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I don't want an old home because too many surprises. Don't want to pay for major updating either. No pink bathrooms please. Old homes usually have chopped up floor plans and outdated plumbing and electrical.
But, oh God, some of those old staircases are treasures!
Love, love love, historic homes! So please do not update it unless its to update the original woodwork, uncover some of the Nooks and hidden walls.... or the Light fixtures and Old Door with skeleton keys!
Ahh the adventures of restoring!
Its only important to update for the lifestyle you wish to attain. I loved keeping it simple, eloquent and cozy.
When we bought our house in 2015, it had:
~new{er} roof {30 years left on 40 yr Architectural roof}
~replaced with double pane windows
~new electrical {95%}
~new paved blacktop driveway
~updated {10 years old} bath
~updated kitchen
~new wall to wall carpeting {sorry folks except kit and bath, we like wall to wall, and the berber carpet should last the rest of our lifetimes}
That is what sold us on the house!
So, Unless I'm buying a fixer upper that I'm going to tear into and redo to my specifications, I'll take strongly updated and or remodeled.
We are now looking for a house in our targeted retirement area, and are looking two ways: one for already updated, OR for a fixer that we plan to redo anyway. Either way is fine.
But, sorry folks a house with mid century modern dated 1950's or 60's kitchen and bath is NOT in our plans. THAT, to us, is a fixer...even if all appliances work and the bath is "usable" just the way they are.
I don't want an old home because too many surprises. Don't want to pay for major updating either. No pink bathrooms please. Old homes usually have chopped up floor plans and outdated plumbing and electrical.
New is not without issue either... Chinese Drywall made a friends dream home a nightmare... even the electric wires were corroding.
Another bought in an area that had been a WWI military base and ordinance was found.
I could go on but there is a lot to be said about a well built older home that has stood the test of time in my book.
I don't want an old home because too many surprises. Don't want to pay for major updating either. No pink bathrooms please. Old homes usually have chopped up floor plans and outdated plumbing and electrical.
All good points. I think the updating many people are referring to these days isn't so much the pink bathroom from the 1950s. It's those houses that are 20 years old now that seem to make people say "it needs updating." At least, if you are to believe the decorating shows.
I don't want an old home because too many surprises. Don't want to pay for major updating either. No pink bathrooms please. Old homes usually have chopped up floor plans and outdated plumbing and electrical.
They are called "rooms". And pretty much were the standard for everything except tents, cabins, and studio apartments for the last 1,000 years.
Unless you are referring to single family homes that have been split up into rental units. Now that's chopped up.
People saying they only buy new are making me chuckle. Sure, that is great, sign me up, but it just isn't possible in some areas of the country. There is literally no new housing in many parts of the country (I'm in NJ)
I love looking through the real estate listings and finding the original kitchens and bathrooms from the 60s and stuff. It's pretty neat to think someone maintained them that long.
People saying they only buy new are making me chuckle. Sure, that is great, sign me up, but it just isn't possible in some areas of the country. There is literally no new housing in many parts of the country (I'm in NJ)
Ha ha, and very true. Bought my first place in a town like that. Pretty much everything was at least 30-50 years old, if not older. Even the ones that had been updated had updates that were starting to get old. The "new" places for sale were 15-20 years old. Occasionally someone bought a tear down and built something new, but they were building them for themselves, not for resale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bookspage
I love looking through the real estate listings and finding the original kitchens and bathrooms from the 60s and stuff. It's pretty neat to think someone maintained them that long.
Absolutely agree. You know, sometimes updates look good in a house, but not always. I've see a few homes from the 1960s where the original details looked better (or at least they looked like they belonged with the house). And those who held onto the 60s look can now get a kick that they're starting to come back into style!
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