The Benefits and Drawbacks of Purchasing an Older House

One of the largest investments that many people will make in their lifetimes is the purchase of a home. Some people choose to build brand new, single family homes. Others choose to purchase townhomes. Then there are those that may like a challenge and go for a 1920s or some other year, classic home. Buying an older home has its positives and its negatives, its pros and cons. As an owner of a home that is almost 70 years old, I have first hand experience as to the things that I live and those that I hate about my older home. This leads us to our list of pros and cons for buying an older house.

Pros:

1. Bedrooms are Large

One of the things about my old house that I love is the size of the rooms. My home has three bedrooms. The master bedroom is about the same size as the other two bedrooms. Each one of the bedrooms is about 18' x 15'. This does not include the closet area or adjacent bathrooms. This leaves plenty of room for a lot of furniture.

2. Older Features

My home was purchased with some of the original fixtures that were around when the house was built. One such fixture was the original brass and crystal chandelier. It also had matching brass wall sconces. These items can be left in place or moved to alternate locations, depending on ones preferences.

3. Hardwood Floors

The floors that consumers are paying thousands of dollars to be installed into their new homes, already came as a standard feature in my 1940s home. The floors were surprisingly in good condition and needed little more than stripping, sanding, and re-staining.

4. Personal Gratification

For those that love do-it-yourself projects and older home is a DIYers dream! From the smallest changes to a total bathroom remodel, working on bringing the home up to your own specifications can fill your weekends for years to come. Because of these projects, a person is able to appreciate the transitions that the home has gone through.

5. Wanting Something Different From Everyone Else

When you buy an older home, it is not going to be a cookie cutter home of the new housing developments going up around your town. Many older homes (such as one as old as mine) were built in times when you purchased your land and then chose your own builder. Thus, the homes look very different. You can be sure you are not going to have a home like anyone else's.

Cons:

1. Smaller Living Areas

One of the downsides of older homes especially ones as old as mine are that the living areas are smaller. In fact, with my home I found it necessary to add on an additional bedroom and to make the older bedroom spot into the dining room, so that we were able to have a den/family room. My house only had a formal dining room and a living room. Growing up in a house that had a living area, which was used for special occasions and special guests, it was necessary to have a living area that could be utilized, while still leaving my formal living area for formal events.

2. Small/No Closet Space

Walk in closets must not have been in existence when my house was built, because my home has none. I did decide to have a decent size closet added to each of the rooms. One other issue is that the house had no utility closet or linen closet outside of the ones in the bathrooms. Thus, I had to turn to functional furniture to house linens and towels. I also had a hallway that was no longer needed when the bedroom was switched to the dining room, closed off and made into a closet, which could house vacuum cleaners, coats, and things like that.

3. No Laundry Room

When my home was built, there was no such thing as a laundry room. I have found that many people did not even own washing machines at that time. Moreover, those that did, were small washers, which were round, and had a hand-crank ringer on the top. This is something that we have yet to overcome, as the washer and dryer are stacked one on top of the other, and tend to make the kitchen extremely warm in the summer time.

4. Modernizing Major Features

A house of this age required a total rewiring of the electrical system. It also required a total revamping of the plumbing. Rather than having plastic pipes, which last much longer than copper pipes (which will eventually rust out) or Kwest (which will also rust, but tends to be more sturdy than copper), of which the two latter made up the plumbing system in my house. One of the bathrooms in the house did not have a shower, which required not only new plumbing, but also a new tub enclosure. This was actually one of the most costly expenses, and ended up costing almost as much as the house was valued at prior to the repairs.

5. Costs Involved in Repairs

All of the above brings us to the costs to complete the repairs needed to make a home comfortable. There was a lot of work, time and effort involved in these repairs. The total funds that it took to bring the house up to the standards of being proud of my investment cost more than the house did itself (and this was not a fixer upper). However, I can say that I am very proud of the result.