Better To Buy Older Homes?

Discussion in 'Buying & Selling Real Estate' started by Rainman, Dec 29, 2014.

  1. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

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    Someone I know once bought an old home believing that with a little renovation he could sale it for slightly more after a few years. That didn't work. He spent a lot of money renovating the house and once he was done the house didn't look any better than it originally was. When he finally managed to get someone to buy it, he sold it for only a little more money than he'd paid for it.

    It had me thinking that maybe it wasn't wise to buy old homes even if they are cheaper. What would you do? Take the risk and buy a cheaper, older home or . . .
     
  2. Gelsemium

    Gelsemium Senior Investor

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    I don't think that buying an old home is the best deal, but sometimes when we recover it we can make a lot of money. So as a deal, it might do, but for myself I'd would never do it. Having this said, location is everything.
     
  3. shilpa123

    shilpa123 Banned

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    Buying old homes can be really cheap depending on ho
     
  4. shilpa123

    shilpa123 Banned

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    Buying an old homes can be really great as it is very cheaply available depending upon how much of renovation required. Also one can make a lot of profit by just selling the renovated homes. Also the renovating the home can become quite easy if professional are used for the task.
     
  5. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    So in short when a house/home is renovated, the value of the house does indeed appreciate....regardless of it being old-school, before i start renovations on my property then, i'll ask for an appraisal to be done and one to be done after renovations..then i compare :)
     
  6. healthandfitness

    healthandfitness Well-Known Member

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    When you are dealing with an old home, there are many different things that may be wrong. If there are foundation and structural issues, I would leave it alone. If there is minor cosmetic work to be done, it may be a good idea.
     
  7. My401K

    My401K Well-Known Member

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    I own a very old home in a historical district. Old homes can cost a fortune. I was very lucky my home was in good sound condition. I did the roof, replaced the driveway with cement and upgraded a ton of the electrical (Plugs, lights, added hard wire smoke detectors) All this adds to the value of the home. Old homes depending where they are can have limitations if they are considered historic. My home is from 1849.

    You have to expect that with an older home you will run into things that you might not be able to just replace. You have to make sure the most important things are intact, like plumbing and foundation. You have to be prepared that should you need to do a repair or upgrade you might need to bring that area up to a new code, and that folks is REALLY expensive. I didn't know that when I bought my home, but I know now I was very lucky. As far as appreciation goes, the value is triple what I paid. I have no desire to sell and have people come to the door and make offers. I like it here, ghosts and all.
     
  8. shilpa123

    shilpa123 Banned

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    Buying older homes can be quite dangerous as you would never know where exactly the fault occurs. It is best to buy such only when you know the house throughly.
     
  9. ally79

    ally79 Guest

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    We bought an older home and it has been a dream for us. Other than wanting to renovate the kitchen, and there is no real reason to other than to update it, we haven't had to do much but paint. We got a house that appraised for $90,000 in a great neighborhood for considerably less than half of that.
     
  10. shilpa123

    shilpa123 Banned

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    I am so glad that you are quite happy with the home you have bought ally. It seems like a wonderful peice of art. I think it would be wonderful to own them.
     

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