How far back in years to go on houses? 5-10years? (new home, landscaping)

[BombayDoc]

Originally Posted by adixyz

Not as bad after the last mortgage crisis.

True.

Cannot generalize. Most house buying decisions are emotional and later defended logically. You can come up with those after buying . I too did not buy a new home but new home buyers have their own reasons including horror stories of repair issues on old homes. I have seen it happening for one of my friend who bought a relatively older home in Plano which even had newer AC's and appliances. It all depends on how the house was kept and build. You also hear similar build quality stories on newer homes. These are all exceptions and will keep happening.

True again. Things can go wrong with either. I also consider energy efficiency stories a bit over rated, even if one can save 10k over 10 years. Is it really a big factor for a 500k home? I think greenery, commute time/money saving and school quality trumps it.

[globe9]

My home was built in 1957 and we love it. It was taken to studs in 2009 and completely remodeled. The only issue still is that the A/C unit is over 20 years old. We have money to replace but it just wont stop. Our electricity bill has never been over $100, not even in August.
Coming from Nola I have family houses over 100 years old, so 1957 is nothing to me. We wanted an older home in fact. In my experience there was a pride in craftsmanship back then. Things were made better. Not always the case of course, but in my experience it's been true. We also wanted a pier and beam, something not found at all in newer construction.
We love our old charming house on a big lot with mature trees and our proximity to Dallas etc.

FYI: just read a DOE report which basically states radient barrier is a waste of money. It said that over like 10 years you might save $10.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I really don't get you new home crazed people. Homes aren't cars. "This year's model" isn't always the best option. If it were, people would tear down entire neighborhoods every 10 years and rebuild.

I'm going to steal that...love it.

Originally Posted by jcl_cls02

Older homes are not up to code anymore. Any repairs or updates can end up being a major overhaul (asbestos, knob & tube wiring, no HVAC system, etc..). It really all depends on the age of the house.

ROFL

My house has no asbestos or knob and tube wiring; few houses in DFW do. Most were built after knob and tube wiring went away and the ones that did have almost all been updated. I don't remember the last time I saw a stick build in DFW that didn't have central air.

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Think again. My 3600+ sq ft home has never seen a bill over $200. If my house was 3000 sq ft, that works out to under $170 a month.

Remember to add in the extra fuel most McKinney residents will burn on their longer commute. I have no idea where you work, but I'm guessing most people who live in McKinney don't work there.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Originally Posted by Rakin

No that was only because of a shortage and high price of Copper back in the 70's.

Same reason crooks rip out copper wire from buildings today.

Yes, I know, but it still seemed like a good idea, and my point is that the consequences had not been fully thought out. The shortage was artificial, and the greater disadvantages greatly outweighed the temporary high cost. IOW, if people understood the disadvantages at the time, they would not have used aluminum at all even then.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Remember to add in the extra fuel most McKinney residents will burn on their longer commute. I have no idea where you work, but I'm guessing most people who live in McKinney don't work there.

I work from home.

And as far as the home/car analogy goes... That's not really helping her case. Cars today are far more efficient, safer, faster, and all around better cars than they were 30-40 years ago.

TC may have upgraded her home with all the latest energy efficient windows, AC units, water heaters, etc, and I'm sure it's much more efficient than a similar home built at a similar time without those upgrades... But it's still not going to be a match for a home built TODAY with the latest and greatest efficiency items too.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by globe9

FYI: just read a DOE report which basically states radient barrier is a waste of money. It said that over like 10 years you might save $10.

Care to post a link to said report?

Here's mine... coincidentally from the Department of Energy.

http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/btr...tSheet2010.pdf

In a hot climate (and Dallas certainly qualifies) energy savings can be ~$150 per year. Most homes built now in the DFW area have the ductwork in the attic, so yes, $150 a year ($1500 over 10 years) seems like a pretty good deal to me, not to mention extending the life of your A/C units by not having to work so hard.

[globe9]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Care to post a link to said report?

Here's mine... coincidentally from the Department of Energy.
http://web.ornl.gov/sci/ees/etsd/btr...tSheet2010.pdf

In a hot climate (and Dallas certainly qualifies) energy savings can be ~$150 per year. Most homes built now in the DFW area have the ductwork in the attic, so yes, $150 a year ($1500 over 10 years) seems like a pretty good deal to me, not to mention extending the life of your A/C units by not having to work so hard.

Do have to apologize b/c I misread. Radiant barrier is pretty much useless in colder climates, the report I read was referring to that. I will say that $1500 savings over 10 years (and that's the maximum) isn't all that great
considering what they're charging to install it. Well over $1500. Just not worth it to me, especially considering my highest electricity bill was $97 last August in my 1957 home with my 20+ year old a/c. Insulation is where people should spend their money. Wont take 10+ years to recoup cost on that.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Hickory patrick

my good size cape cod is around 52 years old, when we bought it 4 years ago I sent my wife n girls away for 2 months, me and a crew gutted the house, even the floors n walls and roof, replaced all the electric from the panel out and all water lines from the meter out, all the drain lines as well.... and as of this fall i installed a 95% efficient furnace ... we love this house because it's not another cookie cutter home....

Im lucky I grew up in the trades, my father was a home builder over 40 years.... some of the guys i hired to gut n rebuild were his friends that have know me since i was a child....

the way I looked at it is taxes are wicked High on a new house around here (around 12k) where as my old cape while all new inside like 160 sheets of 3/4 sheet rock alone and 1,800 SQ feet of hard wood flooring, my taxes are a tick over 6k.... so in the last 4 years that's 24k in savings over new... plus i truly know this house inside out....

That's awesome.

[synchronicity]

On the energy front, I'm thinking (banging this drum yet again) that "mature trees" also help with that, giving you shade in addition to lookin' purty. Can't find too many of those in the 5-10 year old (or newer) subdivisions.

That said, they're a b*tch on bermudagrass which needs its sun, so what I'm saving in electricity will be partially offset by finding some shade tolerant grasses for the front lawn (and shade tolerant ground cover in other places). Damn you hot climate for eliminating fine fescue from my choices!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

So was your previous comment.



Compare apples to apples. Comparatively, an older single story home will certainly not have better efficiencies than a newer single story model unless it has been updated, and for a two story, that still doesn't usually hold true unless the older home has been extensively upgraded.

Err, we'll have to disagree as is the case most times. I qualified my statement as intended. It seems to me an aspect of many modern two story houses is at any given square footage they tend to contain more volume or cubic footage than in the past, especially over most single story homes, that space must be heated and cooled.