How far back in years to go on houses? 5-10years? (Dallas: appliances, new house)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Tell me what the SEER rating is for an A/C system built 58 years ago.

Mom2gurls, it isn't necessarily a hard rule based on years, but regulatory requirements are more important to look for.

For example, our current home was built at the end of 2005. It just so happened that the efficiency requirements for A/C units were mandated to be 13 SEER or higher (higher is better) for all new homes starting in 2004. So, if you bought a home in 2003, you could have an inefficient AC system like an 11 or 12 seer rating by the builder, because unless you pay extra to upgrade, they always put in the bare minimum system to meet code. So our home in 2005 was required to have the higher rated units.

That's not the whole story though. We are currently looking at a home that was built in 2001. They've already replaced the original AC units with 16 seer units last year, and added radiant barrier. Both those things will dramatically improve that homes efficiency. With some low E windows that house would be just as efficient as new ones built today, perhaps even more so, because radiant barrier is not mandated in newer homes.

The short answer is, it just depends. Newer homes will generally have an advantage, but not always.

Couldn't tell you what the SEER rating is and don't really care. What I do care about is the electricity bill which has never been over $250-275 for a 3000+ sf 1 story house. That alone tells me the house is efficient.

[PizzaPies]

Age of the house isn't the only factor that matter. This is a big myth created by new home industry. By the way, most foreclosures happen in new communities. :-)

[BombayDoc]

Builders and mortgage companies sell to people who can't pay 20% down and stand immersed in loan upto their eyeballs. They can hardly afford to buy window coverings.

Most people who buy older homes are financially stable and wiser, they buy in prime neighborhoods and have money to change A/C or add insulation if needed.

[adixyz]

Builders and mortgage companies sell to people who can't pay 20% down and stand immersed in loan upto their eyeballs. They can hardly afford to buy window coverings.

Not as bad after the last mortgage crisis. They scrutinize a lot these days. You'll come to know when you are applying for a loan!

Most people who buy older homes are financially stable and wiser, they buy in prime neighborhoods and have money to change A/C or add insulation if needed.

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.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by Bruin85

It sounds like it comes down to how well the owner has taken care of the house and whether they have invested money in upgrading it's infrastructure or whether they have just lived in it and now they want to unload it on you. So the question is how can a prospective buyer really know the difference? Or can they?

Have a very good inspection done when you buy. You'll know as much as possible about your home and the things in it. Be willing to pay more for a thorough inspection, because the extra $ you spend there are generally worth it.

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.

Count me with TC80 and EDS. Coming from up north where the NEWEST house in our subdivision was built in the mid 70's or so, many of the convos here regarding homes sound ridiculous. "Oh my, that home was built ALL THE WAY BACK IN NINETIES!" Really?

All too often people buy homes because they have all the "trendy" things in housing (colors, floorplan, kitchen layout, "media room", whatever) and they think it will help in resale. Problem is, who knows if those same things will be trendy 5-10 years from now. Buy a house based on what works best for YOU, and as long as it's not completely off-the-wall strange, any decent layout and look should be a minor issue assuming you're in an otherwise strong neighborhood. Yes, it's possible the neighborhood could change as well, but that tends to happen far more slowly, even here in rapidly growing DFW, at least in "established" areas. (Again thanks to TC80 for her post awhile back listing top schools 15 years ago; amazing how little change there had been).

Originally Posted by EDS_

I'm always amazed at these some of the comments in these conversations.

Very often an older single story house will be easier to heat and cool than a similar s.f newer two story house.

Our house in Plano was a 2 story, ~3,900sf home built in 1999 with total AC re-do in 2006. Our new to us home in North Dallas is one story, ~4,400sf and it was built in 1967. It's got perfect up to code copper wiring throughout, arc-fault and GFI in place etc. Our electric bill in the older/bigger house are about 1/3 less and the AC units here are just a bit older and 3 SEER point less efficient.

Similar story here, and I'm grateful in a way for the "new home" focus of many people, as it allowed us to buy something much nicer than we ever expected. FWIW, 4,500 sq ft, two story (yes, two story, even), on a half acre with tons of mature trees, summer electric bills topped out at $275. But built way back in 1991 , so price a year ago was under 500K. Yes, we're very happy.

Another possible side benefit of living in an "older" area, as I've stated many times before, is that there seems to be less of a "keeping up with the Joneses" attitude.

As a poster here (it may have been EDS) once said "if the best thing you can say about your house is that it's new, then remember that soon it won't be."

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by EDS_

That's a broad overstatement.

So was your previous comment.

Originally Posted by EDS_

Very often an older single story house will be easier to heat and cool than a similar s.f newer two story house.

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.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Couldn't tell you what the SEER rating is and don't really care. What I do care about is the electricity bill which has never been over $250-275 for a 3000+ sf 1 story house. That alone tells me the house is efficient.

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.

[move4ward]

If I sold my house every 5-10 years, the closing costs and commission would outweigh any energy savings. It would be at least 6% to cover the realtor's comissions. On a house that's $300k, that's $18k. There are other costs associated with getting a new mortgage and closing on the house.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Updating the HVAC, plumbing, and electric of an older home only kicks your butt if you sell too soon. I had no problems buying and updating an older home in Illinois.

I'm having a bit more concern in north Dallas, mostly because the ground movement situation has me nervous, and fixing that ain't DIY. I don't want to face replacing HVAC and having foundation repair done.

But with regard to new houses, another unknown is that trends can backfire. "New ideas" frequently have unintended consequences. Aluminum wiring sounded like a good idea at first. So did the first generation of "low flow" toilets, when the initial idea was that merely putting on a smaller tank would do the trick. How about the idea of sealing houses tightly before they really understood the need and methods of proper air exchange? Cheap Chinese drywall seemed like a good idea.

There are just enough brand new houses that are simply shoddily built or shoddily designed to think that a brand new house should be inspected any less thoroughly than an older home. Sure, there are new codes...there are also negligent builders.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk

Aluminum wiring sounded like a good idea at first. .

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.