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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, to answer your questions, all things have a life span. Whether you buy an old house or a new house, you will need to replace the roof at some point. You will need to replace the furnace and air conditioning at some point. There will be plumbing problems. There will be electricity that needs looked at. It doesn't matter whether the house was built to 2019 code or 1940 code. That's part of the ongoing home maintenance and upkeep.

That aside, houses built in the past were able to take advantage of different, more commonly available, building materials that were also cheaper for their time. Slate roofs, for example. Natural growth hardwood. Cheaper but more skilled labor for masonry. This is really evident in the case of pre WWII housing but a lot of it lasted into the early 1960s. Changes in building technologies has allowed new houses, especially post 1970s, to be built somewhat differently, and newer houses often have what I think of as a lighter feel to it. Walls are thinner, for example. They won't have the same depth of a old pre 1960s house.

Given that most old houses are still standing, one can see how they have effectively passed the test of time. But new houses will, too. [/quote]

To caveat one thing:  most local areas did not have building codes until the 1950s.   Western states had them in the 1940s but they were mostly used to address fires and floods

Older localities had neighborhood covenants that were precursors of building codes.  Fir example, roofs had to be asbestos or skate, the building restriction line was 35 feet instead if the current 25 feet, only one house could be built on a lot even though the lit size could accommodate two house under current zoning.   These neighborhood covenants are almost impossible to overturn and many builder has run afoul of neighborhood groups who try to enforce them.

Because many of these covenants were based on practices at the time, they could mean that the house is stronger[/quote]

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