Buying an old house?

[Beau Vine 54,226]

Looking at a place that was built in 1935.

Anyone want to talk me out of this?  Advice?

 

 

[HouTex 1,867]

Have you seen the Money Pit with Hanks? It's true.

[Sbbruin 21,853]

My house was built in 1926.  Just make sure you get a good/thorough inspection.

[Jimbaround 975]

Ours was build in 1935.  Wood was much more dense back then is seems.

We had some issue with the foundation (pier and beam) and you'll have to eventually replace the pipes and wiring, but other than that it was fine.

Not because the house was a problem, but we did a full remodel a couple of years ago and the exterior walls are about the only thing original at this point.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

bad Electrical, bad plumbing, bad energy costs, outdate  old floor plans, old kitchens and old  bathrooms, no storage, leaky, single pane windows, bad roofs....

other than that they're greeaaaaaaat !!!

 

Seriously pre 50's architecture is usually very pretty. I re design houses from that era about 15-20 times a year.  Expect to drop $200k plus, to do major work 

[Beau Vine 54,226]

2 hours ago, Jimbaround said:

Ours was build in 1935.  Wood was much more dense back then is seems.

We had some issue with the foundation (pier and beam) and you'll have to eventually replace the pipes and wiring, but other than that it was fine.

 

What's that cost?

[orange dream 1,251]

OP, what makes you want to buy the 85 year old house?  Location, unique characteristics, or just wanting a fixer upper?

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

Just now, orange dream said:

OP, what makes you want to buy the 85 year old house?  Location, unique characteristics, or just wanting a fixer upper?

 

Treasure map he bought at a flea market with an x right over that address ??  I love old houses, but unless the prior owner did the renovations add $200K to the cost of the house (usually).

[huge 3,793]

My house turns 100 next year.

It had been completely redone twice before we bought it.

I recommend this tactic.

[RDCanecutter 26,442]

1935? Part of my childhood was spent in a house that might have been built in 1835, it was awesome, definitely showing its age but what the hell.

I'd show you photos but it up and burnt down not long after we left it.

[Horn_Spanker 524]

They used galvanized steel water pipes back then with their lead paint. 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

3 minutes ago, Horn_Spanker said:

They used galvanized steel water pipes back then with their lead paint. 

mmmmmmmh galvanized lead leaching....

[Parliament 14,260]

If you really like that house and location, hire a good architect to come get thorough measurements and photos.

Then it down and rebuild a modern replica with better foundation, walls, AC, insulation and wiring.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

50 minutes ago, Parliament said:

If you really like that house and location, hire a good architect to come get thorough measurements and photos.

Then it down and rebuild a modern replica with better foundation, walls, AC, insulation and wiring.

I sense a great sarcasm in the Force.....

[Beau Vine 54,226]

3 hours ago, orange dream said:

OP, what makes you want to buy the 85 year old house?  Location, unique characteristics, or just wanting a fixer upper?

 

Location, which now that you mention it, it dawns on me that I'm not going to find a house younger than 50 years old in the area I want, so I'm going to quit worrying about it.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

4 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Location, which now that you mention it, it dawns on me that I'm not going to find a house younger than 50 years old in the area I want, so I'm going to quit worrying about it.

Yeah it's not a big deal, just be aware old houses have issues. Wives tend to like living in new, pristine spaces, and old houses ain't that.

[Jimbaround 975]

17 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

What's that cost?

We did a total gut and added a second story so... a lot.

The nice thing about our old house is that with pier and beam you aren't as restricted on where you can put plumbing on the ground floor as you are with a slab.  This was after they put a new subfloor down; before that you could see straight down to the dirt.

 

[Spoosner 86]

1912 here, and it's our first house.  Second the thorough inspection.  Don't know where you're looking, but if it's Dallas I've got a guy.

My wife is interior designer so she oversaw a decent amount of work before we moved in, but it was mostly cosmetic.  Our only real structural change was knocking down a wall between kitchen and formal dining, and it went very smoothly.

Foundation (pier and beam) has been the main thing we've had to keep our eye on.  Did some work in the beginning, and I've gone under the house a time or 2 to make sure the shims were still looking solid.  Have still had some cracks develop, but nothing major.

All that to say I love our house, neighborhood, and location.  Very happy with our decision, which came with some apprehension based on warnings from older folks.

[jimmyjazz 45,948]

I've owned two that were that old -- you've been to one.  I rewired the downstairs when I added the 2nd story.  I don't think that was more than about $2K added cost.  Plumbing is probably similar.  There are benefits to pier and beam in terms of underneath accessibility.  It's not on slab is it?

[TwiceHorn 31,469]

Slab foundations didn't really become popular until after the war, so I doubt it's a slab.

One thing you kind of have to watch for with older houses, particularly in more rural areas, is that the piers are actually drilled and sunk piers, rather than piles of rocks or even tree stumps, or concrete blocks sitting on the ground.  It's still more easily repaired than a slab most of the time, plus the plumbing and wiring benefits.  But if one of those "piers" moves, it could make a mess as regards drywall/plaster

[jimmyjazz 45,948]

The house I referred to was sitting on a variety of ad hoc "piers" when I bought it.  Cedar stumps were apparently the go-to solution.  I had it in my mind that I might want to add a 2nd story down the road, so I had all new piers sunk and poured.  The footprint of that house was probably 1300 sf and the cost was ~ $10K.  Made all the difference in the world -- that house hardly shifted at all, even with extreme wet/dry swings common to our area.

Beau Vine, also consider the condition of the roof, HVAC, and even windows.  

[RDCanecutter 26,442]

I don't think OP has gone old enough.

Also, no need to go along with this "install electricity and plumbing fad"-- servants should be able to keep up with candles, firewood, and chamber pots.

And the kitchen should be separate from the house proper-- anything else is madness.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

2 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I don't think OP has gone old enough.

Also, no need to go along with this "install electricity and plumbing fad"-- servants should be able to keep up with candles, firewood, and chamber pots.

And the kitchen should be separate from the house proper-- anything else is madness.

Yeah the wife feels the same way about the kitchen being separate, and only reachable with a phone call to to the delivery guy.

[Beau Vine 54,226]

20 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

The house I referred to was sitting on a variety of ad hoc "piers" when I bought it.  Cedar stumps were apparently the go-to solution.  I had it in my mind that I might want to add a 2nd story down the road, so I had all new piers sunk and poured.  The footprint of that house was probably 1300 sf and the cost was ~ $10K.  Made all the difference in the world -- that house hardly shifted at all, even with extreme wet/dry swings common to our area.

Beau Vine, also consider the condition of the roof, HVAC, and even windows.  

Roof and HVAC new.  We put in a bid that's going against a cash bid -- they've asked us to waive the bail-if-bad-appraisal option, which is funny because we're mainly planning on using the bail-if-bad-inspection option.  We have a hardass inspector lined up -- our agent says he has killed too many of her deals to count.

[horn4life 3,760]

The Cash buyer is going to likely win out. HOWEVER they may be seeing if you blink and waive the bad inspection get out of jail free card.  So they may be cash, but NOT waiving! So there is that to think about.

I can't imagine buying a house without the ability to inspect unless it was at a HIGHLY discounted price, like a foreclosure auction. 

Now for the pluses.  Usually an old house like this is in a prime location.  So the old adage, location, location, location comes into play regarding value.  Are you handy?  Lots of little shit can go wrong but your overall value will likely keep climbing due to location.  A super handy buddy of mine just sold his 78704 house in like 6 days for $1.2 million, that he bought like 6 years ago for $450K.  He remodeled and added a small 1/1 apartment that was an AirBNB gold mine.  The reason was the location made it all make sense.  I imagine they put in another $150K in materials and labor, so their net was $700K to profit TAX FREE $520K in six years. They did nearly all the finish out work themselves.

It's old and for me an inspection would be a must.  IF you are looking at a major remodel in the future, electrical and plumbing work will likely be a necessity. As well as a very high probabliity of foundation leveling with new piers and perhaps even a beam. IF you go the new electric route spend EXTRA MONEY to put in a breaker panel that will accomodate any additions you might want to make.  IMHO one of the best values of old homes is to add additions.  New electrical is a big part of that.

GET A HYDROSTATIC TEST!  This determines if you have a leaky sewer line.  Replacing old lines is expensive, and it's not something you want to do out the gate unless you either pay less, or planned on getting new lines because of a planned remodel.  Good luck! Like I said the upside of old houses is that they are often sitting on the most prime of real estate in any given area.

Edited March 7, 2019 by horn4life

[tucker 238]

We are on our second old house. First house was remodeled by the previous owner. The key learning was some remodels are done very cheaply so ask questions on the extent of work and don’t be shy about asking for receipts. We saw too many homes that had the remodel done cheaply. 

Even with that, we still found shit that was done poorly but not as bad as it could have been. 

On our current home (1940s), we under estimated cost to redo the house but what saved us was having a quality inspector that we found not the realtor. We had $75k on the report so ultimately received $50k off from the inspection alone. I’d also suggest having a GC or professional remodeler give you a rough estimate prior to bidding. We passed on many old housed because the cost would be way too high to make the economics work for purchasing. 

We budgeted close to $100k for the remodel plus minor addition and will likely spend closer to $200k due to additional scope and new issues found. We are still glad we are doing the remodel but be extremely conservative on remodel cost. We also found that pricing for remodel ranges widely with full service going for double the cost as us just finding all the right people to help us through the effort.  

The biggest ripoff in our experience are the design build companies that do it all. We found our own designer, engineering and GC then sub-out certain GC parts that we found cheaper. It takes immense amount of effort to find these people, and they take advantage of the amount of time / effort to figure it out on your own. 

One major cost savings is not going super high end on finishing. Go quality but we didn’t need the fanciest tiles, wood floors or cabinets. They key was to shop around. 

Two quick examples: front door company wanted $2k to install / replace the front door plus cost of door. We were referred to a handyman that does it regularly and paid $450. On the addition, we were quoted $50k to $200k based on the same plans and scope.  We went with someone that could do it for $70k. 

Edited March 9, 2019 by tucker

[Neonmoon 38,129]

Don’t do it 

I’m half kidding. You better like to do home improvement 

[Rougarou 594]

My first house was an older house and I just wasn’t ready for the sheer amount of work and effort— if you are walking into it eyes wide open and still happy about it, do it. For me I would have passed had I known then what I know now. Like others have said, electric, plumbing, new windows everywhere (more expensive than you would think), new flooring, new carpets, new doors, paint, baseboards, showers/sinks/bathrooms, appliances, chimney-fixing, etc. 

Good luck!

[Beau Vine 54,226]

So this is not what a pier and beam foundation is supposed to look like?

[DaysOff 7,951]

Lolz. Going over to the wives thread to see how this ends.

[Parliament 14,260]

My inspector says you're G2G:

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

17 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

So this is not what a pier and beam foundation is supposed to look like?

Not yer better ones, no.

[TwiceHorn 31,469]

On 3/5/2019 at 3:49 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Slab foundations didn't really become popular until after the war, so I doubt it's a slab.

One thing you kind of have to watch for with older houses, particularly in more rural areas, is that the piers are actually drilled and sunk piers, rather than piles of rocks or even tree stumps, or concrete blocks sitting on the ground.  It's still more easily repaired than a slab most of the time, plus the plumbing and wiring benefits.  But if one of those "piers" moves, it could make a mess as regards drywall/plaster

 

32 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

So this is not what a pier and beam foundation is supposed to look like?

JFC, beyond my wildest imagination.

[jimmyjazz 45,948]

That's not what they're SUPPOSED to look like, but it's what a lot of them DO look like.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,652]

Mine was bult in 1886 in Galveston and was a 1900 storm survivor. Luckily it was raised slightly and didn’t even get any water during Ike (high part of the island so it technically doesn’t even need flood insurance, but I’m not an idiot). 

 

The previous owners were a very wealthy couple who meticulously redid the guts over a 10 Year span (all new electrically, plumbing, central air/heat added two baths from old Rear porch and trunk room) while keeping the original design. Only modern looking portions are the kitchen and bathrooms which were tastefully done. 

 

So. I love it, but it is basically a new house Inside the was 

 

One thing to be said is that those old houses were built like a rock. Can’t even hammer though the walls, need to drill to hang a picture due to the hard wood. 

Edited March 27, 2019 by Xian

[Okie State 3,821]

Our previous house was built in 1939. It had some remodeling done before we purchased, but was mostly the same layout as it was originally. I will say that while it had some quirks, it was built significantly better than my current house. The lumber was noticeably stronger and the plaster walls held up much better than drywall.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

52 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Our previous house was built in 1939. It had some remodeling done before we purchased, but was mostly the same layout as it was originally. I will say that while it had some quirks, it was built significantly better than my current house. The lumber was noticeably stronger and the plaster walls held up much better than drywall.

Well yeah, rough cut old growth lumber, 1" plaster and lath instead of 1/2" paper coated dust.

[Okie State 3,821]

Yeah, it was great. Everything is shitty now. Built to be disposable.

[DFWTexEx 276]

One thing to be said is that those old houses were built like a rock. Can’t even hammer though the walls, need to drill to hang a picture due to the hard wood. 

This.  When we moved to Dallas, we rented a 1950's brick house in the M-Streets/Lakewood area.  Our girl dog, who had never been in a Texas thunderstorm, freaked out each time a storm came.  After a few months, we bought our 1913 wood siding house in a historic district in North Oak Cliff.  Storms never bothered her again.  This house is solid.

The house had been redone to cheap, rental house standards when we bought it.  It was not exactly pretty inside, but we did not have to do anything to live in it.   Over the next 14 years, we redid most of the systems a bit of a time and redid the rooms one at a time.  We never moved out.  I know that a lot of people in our neighborhood prefer the full move out and gut restoration / remodels of their houses.  I am glad we did it the way we did.  If we had done a full remodel when we moved in, I would already hate it.  Our tastes now are much different.  As it, the house grew with us and we love it.  It will be really hard to leave it.