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.
Ugh, condolences! We got really lucky with ours and I even wish we'd gotten a second one just to be sure. One thing I would suggest is to air seal it when you can, our heating and cooling costs plummeted after we did that.
Stuff from that era was designed to take cool air from the basement and bring it up through the walls during the summer and just keep the furnace on all winter. That's economic suicide these days though.
Thank you for your condolences. It was the second house we'd bought, and his third. Live and learn. The termite and chimney inspections were clean, and most things looked good. We should have known what to do, but we'd never faced those problems before.
Aside from finances, I think it comes down to your personality -- some people are are cut out for historic homes, some are not. Some are immediately drawn to a historic home BECAUSE it is historic. Those who are not should likely head in the other direction, it won't be worth it to you.
Living here in the northeast, surrounded by so much history, I couldn't own a home that wasn't historic.
"There is no one left to tell the stories of these times (from long ago), just the cold books in the library and these warm homes that have survived."
Aside from finances, I think it comes down to your personality -- some people are are cut out for historic homes, some are not. Some are immediately drawn to a historic home BECAUSE it is historic. Those who are not should likely head in the other direction, it won't be worth it to you.
Living here in the northeast, surrounded by so much history, I couldn't own a home that wasn't historic.
"There is no one left to tell the stories of these times (from long ago), just the cold books in the library and these warm homes that have survived."
Exactly.
Another factor -- If you want to live in a walkable town with a lively downtown, that pretty much means an old house. I sometimes get frustrated with my fixer-upper and fantasize about moving to a modern high-rise condo building, but I'm a ten-minute walk to two of the better downtowns in Essex County and I can't imagine giving that up.
Another factor -- If you want to live in a walkable town with a lively downtown, that pretty much means an old house. I sometimes get frustrated with my fixer-upper and fantasize about moving to a modern high-rise condo building, but I'm a ten-minute walk to two of the better downtowns in Essex County and I can't imagine giving that up.
YES. Dowtown, the train, library and school are less than a 5 minute walk for us.
And, if I choose to (wisely and tastefully)update my home, it will always be worth substantially more than any home here built in the last 60 years, the market here proves it.
Insane stories, and here i was, whining about my townhome (built late 80s) renovation lol...
the truth is unless you really know your stuff (most of us dont), it's impossible to know what you are buying besides looking at the cosmetic stuff, and even if a contractor fixes something, you still dont know if they are doing it correctly or not. Countless hours i have researched the proper way rough fixture should be installed, what kind of cement board needs to be behind showers etc..to check my contractors work, it still only gave me very basic understanding.
And home inspectors are not much better, you lucky if you get a good one who cares, and most times even if you think they are doing a good job, they are probably not, because you just dont know half the stuff they missed or arent telling you.
I did what everyone else did hired 2 inspectors all with rave reviews, and they didnt tell me jack ****, other than the basic stuff like an outlet isnt working. It was my contractor who found all the issues after they start the renovation (thank god they didnt charge me too much to fix it).
So yeah, just buy a new house if you can or even better a large condo! What i find the best is buy a house that has been renovated by the owner few years earlier, so you know it's not just a flip renovation, but something the owner did for himself. Like if i were to sell my current house few years later, the buyer will be pretty lucky, because i did the renovation based on i am going to live in it, using highend material and paid to make sure the contractor is fixing stuff not just covering it up.
Insane stories, and here i was, whining about my townhome (built late 80s) renovation lol...
the truth is unless you really know your stuff (most of us dont), it's impossible to know what you are buying besides looking at the cosmetic stuff, and even if a contractor fixes something, you still dont know if they are doing it correctly or not. Countless hours i have researched the proper way rough fixture should be installed, what kind of cement board needs to be behind showers etc..to check my contractors work, it still only gave me very basic understanding.
And home inspectors are not much better, you lucky if you get a good one who cares, and most times even if you think they are doing a good job, they are probably not, because you just dont know half the stuff they missed or arent telling you.
I did what everyone else did hired 2 inspectors all with rave reviews, and they didnt tell me jack ****, other than the basic stuff like an outlet isnt working. It was my contractor who found all the issues after they start the renovation (thank god they didnt charge me too much to fix it).
So yeah, just buy a new house if you can or even better a large condo! What i find the best is buy a house that has been renovated by the owner few years earlier, so you know it's not just a flip renovation, but something the owner did for himself. Like if i were to sell my current house few years later, the buyer will be pretty lucky, because i did the renovation based on i am going to live in it, using highend material and paid to make sure the contractor is fixing stuff not just covering it up.
Be sure to let us know when you decide to sell
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.
