Buying an old house regret

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I bought a 100+ yr-old Tudor in a very nice DMV neighborhood that is a short walk to Metro and nice grocery stores, restaurants, and shops. The roof was only about 3 years old, the windows had been replaced with good quality double panes, bricks had been repointed. Unlike just about any new construction, I have brick on every side of my house. Not a inch of vinyl siding on it. I have lots of shade trees that are probably at least 50 years old, a gorgeous front and back yard with expensive hard-scaping and plantings. Large deck in very good condition. Huge driveway with new concrete that was done about 3 years before I bought the house. I have nice wooden privacy fencing all around my rear and side yard. Basketball hoop above the separate garage for the kids. Inside the garage are all those hooks and shelves for storage, so I didn't have to buy and install all of that. I have lights that run throughout the backyard deck and garden area just off the ground for that fancy landscape lighting effect. The fireplace had been converted to gas so I just click a remote control switch and I have a fire whenever I feel like it.

I bought a new range and dishwasher before the older ones gave out, and kept the new-ish stainless fridge. Gorgeous hardwood floors throughout the house (no gross cheap carpet in bedrooms) were freshly finished when I bought it. HVAC is only about 3 years old. Besides the two appliances I replaced, which actually weren't broken, I haven't done any other repairs in the 2+ years I've lived here. I did choose to paint some rooms since I felt all the neutral colors were boring. And I replaced several light fixtures to match my personal style. I just did those one at a time as I found the perfect ones. There was no rush since they weren't broken. My electric box was updated at some point so it's got capacity for all the modern electronics we use. Most of my closets already had ample cabinets and hooks installed for efficient storage and the bedrooms have nice wood built ins. Lots of my electric plugs have the USB chargers in them. The lights have dimmers and the outside porch lights all have those dawn to dusk sensors.

My house is almost sound proof. The brick, combined with plaster walls, is great insulation and keeps out noise. Besides the amazing location, there's the Wow! factor when people walk into my house and see the beautiful curved stair railing and the high end trims and solid wood doors. All the little details like those tiny windows with diamond shaped inserts, the real shutters, the wrought iron instead of cheap aluminum exterior railings, and the perfectly trimmed cherry and magnolia trees that took decades to mature are what make my house that has stood for over a century so appealing.

I don't believe that only 100+ yr-old Tudors are attractive. I once lived in an Eichler house in Palo Alto and I absolutely loved that sort of layout and the large windows. I think those were built in the 1970s. If I were to build a new house today, I'd have the architect use an Eichler as the starting point for my design. However, I don't think I'd build one here where the winters are so cold and the summers so hot.

I have all of that and more in my McCraftsman built in 2018, and it was all designed into the house. I also have sound dampening insulation in every room.

But it’s soooo ugly.

[Anonymous]

Everything you said is true. However... we have an almost 100 year old house and have had tons of work on it including a large addition with a brand new kitchen and I love my house so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like many on here, we thought the 6,000 sft new build craftman were gaudy and too large, boy did I turn out to be wrong.

I just had our number two and my son is now 3 year old. Even with a nanny, DH and I are absolutely exhausted on the weekend from running repairs and meeting contractors for all sorts of work that needed to be done all over the place. We had our fridge and oven break over the course of the same month, our fridge installation had some issues because the waterlines were setup poorly in the house. Overtime, we found moldy spots in the carpeting and had to just live with it because putting hardwood floors is an investment we would never get our money back on. There were multiple leak on the roof that had to be patched. Our water heater had some issues despite being just 5 years old and our AC system had shorts, which we found was possibly due to the way the wiring is done in the house. If I had to do it all over again, I would just bite the costs and live in a new/new-ish build.

I am really on the verge of losing it even with a nanny. I feel like even having a full butler won't make up for the headache of owning these old homes. My husband tried to convince me to go for a new build but I wanted to budget some cushion for our retirement and vacation. Boy do I regret it now.

If you have young kids, i repeat, do not, ever buy an old house. You are better off renting in an apartment with repair on 24/7 standby or even a new townhouse. If you can stretch it, just buy a new build, the peace of mind of things working at least for the next 10 years is worth your sanity.

This is a no brainer, OP. We built our house when we just have my older child who was 1 year back then. We stayed in the house for 15 years, raised three kids, paid it off. And then we bought an old house that requires a lot of work. I don't know if I would be able to handle all this with young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything you said is true. However... we have an almost 100 year old house and have had tons of work on it including a large addition with a brand new kitchen and I love my house so much.

In my less than 10 year old neighborhood there are people putting on additions and even some are redoing kitchens and bathrooms already which surprises me (my kitchen and baths look brand new still) but it's their money...

Buying a new home does not mean that you won't be sinking money into it. Just putting wood blinds on all the windows, fencing in a big backyard costs money. We had to clear some trees and lay some sod down - more money, install a sprinkler system (even more money), put in a pool - more money. We are in a lightning prone area so we had to have some grounding rods sunk into the ground around our property, we also had to put gutters on our home because the builder doesn't do that. We live in a warm climate now, so we had to investigate and pay for adequate pest prevention (like termites). We pay for AC/Water heater inspection/maintenance. The big work is mostly done now, thank goodness.

We owned a 50 year old home before this and we had to replace the roof, siding, windows, remodel the kitchen and baths - plus all the random appliance and system replacements (furnace/ac). We used good quality material so once that was done, we were able to coast for a good long while in a well maintained home.

At any rate, "new home" does not mean "no cost". If you are going to own a home, you can plan on sinking some money into it no matter how new or old it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New homes have a host of issues too. The grass isn't greener. As a colleague used to say to me, the grass is brown everywhere. I think you need a vacation.

New cars have issues too, but we all know used cars have more issues.
Just like new cars, new homes come with a warranty. The builder will come and fix any issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New homes have a host of issues too. The grass isn't greener. As a colleague used to say to me, the grass is brown everywhere. I think you need a vacation.

New cars have issues too, but we all know used cars have more issues.
Just like new cars, new homes come with a warranty. The builder will come and fix any issue.

New homes have a warranty period, true. But there are other kinds of expenses that come along with owning them which have been mentioned upthread. If you buy an older home you might need to patch a leaky roof but you most likely will have a fenced in yard and storage shed when you buy the house. If you buy a new house, you could be dealing with a leaky roof (warranty issue), plus putting up a fence, plus having a storage shed built.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New homes have a host of issues too. The grass isn't greener. As a colleague used to say to me, the grass is brown everywhere. I think you need a vacation.

New cars have issues too, but we all know used cars have more issues.
Just like new cars, new homes come with a warranty. The builder will come and fix any issue.

HAHAHAHAHAHA good one.

[Anonymous]

The new build McCraftsman we bought was like that house in the Tom Hanks movie. They cut so many corners to save a few $$ that there was problem aftrer problem. We finally bought a solid old house that stodd the test of time and couldn't be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new build McCraftsman we bought was like that house in the Tom Hanks movie. They cut so many corners to save a few $$ that there was problem aftrer problem. We finally bought a solid old house that stodd the test of time and couldn't be happier.

Not typical, you should look into lemon law

[Anonymous]

Old houses are bad but are cheaper

[Anonymous]

Since the purchase of a house has already been made, you do not need to regret it. You can redo a house project from scratch. Make a convenient entrance to the garage, the platform in front of the house to fill with concrete and stain concrete. Also paint the walls of the house and redecorate the rooms in the middle of the house.

[Anonymous]

I think this is probably a grass is greener. And after you’ve lived on one patch of grass for a while, you’re just in the mood for the different grass. We’ve lived in a 1920s row house for 18 years and are selling and moving to a 2006 cookie cutter new(ish) build. I know I will miss the beautiful solid wood doors, the heavy brass door knobs, the lovely woodwork, and the thick brick walls. But I will be happy if I never again have to hear “you’re going to have to have that custom-made because that isn’t a standard size”. We just had a washing machine returned to Lowes because it wouldn’t fit in our basement door.

We are old house people, or so I thought – history buffs, costume fans, and so on. But I’m getting old and cranky and I just want things to work and be straightforward, or at least be readily repairable if they don’t work. Old houses are wonderful but they are complex relationship and I’m going to be happy for a change for a while. Won’t be surprised if someday we retire to an older building, but right now, I’m going to delight in our soulless new construction. I hope the next owner will delight in all of the nice details that I enjoyed for so long.

[Anonymous]

It’s totally false that new homes are made with cheaper materials that aren’t as high of quality as older homes. It’s all about maintenance and whether the people who built and maintained it did a decent job either way. If you move into an older home that has been well maintained, you are going to be fine. Our first home was build in the later 1800s but it was well maintained and renovated in the mid 2000s. We had zero issues with it. We are now in a tear down/new build and also have zero issues. If you don’t maintain anything, it’s going to deteriorate no matter how well it was constructed or how good the materials were. If it wasn’t constructed well to begin with, you are going to have to put money in to fix it but it’s hard to know that going in and the age of a house won’t tell you anything about construction quality.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and the late 1800s renovation was lovely. They kept the original banister and hardwoods. Unfortunately, it was a 950sf 2/1.5 row house and we were busting out of it with 2 kids. I miss that cute little house but zero regrets about moving into this new build. I think charm is for the impractical stages of life and I am decidedly not in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New homes have a host of issues too. The grass isn't greener. As a colleague used to say to me, the grass is brown everywhere. I think you need a vacation.

Actually, the grass is greener. We bought a 5800 sq fr home from a reputable builder and it’s been awesome! The builder took care of any problems that popped up in the first year. All we had to do is hire a gardener, pool guy and cleaner. All the appliances are brand new and thus still under warranty if there is an issue.

Karma is coming for you soon.

Yep. This is a brag. 5800 sq ft with a pool is high price point in this area.