Pros and Cons of Buying an Older Home

Pros and Cons of Buying an Older Home - In January 2005 my wife and I bought our first house. This house was made in 1983 and definitely had some advantages over the newer homes we were looking at. The first advantage that made the choice obvious was lot size. My yard is seven tenths of an acre and the flattest lot of all my friends who have purchased since us. The yard is double the size of the average yard in the newer neighborhoods that surround mine.

This yard has another built in advantage in that has already grown in. While my friends waited months for their yard to grow in, I was cutting mine the first weekend. I had a welcoming party in my yard within a month of moving in. My friends were replacing straw over the wet red clay that they were calling a yard.

The expedience of faster move in is nice too. After buying my house my in-laws helped me on weekends to make a few improvements and upgrades and with in a month we were moving in. I remember as a kid my parents bought a new home and we lived in a rat trap apartment complex for seven of the longest months of my life waiting for the house to be finished, by watching the progress of the neighborhoods in my area the wait may have gone up

The construction of my home is another feature I have fallen in love with. As I was doing the initial home inspection, I noticed the wood frame from above in the attic and below in the crawl space. All supporting floor joists were solid planks of treated wood that after 25 years were in excellent condition, mold and termite free and no warping.

The attic was finished in two by fours that were very similar condition. Now I know you maybe thinking this is no big deal. Is this not expected? Well I have walked around homes that were triple the price neighborhood of mine that were still being constructed and the wood being used was not of the same quality and some supporting walls were already showing weather exposure. The interior maple wood, used as decoration, through out the common areas of my house is of a quality that I cannot find in of the decor stores today.

The established neighborhood in which my home can be located is great. Before moving in we had an idea who our neighbors were. Knew the neighbors were quiet predominately retired people and young families just starting out like mine own. The neighbors had been living there for years and therefore when we researched the crime stats and sex offender registry, the neighborhood showed up clean and the information was accurate where as the half-year lag in the system means people living in new neighborhood might not show up. Also living in a older neighborhood means no new home construction noise or traffic. In going to see my friend in his neighborhood, even though he has been there for over a year, there are still times when you can not get to his house due to large vehicles blocking the road. No new construction also means no red clay river running down the middle of the road.

Not having a HOA is awesome. Most of my friends having new home all have people who leave notes if their garage door is left open or if heaven forbid, the children's yard toys are actually left in the yard. Well I have a three year old daughter and she plays safely in the yard and if she leaves her toys in the yard, then they are there waiting for her in the morning.

Another great advantage is room to expand with the previously mentioned huge lot and when no mother hen Home Owner Associations. All I have to expand my house is file for a permit from the city, which I assume by the size of my small city's staff, is a monetary contribution more than any thing. In a few years when I can raise the cash, I plan to add a garage and upstairs bedroom on the back and convert the current carport in to a den big enough to have my daughter have as many friends over as she wants and my wife and I can oversee any on goings.

The biggest advantage has to be the financial rewards. Where I live all new homes going up start around 200,000 and average out around 300,000 and some homes in the area are selling around 1 million. My home was purchased for well under half the average and has the advantages mentioned above.

Some final special advantages are around the creative purchasing that used homes offer, I highly recommend looking into foreclosure and pre-foreclosure houses. If you show up to the county courthouse on auction day homes are going for cheaper than you ever imagine. I have heard stories of homes being purchased for 50,000 through this but I would do your own research in to this.

I would be dishonest if I did not tell you that were some disadvantages in buying a used home. The most obvious being that all style choices have already been made. If the house was already wallpapered and you preferred paint, you would have to strip the walls in order to apply the coating of the color paint you wanted. Along these lines, the second set back would the choices you were stuck in yard choices. For example the previous owner had a rose bush planted in the front yard in an island, I am still fighting that bush today and every spring new thorns appear, I hack, spray, and think I killed the thing.

On a related topic, the next con presented is out of date fixtures. My home has several things like shaggy carpet, and light fixtures that scream old house. If the home was really old this would be considered chic, fixtures from, the eighties is just considered old however $200 fixed the lights and the carpet was figured in on the purchase deal.

The other big issue was some kitchen redesign that due to new cabinets, well an interesting fact is that current cabinets are meant to hold twenty-five year-old appliances. That required upgrade for all the kitchen appliances. Another $1500 spent.

That dilemma lead to my next dilemma, undersized electrical. The amperage load for eighties appliance is not sufficient to run modern appliances and require the three wire cable to ripped up and a heavy gage 4 wire line is required, This was easy except for running new heavy wiring through a new hole I had to create through the aforementioned heavy duty construction material.

The other issues can be avoided by being choosing your seller carefully. The wear and tear on the house is of concern. Door jams are nicked up. The hall way has spots that need to be plastered and of course even if you like the color paint it can be faded.

This also leads my next caution, which is not knowing about the maintenance. You need to know about the last time the septic tank was pumped. When the roof was last redone.

The last couple of issues I had will not cost money just time. We had a problem with some debris left behind. We had discussed in closing having some odds and end stored in the shed and crawl space removed but I guess in both parties acting quickly it was overlooked. It took a Saturday afternoon but I did acquire a few tools for my efforts.

Another bad situation was dealing with 2 sets of bill collectors. The lady who previously owned our house had her grandson and a friend living with her .The friend still gets mail and even a visitor one afternoon but again a little time with the visitor and it was taken care of. A another guy, Sean who seemed to have a problem paying his bills, owned our phone number. Usually once a month, we get another call where I end up explaining how he does not live here has not in three years and it is none of their business that I am

The last thing was not a problem just an annoyance. This problem is utility issues. How does a house with already existing water hook up, electrical hookup and cable hook get charged for having on installed. It would be the same as buying a new home but it just seems unfair for the working guy.

As much as I tried to stay impartial in this article, I do find myself recommending the older home. It makes economic sense. It is less unpredictable and gives a good feel knowing your house will stand the test of time as it already has.