Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Roofs don't need replacing if the sellers replaced theirs a few years prior to sale. Cabinets do not wear out, lol! How could a cabinet possibly wear out? Why would floors need resurfacing? Most people maintain their floors well if they have beautiful hardwood floors. Older homes have a lot of charm the new ones don't have, unless they're neo-craftsman types.
I want to live in your world, where everything is perfect and lasts forever and reality never creeps in.
Quote:
Maybe some people want new construction thinking they can avoid hidden problems that way, but new construction can also have unpleasant surprises. Caveat emptor, always.
You are aware that newer homes have a much lower chance of needing expensive repairs, right?
And I really wish everyone would stop saying "charm" when they mean "old and familiar."
Roofs don't need replacing if the sellers replaced theirs a few years prior to sale. Cabinets do not wear out, lol! How could a cabinet possibly wear out? Why would floors need resurfacing? Most people maintain their floors well if they have beautiful hardwood floors. Older homes have a lot of charm the new ones don't have, unless they're neo-craftsman types.
Maybe some people want new construction thinking they can avoid hidden problems that way, but new construction can also have unpleasant surprises. Caveat emptor, always.
I love how in some of the remodel shows how the couple just swear they hate the cabiniets. There is everything wrong with them. Then they find the dollars are building faster than they thought. And if they want that cool new things something has to give. So the people doing the work say they have an idea. They show the couple the cabinets, shined up and painted. Wow, they look great, they say. Same cabinets which absolutely HAD to go.
Good cabinets are pretty much the same except for the doors, and its not complicated to add new doors. What matters is how solidly attached they are. Sometimes I wonder where they find some of the people on these shows, who seem to lack even the smallest sliver of imagination.
The first thing you should think of isn't they have to go, but can they be fixed. Paint is one of the wonders of the world, after all.
I love how in some of the remodel shows how the couple just swear they hate the cabiniets.
Those shows are made up and completely fake. You are basing your opinion of someone's desires on a falsehood.
Quote:
Roofs don't need replacing if the sellers replaced theirs a few years prior to sale. Cabinets do not wear out, lol! How could a cabinet possibly wear out? Why would floors need resurfacing?
What? Roofs don't need replacing if the sellers replaced it before? You admit it needs replaced, you are just arguing about who paid for it.
And floors need refinished because furniture and pets scratch them over many decades. Cabinets do wear out, they get greasy, burned, sunlight damage, water damage - sure, it doesn't happen that often to any single house in any given year, but an older house that has seen many years and probably many owners has had some of these things happen to it.
And I HATE with a passion, the corner kitchens that are in the new construction; everything in one big open room. I like a separate kitchen and a separate dining room. I'm old-fashioned, I guess.
As I said in another thread, I lived in a 1954 rancher that had just that layout. Open and with the kitchen in one corner (laid out like an L with closed off bedrooms and bathroom taking up the remainder of the ranch rectangle). So it's not new, and it can certainly be old fashioned, like that ranch was.
As I also said it usually seems like when entertaining AND cooking, that most people end up in the kitchen anyhow, so that conversations can happen and no one is left out. I guess you can have a formal dining and living room if you have a staff on hand to cook for you so you don't have to be separated from guests while dinner is being prepared... But I guess that's REALLY old fashioned, eh?
Cabinets do not wear out, lol! How could a cabinet possibly wear out?
Um, opening and closing the doors so often that they come loose/fall off and there is not enough material to put new hinges on and make them work is one way I can think of right off the top of my head. Seen it in older houses quite a bit.
Other things are water damage, warping from years of humidity, etc.
Quote:
Why would floors need resurfacing? Most people maintain their floors well if they have beautiful hardwood floors.
No, most people do NOT maintain their floors. And over decades and many families, foot traffic and pet traffic/stains and moving furniture can cause quite a bit of wear to the point that they need sanding and refinishing or even replacement.
Quote:
Older homes have a lot of charm the new ones don't have, unless they're neo-craftsman types.
Charm as in worn/damaged/broken parts, rough plastering, non-square construction, poor wiring and plumbing, etc? I live in a house built in 1932 and the "charm" it has shows up in all those things.
I'm retired. We just bought a brand new house a few months ago. We were able to choose all the colors, flooring, lighting, cabinets, appliances, counter tops and more. Four outlet receptacles and cable were placed five feet high so that flat screens could be wall mounted. We were able to move a wall so the laundry room could be bigger. We now have a house that reflects what we wanted in a house, it's brand new, it's totally up to code and it should need no upgrades and no major repairs in our lifetime. I'll pass on those 100 year old money pits.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,576 posts, read 81,167,557 times
Reputation: 57813
Around here, "everyone" doesn't want them, it's just what's available for the most part. People prefer an existing home for the $600-700k range, rather than spend 1.4 million for 4,000 sf new 3 story (2 with basement) on a tiny lot. There just aren't many existing for sale and they go fast. The new ones at least seem to be trying to use traditional styling such as the ones below, though in Seattle modern boxes are more the rage.
My parents, my sister and I have chosen or designed the exact house we wanted....(by designed I mean we had an architect turn a very poor rough sketch into an actual plan to build from). We did some of the minor work ourselves (and installed the HVAC and electrical with the help of friends in those fields), but subcontracted everything else.
I considered buying an existing home, but I couldn't find anything close to what I wanted within a 25-mile radius of where I wanted it. Mine is as close to an original Craftsman-style Bungalow as possible (think 1910s but with Hardiplank siding & Hardiplank 'wood-look' shakes and vinyl double-paned windows on the outside. Inside I included as many authentic-looking details including trim/moulding, lighting fixtures and other details. The big difference is that the bedrooms are larger than you would ever find in a genuine/vintage bungalow from the early 1900s. The kitchen, great room and dining room are all much more open than in the historical version. It also has LED lights throughout, numerous 'smart home' features and is built to be as energy efficient as possible.
I got a brand new version of my historical dream house (it's only 1595 square feet, so my dreams aren't huge). I also was able to choose who did each part of the construction and my step-dad and I inspected the work as it progressed to make sure it was high quality and exactly as I planned/wanted it.
My biggest problem with older homes is that they can be expensive to maintain and very rarely are energy efficient. BTW, I try to be 'green' but the real reason energy efficiency is so important is because I keep the A/C on 70 degrees for about eight humid months of Georgia weather. Keeping a house at 70 degrees on a 95 degree summer day with near 100% humidity can cost $500+/month in a poorly insulated, drafty old house with without vinyl windows and if the HVAC unit(s) are older than 10-12 year old, it can cost even more. The highest power bill that I've had in the four years since I built the house is $192...and that was one of the hottest months we'd had in metro Atlanta in the last 100 years!
I have a friend who has a historical home built in 1904. It is beautiful with many of the original design elements (including the original mantle made of green serpentine stone from a local quarry). She bought the house in 1986 and has spent more than $130k replacing the roof (not just the shingles, but the actual roof) and the siding (which required very expensive asbestos remediation). She also replaced the windows with authentic-looking vinyl replicas and had the most insulation possible blown into the walls (the interior walls are finished in plaster, which is a ****** to repair, so blowing in from the attic was the only option) and she had the attic insulation reinforced. It cut her gas and power bills in half, but it cost a lot to make that happen. She is currently dealing with a leak in the basement coming through a newly discovered crack in the basement wall. An inspector found the crack about six months ago when she first noticed the water in the basement and he assured her that it was only 'cosmetic'.,...but it's far more than cosmetic....and won't be cheap to repair.
The potential risks of buying a house built from around 1950 to the early 1990s make most of them less than desirable. The size of rooms and the overall layout of the homes simply aren't in line with what modern families want and/or need. There is also the issue of possible harmful materials, lead paint and asbestos are just two of many toxic materials used in some older homes. Then there's the potential of shoddy construction, hideous designs (think 'contemporary' homes from the early 80s), outdated HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems and I've even seen a few homes from the early-mid 70s nearby that still had the Avocado Green and/or Harvest Gold kitchen and bathroom fixtures, counters and tiles! Sadly, the multi-colored shag carpet had worn out long ago or the look would have been full-on retro 70s! =)
But I agree with you about "cookie cutter" neighborhoods. My best friend bought a beautiful new house in Atlanta (West Midtown) back in 2011 for $360k. It was almost 3400 square feet, beautiful genuine hardwoods, hand-crafted Italian tile kitchen backsplash, granite counter tops, custom cabinets, built-in bookshelves in the family room and a huge master 'suite' with three oversized bedrooms upstairs. There were numerous other high-end design details and it was beautiful.....but beauty fades quickly. Despite all the features and his very good taste in furniture and decor, it never felt "homey". I felt that way after house-sitting for a week a few months after he bought it, but I never mentioned it because it would have been pointless. The inside felt very sterile and generic. Walking down his street one evening, I realized that nine out of 16 houses on his street were the same plan as his. They just had slightly different trim, different exterior colors and some had brick accents (or full brick fronts) and some, including his, had stone accents. But the shape was identical and they looked identical beyond the front door threshold. The same trim and spindles on the staircase, the same massive lighting fixture (if it's metal with an oil-rubbed-bronze finish, can it be called a chandelier?)....identical! After he had lived there for almost a year, we went out for dinner one night. Out of the blue, he blurted out "I hate my house"! He went on to tell me the same exact things I had discovered more than six months earlier. He even said that it didn't feel like "home" and didn't think it ever could or would. It was generic and had no personality, no matter how much new furniture or wall art or what color he had the walls painted, it didn't make a difference!
He transferred to Pittsburgh last August and was very happy to sell the house. He even sold it for $90k more than he paid because the neighborhood was still being developed when he bought but was one of the hottest areas of town when he sold. He found a substantially custom-designed home that was built by an older couple in 2005. It's a huge 3-bedroom 2-bath ranch (2900 square feet including the 'outdoor living space on the back, which we just call a screened porch here). But it has so many unique touches like pocket doors on the master bedroom, a massive custom-built granite shower, beautiful off-white high-end cabinets in the kitchen and olive green custom cabinets in the bathrooms, all with granite counter tops and gorgeous kitchen backsplash. The exterior is just as unique as the inside- a combination of deep red hardiplank siding, red brick with dark gray mortar and two gables trimmed with gray Hardiplank simulated wood shakes. He called me every day for the first few weeks after he moved there (we've been best friends for 28 years, since 7th grade) and he had never lived more than three hours from where we grew up...and he didn't know anyone in Pittsburgh other than his boss (who has three young kids and no time to hang out) and the office staff, which he can't hang out with due to strict corporate fraternization rules. So he called me every day, sometimes a more than once, which was great because I was a little concerned about him. I honestly can't imagine a world where he could identify, much less use, a snow shovel or salt his (steep) driveway! But after the first week in his house, he told me that it felt like home. I went up for Thanksgiving, about three months after he moved in, and it immediately felt very comfortable and warm (literally and figuratively).
I definitely prefer old houses. Yes, everything isn't new, but "new" only lasts about 10 years, anyway. Then, you have to start replacing things, just like in an old house. And, with old houses, (pre-1960s/70s) the quality of the materials is often better. My kitchen cabinets are over 60 years old, and look nothing like the photo of 1980s cabinets above, for example.
As for custom plans, I don't care that much; I'm pretty adaptable. But, per eschaton's point, I do appreciate the higher quality of finishes in old houses, that you'd have to spend lots of money for in a new house.
One area where my tastes may differ from some, is that I prefer the signs of age in an old house. I don't want to refinish my original hardwood floors, strip and refinish the woodwork, replace the original plaster with drywall, or replace the original windows. I like the wear on the floors, I like the patina on the woodwork, I like the imperfections and even some small cracking that occurs on plaster with age, and I like the wavy glass in original windows. For those who are into classic cars, think of it like the difference between a concourse restoration, and an original survivor. Most Americans who go through a concourse restoration of their classic car are often afraid to drive their car, and will trailer it from show to show. Someone who has an original survivor isn't afraid to use their car, because it's already imperfect.
I don't get it. You are claiming that your 1905 foursquare is a good candidate for customization but a house built from scratch isn't?
I think we have very different definitions of "custom". Obviously if you want to build a home exactly to your tastes, you build from scratch. One cannot do this to an existing home, without demolishing the home.
And I actually prefer older homes. But obviously a brand new home can be built however the hell you want it, and an old home can't. If I want a basketball court in my basement, I can do so in a new home.
You wrote:
"4. Old homes don't have the layouts, ceiling heights and room sizes people prefer these days"
You didn't mention "custom" (so don't need to put it into quotes).
In any case, yes, old homes can be customized to about the same extent that most new homes are (maybe a bit more) as most new homes are not designed from scratch and spec home customization is usually limited to things that don't change the basic footprint and pre-existing construction drawings.
- What is popular are open floor plans...old homes can have that.
- New homes are built around the 4x8 drywall panel so 8' ceilings are the norm. Old houses rarely are so squat.
- I see no difference in room sizes between the majority of new homes vs old homes. Take a look at any home plan magazine and I just don't see much of a difference.
As long as one compares homes being built by a similar demographic of 1st owner, the homes are very similar in size....though the older ones were built to last.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
