Tell me about living in a historic (old) home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, and I guess we still have to gauge what “updated” means - yes, new kitchen and bathrooms, but it looks like previous owners (flippers) put a lot of money into updating the property. If it’s more fully updated - and gosh I hope it is - should we still anticipate headaches/needing to provide costly updates ourselves? (I’m talking structural/foundational things like the foundation, electrical, plumbing etc - if these are all relatively new, can we trust that we’re generally in the clear? FWIW I never intended to own an old home but in our very limited inventory town, it’s either 100+ year old homes or new, ticky-tacky new builds. I would very much like to avoid the latter.)

I was the PP who mentioned buying the 1920s bungalow with structural issues. It was flipped by a flipper who told us at the time of purchase all electrical and plumbing was new. Didn’t end up being the case once we had a big leak and had to rip open walls. Saw quickly the only “new” electrical and plumbing was what was in our faces - eg anything behind walls hadn’t been touched. The electrician we hired to fix some of it said the flipper must have hired random guys from the 7-Eleven because none of the new stuff was to code either.

So all that said - look at permits for the property - that will tell you what has and hasn’t been updated properly. If you don’t see permits for the big stuff and it’s been updated recently, run. We did check permits, didn’t see any, said “Hey that’s BAU in Arlington” and have paid the price for that decision (literally). All said and done we’ll need to put another $150-250K in.

Also make sure to hire an actual structural engineer (PE) if there’s a hint of structural concerns. Make sure they are an actual PE licensed with the state.

I am sorry but this was on you. Did you have a realtor? Pull permits. Our realtor looked over the permits with us and we saw they didn’t get any for some work.

Any plumbing and electrical needs permits. We redid ours for my 1950s home and did all permits. Friends who bought from flippers had issues.

We had to put in about $65k in new plumbing/ sewer line and all new electrical. Our quote was $25k when we bought the house but of course when you open walls other things pop up so if you get a quote for work double that quote! It stinks but it’s done now and we have all permits so when we sell the house it will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, and I guess we still have to gauge what “updated” means - yes, new kitchen and bathrooms, but it looks like previous owners (flippers) put a lot of money into updating the property. If it’s more fully updated - and gosh I hope it is - should we still anticipate headaches/needing to provide costly updates ourselves? (I’m talking structural/foundational things like the foundation, electrical, plumbing etc - if these are all relatively new, can we trust that we’re generally in the clear? FWIW I never intended to own an old home but in our very limited inventory town, it’s either 100+ year old homes or new, ticky-tacky new builds. I would very much like to avoid the latter.)

I was the PP who mentioned buying the 1920s bungalow with structural issues. It was flipped by a flipper who told us at the time of purchase all electrical and plumbing was new. Didn’t end up being the case once we had a big leak and had to rip open walls. Saw quickly the only “new” electrical and plumbing was what was in our faces - eg anything behind walls hadn’t been touched. The electrician we hired to fix some of it said the flipper must have hired random guys from the 7-Eleven because none of the new stuff was to code either.

So all that said - look at permits for the property - that will tell you what has and hasn’t been updated properly. If you don’t see permits for the big stuff and it’s been updated recently, run. We did check permits, didn’t see any, said “Hey that’s BAU in Arlington” and have paid the price for that decision (literally). All said and done we’ll need to put another $150-250K in.

Also make sure to hire an actual structural engineer (PE) if there’s a hint of structural concerns. Make sure they are an actual PE licensed with the state.

This. Flipped homes are suspect IMO, as they do it cheaply for a profit rather than with an eye to staying there themselves. Although I lived in a home where the guy did live there for 15 years but did everything himself and absolutely nothing was correct or to code. Every time a professional came over to fix something, they'd say "what the hell is going on here?" It was expensive and sucked.

Agree you want to pull the permits before anything else, at least for anything related to plumbing, electrical, or structure. In our current house (not the one above) we redid 85% of the plumbing and the permit guy came out for a serious inspection. The prior owner finished the basement for rental and had to get permits - we pulled them. Same with the expansion they did. All above-board. The basement was cheaply done in terms of finishes but it's all up to code and solid and that's what matters.

[Anonymous]

To the OP, I would really appreciate it if you could update us after your viewing. Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The term historic house is almost meaningless, it just means anything above a certain age (let's assume anything built before the 1960). It can be a 18th century farmhouse, it can be a grand 1880s Queen Anne rowhouse, it can be a 1920s stone tudor or colonial, or a 1940 brick box.

What's important is how the house has been maintained over the years. Not every historic house is an estate sale. Not every house is a money pit. Many have been beautifully updated and are in better shape than any new build. I can walk into any older house and immediately know what kind of maintenance will be required and it comes down to how the house was built and the care it's had over the years. I understand not everyone is capable of doing this and I had the virtue of growing up in older houses in older neighborhoods ....

This is such an excellent post.

OP, you are so wise to ask for advice. There is really no reason those unfamiliar with historic renovation/restoration could be expected to know the right questions to ask. Our first old house (18th c) and forty years ago was DIY and we learned a lot. With later houses we were in a position to hire restoration experts. And I read and read everything available. My advice to young families who ask me about old homes is that it makes financial sense to buy someone else's renovation, a renovation done by a contractor specializing in this area. And I agree this house is more likely to be in a very expensive neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Awful you can't tear it down and make it liveable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends. Old homes have work but I fine most new homes go be poorly built.

To all the commenters about mead and asbestos those can be dealt with. Don’t you think all the new cheap materials will in future have major issues like lead and asbestos. Remember the drywall issues years ago? I do!

My grandmother owns a home from the 1700s. It’s a lot of work but it is so well built. They didn’t add central air but it stays pretty cool. They have window air conditioners on the second and third floor, don’t need on the 1st.

I own a home from early 1900s. We did a big Reno and I find our home go be well built. We added on and paid good money but the new area of the home is hotter in the summer and colder in winter than the older part of the home (that we will renovated).

Get a good inspector and look into electrical and plumbing. I redid our electrical and plumbing and it was not cheap. The gas company and water company also redid both laterals.

Lol wrong most new homes are built 10000% better because of Required building codes and inspections. Old homes are terrible and exempt from safety codes

[Anonymous]

Nothing charming about musty old quaint homes. BTDT

[Anonymous]

Ghosts and money pit

plumbing inadequate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL at the lead comments. Any house built before 1978 will have lead everywhere.

Yes I find this interesting because in many cases, people will put a lot of effort into lead remediating in an old home (or one that was built before the 1920s) because you immediately think/worry about lead for a “historic” house. But lead didn’t go away all that long ago! So millions and millions of people live in “newer” homes and have no idea of their lead exposure— either in the paint or the plumbing or the soldering.

[Anonymous]

So jealous!! I’d love to live in an old home.

[Anonymous]

Shitshacj

[Anonymous]

I like our old home but it is expensive sometimes and you have to be willing to live with imperfections. Flips around here tend to focus on the visible stuff and ignore the expensive structural/behind the walls issues but I’m sure that isn’t universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends. Old homes have work but I fine most new homes go be poorly built.

To all the commenters about mead and asbestos those can be dealt with. Don’t you think all the new cheap materials will in future have major issues like lead and asbestos. Remember the drywall issues years ago? I do!

My grandmother owns a home from the 1700s. It’s a lot of work but it is so well built. They didn’t add central air but it stays pretty cool. They have window air conditioners on the second and third floor, don’t need on the 1st.

I own a home from early 1900s. We did a big Reno and I find our home go be well built. We added on and paid good money but the new area of the home is hotter in the summer and colder in winter than the older part of the home (that we will renovated).

Get a good inspector and look into electrical and plumbing. I redid our electrical and plumbing and it was not cheap. The gas company and water company also redid both laterals.

Lol wrong most new homes are built 10000% better because of Required building codes and inspections. Old homes are terrible and exempt from safety codes

Old homes have better bones that is why they are still around after hundreds of years.
On the other hand new homes have better electrical, insulation and probably plumbing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do lead check swabs in the windowsills to see if it has lead paint remnants. Unless the windows are all new.

You plan to chew the windowsills? All old houses will have lead paint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends. Old homes have work but I fine most new homes go be poorly built.

To all the commenters about mead and asbestos those can be dealt with. Don’t you think all the new cheap materials will in future have major issues like lead and asbestos. Remember the drywall issues years ago? I do!

My grandmother owns a home from the 1700s. It’s a lot of work but it is so well built. They didn’t add central air but it stays pretty cool. They have window air conditioners on the second and third floor, don’t need on the 1st.

I own a home from early 1900s. We did a big Reno and I find our home go be well built. We added on and paid good money but the new area of the home is hotter in the summer and colder in winter than the older part of the home (that we will renovated).

Get a good inspector and look into electrical and plumbing. I redid our electrical and plumbing and it was not cheap. The gas company and water company also redid both laterals.

Lol wrong most new homes are built 10000% better because of Required building codes and inspections. Old homes are terrible and exempt from safety codes

This.

Also LOL at the people ITT underplaying lead paint. Read Lead Safe Mama’s blog. Lead is no joke.

I have a gorgeous new build in the Potomac area and wouldn’t have it any other way.