehehe

$65,900 seems very low for 2,130 sq. ft. Incredibly low.

it is.

but also consider it is about a 45 minute drive from ANYWHERE.. and basicaly by itself on a ranch road.

Alot of people find that appealing, but that far from the city, takes away from its value.
not much.. but it is a factor

<lifting shewolf's ear, whispering barely audibly: go for eeeet, gooo for eeeet...>

If you guys were childless I'd be with dag, I think (there are a lot of things that make me nervous about it), but small children and iffy houses/ extensive renovations don't mix that well, IMO.

There is almost certainly lead paint if it's that old, which is fine if it's sitting there under other layers of paint but not if there's demo and dust and such. Same with asbestos. Then there are the various dangerous holes and exposed wiring that are created and that toddlers need to be kept away from. Then there is just plain the disruption of renovation; the noise, people tromping in and out, etc.

I don't know what your budget is, but my advice is to get the best -- and most finished -- house that you can possibly afford, and then establish more savings and wait until Bean is older before choosing a fixer-upper.

:-( that sounds sensible (much less fun though!). i have an attitude that i can do anything i set out to do, thus end up not making the most rational choices at times. but everything works out somehow in the end, it's magic, it's mystery, or just pure dumb luck.

well, we'll know more from shewolf when the real estate guy comes back and they can see the place closely from the inside... keeping fingers crossed that it's in a decent enough shape.

The land must be worth already $50,000.
What's real estate going for resp. assessed for in
the immediate neighborhood?

I think this is a house you can afford and probably
will get without hassle. After you have redeemed your
credit history, and made mortgage payments on time,
you are ready to advance to a different house in
a few years.

You have to keep in mind, that lending institutions will
look at your past credit history very careful, whereas
in this case, the bank is probably willing to forgo that.

$65K??? That house would cost over 4X that here.

My condo is in a 100+ year old house. That's very common in this area though. Haven't had it long enough to know if there's any problems. Other than my downstairs neighbor's heating system almost blowing up the other night, resulting in 5 fire trucks outside at 5am.

Shewolf, you're thinking too far ahead right now. You have to go actually see the place. You can go through $5K in renovations/repairs probably a lot faster than you think. It could need a ton of work inside.

What are typical prices in that area? Just wondering.

****have the well and the water tested by a licensed inspector****
if you are on a well, what is the capacity ?

$65K here is a 800sq ft piece of crap in my area.

A 900sq ft fixer upper is about $125K here...I envy you.

We must have been seperated at birth...
I do the SAME thing
and, if it were not for Jillian, we would BE in that home right now.
But as soz pointed out, on a tiny budget with a tiny person, 5 second decisions are not a logical thing anymore.
>sigh<
... pout..
grumble..