NEVER Buy These Types of Houses
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- Опубликовано: 29 май 2024
- Searching for a home is daunting, and when you come across one that checks the boxes, people will turn the other way when red flags pop up. This is the largest investment you will ever make in your lifetime. So I want to tell you the type of home never to buy so you don’t make a huge financial mistake.
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Jacqueline "Jackie" Baker
NJ License 1541448
Coldwell Banker Realty
Allendale/Saddle River
#realestate #jackiebakerrealtor #jackiebakersellsnj #homebuyingtips #homesellingtips #realestateinvesting
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Lots of flippers are slapping lipstick on pigs.
Had to tell someone those $15 box of floor tiles and new cabinets and a fresh coat of paint are nice but the electric panel is original to the house and hasn’t been upgraded. So the cheap cosmetic upgrades verses a new roof, new garage doors, and new electrical vs. a refreshed kitchen is something to think about
@@benjamindover5355 very true!
I'll do you one better, I wouldn't buy a home built pre 1947, quality of construction was drastically improved immediately after the conclusion of WW2.
Good tips.
Who the hell waives an inspection?
I bought a house that had 2 cat door exits. When I looked into replacing the doors I found out you couldn’t just buy a door , you needed to replace the whole incasement. High cost! I solved the problem by just getting a cat.
But…..two cat door exits would mean two cats, wouldn’t it? 🤪
😄 Great solution.
John...what a nice guy you are! 🐈
Best solution ever.
My cat got 6 field mice that crawled in the walls
I’m in Ohio and the housing market here over the last 7-8 years is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Homes that were bought for $130K in 2015 are now being sold for $590k. I’m talking about tiny, disgusting, poorly built 950 square foot shit boxes in quiet mediocre neighbourhoods. Then you’ve got Better, average sized homes in nicer neighbourhoods that were $300K+ 10 years ago selling for $750k+ now. Wild times.
Home prices will come down eventually, but for now; get your money (as much as you can) out of the housing market and get into the financial markets or gold. The new mortgage rates are crazy, add to that the recession and the fact that mortgage guidelines are getting more difficult. Home prices will need to fall by a minimum of 40% (more like 50%) before the market normalizes.If you are in cross roads or need sincere advise on the best moves to take now its best you seek an independent advisor who knows about the financial markets.
I wholeheartedly concur; I'm 60 years old, just retired, and have about $1,250,000 in non-retirement assets. Compared to the whole value of my portfolio during the last three years, I have no debt and a very little amount of money in retirement accounts. To be completely honest, the information provided by invt-advisors can only be ignored but not neglected. Simply undertake research to choose a trustworthy one.
This is huge! think you can point me towards the direction of your advisor? been looking at advisory management myself.. seeking ways to invest and make more money with the uncertainty in the economy.
There are a handful of experts in the field. I've experimented with a few over the past years, but I've stuck with ‘’Marisa Michelle Litwinsky for about five years now, and her performance has been consistently impressive. She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I needed this myself, I looked her up, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.
Don’t buy a house on a severely steep hill or severely uneven land. Don’t buy a house right next to an airport. Don’t buy in an HOA.
Not buyinga house in hoa is seriously not possible today unless you want to live out of the city.... or if you are willing to drive long distance away from major city amenities.
Most new housing development is sold with HOA conditions.
@@jong9379 Depending. I live in the city and i don't have an HOA. Most older communities don't have one.
@@jong9379 In NJ? It's very possible
HOA's and gated communities seem to be a regional thing. Big on the coasts and down south. Not so much in the vast interior (aka "flyover country") or the northern tier. @@jong9379
HOAs can be a good thing. The devil's in the details. It pays to read the HOA covenant and bylaws before buying a house. Also, if there is community property in the neighborhood, you pretty much have to have an HOA to pay for and manage the upkeep. More upscale neighborhoods will typically have such property, such as a pond, clubhouse, swimming pool, park or tennis courts.
Something I realized as soon as my parents handed over their home to me, homeownership is truly liberating (don’t have to worry about being evicted) but expensive at the same time with all the upkeep. It seems like every year the home needs something done. 😑
You're fortunate to have a mortgate-free home! But yeah, it really does seem like every year the home needs something done and it's hard finding trustworthy and seasoned handymen/contractors who will do the job properly.
It's a never ending litany of repairs. Liberating? I don't know.
@@zuzanazuscinova5209 Better than being homeless, I guess. Condo Living is pretty carefree
@@00inwiththenew00
as a person who also inheirited their parents home,
theres lots of maintainence. ive just come to make my peace with a project each year.
some are opt-in like cosmetics to keep the home youthful. others are a pain in the butt like electrical (was minor), plumbing (also minor), and structural (windows were dry rotted), roof was dirty and wanted to get the max life out of it.
I will say this. learn how to do your own contruction work will save thousands if not tens of thousands on the many many many ankle biter projects.
get your own shovel and up keep your own flowerbed, do your own lawn cutting, learn to paint, pressure wash you own driveway, and so on.
the more you KNOW and DO, the less you pay someone else to do it.
save your money for more major projects. idk maybe I'll raise my kids to be construction workers and contractors just so they can refurb homes and flip them.
again im a TFK and my folks home doubled in value. but the only thing im paying is taxes and upkeep. which is still a pain but its pales in comparison if i had to buy the home for its current value. its a double edged sword. property values are nice to sell when they rise but its a pain to buy these inflated values.
all in all, since i grew up in the home, i know every problem and which are minor, major, and the ones i need to get ahead of before they become a major pain.
No eviction as long as you pay your property taxes. Government owns it, you rent it with tax money
Never buy an HOA controlled home - never buy a condo. Don’t buy a manufactured home to be installed in a rental park - only install on your own land.
If you have ltd $, you have few options. Condos can be yer only option. Just avoid condo boards (Napoleonic clique mentality). Look for cap on % rentals allowed, too.
My husband and I bought our first home and hate it. We will be moving to a condo in a few years. Hopefully, by the beach.
@@nette9836 Hi, Im curious about your experience! Do you mind telling about why you dont like the home and the advantages to having a condo?
Agree with the HOA we bought a condo and try to contact the association the first time was impossible for a few months ( we don’t live in the condo) to set up our payments because the hoa is remote then finally we did but we missed certain payments .. we try to pay and sent check and was bounced back later on we found out the put a lien on our home and if you don’t pay the debts they can foreclose you home. Mind you we have been paying monthly the other months ..
@@nette9836 Hope you have a lot of money when you get assessed!!
You don't mention new construction homes, I've seen many recently constructed homes with bad foundations and structural issues. New homes are mostly garbage stick structures that in 5 years the problems will start to show.
I'll be doing another video about new construction in the near future.
I agree. I have friends who bought a lovely new townhome with a nice water view. Come the winter , they couldn't keep the home warm. My friend went up in the attic space and discovered that was no insulation. Also there were no firewalls between houses. They had to take the builder to court at get the needed work done.
Try less than a month... happened to my SIL when she and her family moved into their "new construction" home back in about 2006. The first thought that came to my head the moment my husband and I pulled up was the words of my aunt who's a realtor "... cheap materials used on rushed new construction of the millennium." It just looked like a human size doll house to me, meaning the siding just looked like cheap hard plastic. When we went inside, the worker men were still doing some work (?). Turned out they were repairing an issue that happened that week. Their entire ceiling caved under, filling up with water when my SIL wanted to take a bath and as her tub was filling up, so was the ceiling beneath the tub and needless to say, it caused a major leak. They were in their house for only about 3 1/2 weeks total. Fast forward about say a year or 1 1/2 years ago, my husband went over to his sister's house and when he came home, he reported that their kitchen caught on fire due to some electrical issues... and really who knows what other problems they've endured over the years of being in their house. Today, prior to or with the exception of her renovated kitchen, her house looks as old as mine, which was built in 1997 and had only one owner before us and theirs was built 9 1/2 years later than ours and they were the only owner.
@@lkofie6670 …. I was at a New Housewarming.. They had just moved the furniture in.. During the party, the front window of the living room, fell out of the wall and onto the front yard..
I honestly thought she was going to say this first. It was certainly the first thing that popped into my mind
Usa victorian home owner here: bought a fixer upper 130 year old home, updated many parts of the home. It cost some money but we were able to do most of the work ourselves over several years. 100% worth it.
Love it! I bought a depression era 1930's cape cod. I have done most the renovation myself with my husband and the place is awesome. People who freak out of the cost of house renovations also don't understand that if you do it in a smart way then you get a huge return on investment.
Yes to everything else, but I would never get tired of a secret room 👀🧐
Hubby insisted on installing a secret door to his office. I'm worried about re-sale, but he loves it SO much and it brings him joy. 😊
@@Heather-Luper I get the importance of re-sale value but what would be the point of owning a home if you're basically just "borrowing" it from a future buyer, right?
@@c0rnichon that's a really good point
My family had a secret room with the entrance inside one of the closets. Years later, one of my sisters and I visited the house as adults and told the new owner we were just driving by. When we asked if the secret room was still there, the new owner knew we were legit and invited us in for a tour! Seeing what had changed and what was still the same was a wonderful experience and we were lucky that the current owner shared our joy and appreciated hearing the house history from its first children.
Agreed - I've always wanted a secret room!
I live in a century old home. I agree about the potential problems. However, my roof is slate, my floors are quarter sawn oak and my trees are 90 plus feet tall. Like everything else in life, it's a trade off.
Yup.
Have you seen the cockroaches and termites?
If the slate on your house is as old as the house the slate is at the end of its useful life. Wait and see how much a new slate roof costs! Yep, I used to do slate roofs in Vermont, where that is a common roofing material After 100 years half of the slate is cracked or broken.
@@robertscheinost179 It was 75k when we replaced it. Worth it, IMHO.
@@sandblast5636 Termite inspection every spring.
My home is about 500 years old! I bought in a medieval town in Spain. It needed almost no work. Everything works fine even though it's very old. I've been here 4 years now.
Wow! I love Spain! I vacationed there 30 years ago!
This is where I’d like to be !
@@birdlover7776 It's the only place I want to live and I have lived in many countries.
@@marrlena947 my mom visited Spain and loved it. I would like to travel there and explore rentals and or purchasing property. I absolutely love the architecture and food etc. i’ve been to Indonesia, Mexico and France but so far not Spain 🌸
How cool! Was it expensive?
If your home was built after 1980, you’re living on a foundation of chopsticks
Meaning what? I have pictures as they built our house. My dad who dug footings and such for a living, said ours (1981) was really good.. I guess my dad wouldn't lie to me. Anyway no problems here. I'm sure many around that time were done poorly. 😢
Kind of worthless thought, considering millions of people have no problem with post-'80 homes. Some do, but the same can be said of at least as many pre-'80 homes. Would I buy a flimsy home where there are hurricanes? No, let's use some common sense.
I don't know, it depends.
Depends where and when, and built by who. Are you talking about Calgary Alberta or Kanagawa Japan? Your pithy advice may as well be "never order the chicken salad".
I’m a home inspector and you are spot on with everything. The only thing that is also worth mentioning is never ever, ever buy a house without a home inspection. What I have seen, especially on new construction is simply mind blowing. What people try and hide is unbelievable.
I've had a couple of great home inspectors. At first it seems expensive for what they do, but now that I've worked with a few I think they provide lots of value. Make sure they don't rush anything and can do all the home testing with good equipment such as gas leak sniffers etc. There should be lots of picutres documenting everything (digital pics are basically free these days).
Never buy a home without paying for a good home inspection. That's all you need to know.
Not always. We sold a home and our prospective buyers hired an inspector that knew so little I had to show him the issues he found were totally unfounded. Example: What he thought was an exhaust pipe from the bathroom going directly into the attic was nothing but an old metal rod that originally went out the roof to attach a TV antenna to. I knew what it was but because the inspector was so young, he didn't know what it was....at least up to that point. 😉
In our experience (learned the hard way, twice) home inspectors aren't NEARLY as thorough as they need to be. They're inspectors for a reason - you want a legit contractor to look at everything.
Inspectors know code, contractors know construction.
@@uscitizen898
One inspector completely missed a room in the basement of the older house my ex and I bought. He missed the room because their was a wall-hanging hanging over its door from the old owners.
We didn't know about that room either.
It cost his company dearly unfortunately because he missed a giant nest of carpenter ants!
So thankfully to have gotten an inspection.
I would NEVER buy a house without one.
My house is 1908 Edwardian era, and looks like a Victorian villa. Absolutely love the proportions and room sizes. Yes there is maintenance but in all honesty I prefer a house with space to some of the tiny rabbit hutch size homes we get in the UK. 😊
NEVER USE THE BANK'S INSPECTOR -THOSE BASTARDS WILL SAY EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!!!
I live in my 124 year old home i bought years ago. Id rather buy an old home than a new home that you have to replace everything within 10 years of owning it.
Corrrect. My house was built in 1886. Full renovation, and all the wood is high density. 2x4 are not 1.75 x 3.75 and are much heavier, same with 2x6, etc.
Yes I'm in real estate you are totally correct.. there is a well pump company that went out of business some years ago bc all of their well pumps NEVER GIVE OUT.. the quality just doesn't match. I see people with 50 year old fridges all the time but ones that are from the last twenty years last 5-10 years unless maybe on the very very high end range but even then...
100% agree! Newer homes are horrible craftsmanship. They use the cheapest materials
I bought a 1922 house with knob & tube wiring. 12k to replace it 7 years ago. Over the last 7 years I have replaced the water pipes, water heater, painted the outside and a lot of other renovations. Now I am having a new heating and AC system put in next week. Last thing I am waiting on is the roof to be replaced. But hey roof have to don't last 100 years anyway. I sometime wonder if I should sell and get something newer but I would give up my windows, hardwood floors and 10 foot ceiling and my 2 1/2 percent mortgage. But I do know more things will go wrong as time goes on.
@@jrtr2642 Keep and renovate it. With my 1886, it was 60amp fuse box; then new 200amp panel with complete wiring. New 4-ton HVAC. Re-roof and new decking. Its well worth the investment and satisfaction of a job well done. BTW- I am a licensed appraiser and seen all these new housing projets scattered in various counties; this alone, motivated me to stay. Good luck !
Nobody can afford to buy any type of houses right now ☹. But thanks for the heads up for future🙂
Facts! It’s soooo bad out here, especially if you’re an American. If you sneak into this country without paperwork, you can have anything given to you and live like a king 👑
Lol, speak for yourself, I am
Closing on one right now in America lol. 🙄
@@GailG74 lmao idk why you brought up illegal immigrants. This conversation is about housing, and it’s not like anyone is handling that out for free!
@@sarajanewebster5321 I’m glad you’re laughing, but it seems you missed the context of my reply. Did you really think I just randomly brought up illegal immigration? It’s all connected-housing, resources, and policy issues. Maybe take a moment to understand the original comment before jumping to conclusions. I was replying to someone else’s comment. Also, I know nobody’s handing out houses, but interconnected issues affect the housing crisis. Next time, please try thinking it through before adding your two cents.
Have a blessed day
@@bryanpatrick3509 congratulations
Not just lead pipes, but also galvanized pipe. They get corroded from the inside out, so over time they get clogged, break, and leak. Thanks for making people aware of the problems of old homes. Have lived in several of them, so I can say you're spot on!
your pipes will not clog if you fill them with distilled water, do not use tap water in your heating system pipes
@@raydemos1181 I believe we're talking about water supplied by the city i.e. tapwater. For closed heating systems there are additives that do the trick.
What bugs me about old pipes that _should_ be replaced, is no homeowner will do it until they have a leak, and a crisis, then they make bad costly decisions because it always happens at the worst of times.
I have news for you- I’ve been seeing copper pipe made in the 1970’s leaking (not at a solder join but at a 90 degree elbow) at first the leak is so slight it’s a fine mist- so it can take weeks or months to make itself known in the form of ruined, collapsed ceilings or a slightly damp floor that has you looking all over the place for a problem that’s almost impossible to easily find.
These are the types of houses to never buy if………..you have absolute zero ability to do anything more complicated than change a light bulb in a table lamp…..otherwise, use the features attendant to an old house to leverage your position as the buyer to your advantage.
I live in Toronto and there are no homes anywhere in the region that are built on flood plains…because they were all destroyed in 1954 by Hurricane Hazel…and after that happened, the municipalities involved refused to issue residence building permits for flood plains. Pretty well all flood plains in Toronto are now parks or golf courses….as they should be.
@@gondolacrescent5 Yes, Canadian Wolverine pipe&fitting copper refined in the 1970s is notorious for developing pinholes. That was about 1/3 of the North American market. At first you think it's cobwebs but when you try to brush them aside your hand gets wet.
Another issue I'm anticipating is joints failing due to sticker residue as suppliers affix barcodes directly on the product, a convenience to retailers. Everybody along the chain from manufacturer to installer can point the blame somewhere else.
I had to sell my mother’s house. It was in bad shape, and it had a reverse mortgage. I just had to get out from under it, so I sold it to a house flipper. First, they changed the den to a 4th bedroom. They painted over all the wood paneling, the cabinets and doors. They also painted over all the mold. They tore up some of the driveway and sidewalk that had bad cracks, but the back porch had a huge crack that they didn’t fix, and the porch fills with water. The plumbing is also totally messed up since my parents bought it in the 70’s. They purchased for 140,000 and sold it for 215,000. All they did was “put lipstick on a pig”. Paint and some new fixtures covered up soooo much! Be careful of house flippers!
The house next to my parents house looked like it needed to be torn down and started over. It hadn’t been lived in for 20+ years and the inside and outside had extensive water damage. When you walked up to it you could smell mold. A flipper bought it and put on some siding and cheap materials inside and sold it in less than a couple of months. I was shocked because it needed to be gutted.
and they still didnt make a profit with the cost it took to fix it
Exactly. A layer of paint can hide a multitude of sins, like mold and mildew.
I am glad to hear someone say that we shouldn’t be developing these flood zones!
Ever since the studies showed human health implications if you live within 200 feet of a highway, I have noticed a lot of low income housing projects ADDED along highways. Maybe listen to scientists and consider the true cost of ignoring or abusing the warnings.
@rinnylakin81 what are the health implications living next to a highway?
For those who want an old house, be aware of the work that needs to be done. I simply adore my 100 year old house. We purchased our it knowing it needed certain updates. It's not a for everyone. My sister built a new house with a reputable builder and her brand new house has more issues than my oldie.
I'm not surprised. New builds are not like old houses at all!
I totally agree. Just know that it will need work. Eyes wide open. I prefer older homes to the homes that are being built now.
I have heard horror stories from owners who had DR Horton and other companies build their houses. AFAIK, this company usually buys huge tracts of land and builds neighborhoods where corn fields or old houses once were.
Mold, cardboard lining siding, plumbing not hooked up or finished at closing, buyers being threatened, shoddy workmanship, young teenagers being hired to "build" the homes instead of union workers, etc.
There are videos on RUclips about these builders.
My husband and I have owned 2 100 year old and older homes in our almost 40 years of home ownership. We are sadly leaving our 100 year old bungalow only because our neighborhood is turning into light industrial one lot at a time and we want a quiet place to live in retirement. We have had our water tested, etc, and never had issues with lead pipes, old wiring, etc. (My husband is also handy, so when small problems pop up we can deal with them immediately. We know when to call a professional when necessary.) We are buying a custom build house that has been inspected by a good inspector service and we are really confident that this 25 yr old house we will be moving into soon is in good shape.
I agree with Jackie that quick flips are a horrible idea. I'd *never* buy a quick flip house.
And, always get a quality inspection done! I wouldn't buy property without one. We paid over $1,000 for the inspection for the house we just bought. It was worth every penny.
As long as it is not on a slab or built over a crawl space. Top feeders are pain in the tukas to repair. Basements well not good in areas with high water tables.
Swimming pools. Have you even ever seen one float out of the ground when someone thought is a great idea to drain it for the winter?
Pipes in the basement easy. In the walls not so much. 2nd floor not good. 3rd flour even more worse. Same with electrical.
Hmm well asbsetos? Well maybe the octopus in the basement is still there? Those are what are known as gravity heating. And open window cooling
Oh and my local Electric and Gas companies told me I use too much heat and electricity. 96% efficient furnace.
Solar heating only works in the daytime. In winter only 7 1/2 hours of day light.
No incandescent lighting. Oh and when I switched. The out door lamps corroded. To stop it I just leave them on. I can run a 7 watt bulb for how long vs paying for a new out door lamp?
Ran the in window A/C once off the grid last year. When the grid drops below 109 it shuts off.
If it is in the upper 90ds with upper 90% humidity. I run it off the gasoline powered 12K watt generator. Because the grid is is in brown out..
Sorry Forney I don't live there any more. Your state sucks on my finances too much.
Asbestos? Probably in a old UMC house from the early 20th to late 19th century. They also made asbestos shingles and siding.
As for underground heating oil? Why do it? Gravity always works.
But if it is yugly. Well then just burn wood or coal in the fireplace. The chopping , cutting and toting will keep you healthy and warm twice.
She just made proof that people have been using their head mainly for a hat rest for lots of generations. Still in the gene pool.
I live in a 106 year old home which has been in my family for 100 years. It has been updated twice. Knob and tube wires are still there but not used. I do have some asbestos covered pipes. Please, we had a laundry shoot, we were not stupid enough try to go down in it. My father removed the oil tanks in our yard. I had the oil burner my father had converted from a coal burning boiler removed and installed a gas boiler and on demand hot water heater. My sister's "newer" 20 year old home has had problems with every appliance even though high end ones were installed, the central air condition has been replaced, she has bad water pressure. Her cellar stairs were so steep she had to install a riding chair to get to the cellar. Her gutters were not properly installed so the fascia is rotting...
Don’t buy a home next to a major highway, don’t buy a really terrific house in a bad neighborhood, don’t buy a house because it’s reminds you of old memories (for example say grandmas house); don’t buy emotional.
In my experience as a renovator and handyman over thirty years, everything depends on knowing good competent workers who hope to be written into your will as thanks for service above and beyond.
For example I removed an empty oil drum once that the owner had planted a walnut tree directly atop thirty years before. She preferred the towering walnut not cut down. So a friend and I dug with shovels, wrapping the exposed roots with wet cloth. If you put your hand over a computer mouse, imagine the mouse is the tank and your fingers are the roots that will not be severed. Cut a hole with grinder and climbed inside (I could almost stand). Scoured the interior with clean sand, quarantined into buckets. Cut the tank from inside into small pieces that we teased out between the roots. Scraped the apparently clean soil the tank had rested on for good measure and quarantined that too. Every step we thoroughly documented with photographs like it was a crime scene. Cost $1200 labour in the summer of 2010; and the neighbours were bringing cold ciders to celebrate our environmental stewardship for saving that tree... priceless.
SO I'm saying to cultivate good relationships with workers who care, not live in a bureaucracy on the kindness of strangers who hope to forget you and your house at the end of the day.
Definitely. I work for myself. I don't want to be told how to do my job.
I do the same work for you I do for myself. Can't stand cheap and sloppy work. People usually hire me again. If a worker needs to advertise after 3 yrs, the work is not good enough to rely on referrals.
I’m sorry but workers like that are rare. Unfortunately I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with contractors. And usually don’t know until after they’re gone.
Replumbing and rewiring an old home is nothing compared to the headaches from buying a poorly built new home, workmanship has gone down the drain
Exactly
I live in a suburban/rural town with a sudden housing subdivision boom and I see the junky houses being thrown together Extreme Home Makeover style and shake my head. The architecture is trash in my opinion (some weird futuristic farmhouse is all I can call it lol) and the 'custom' features are dating the home before the 2020's are done. I mean, what is with all this gray on top of gray on top of gray? That screams 2023/2024 with no timelessness in sight.
I'm an agent.
I live in a 160 year farmhouse. This is my suggestion to everyone. Do what we did: send two inspectors through before you close. We knew exactly what we would be spending over the next ten years.
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Flood zones. 100% agree. Personally, I really wish flood zones were off-limit to development. Even the 500 year zones.
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Advice I always give. Always ALWAYS get into that crawlspace, attic, and basement with a really good flashlight. Always.
The basements are now "finished". So, a lot of the issues are concealed by drywall and plywood. In fact, I am more inclined to purchase a house with an unfinished basement, which would allow me to see all the issues firsthand.
I had to crawl through the crawlspace under my house. One of the creepiest things I've ever done, and found out what zombie-spider fungus was.
@@elim7228 I'm down south. We don't have many basements. Sometimes they are finished, sometimes not. Lots of things can be hidden, but often there are signs.
@@KrystalLioness I've owned two houses and have had to redo both crawlspaces. I'm talking $60k and $80k, roughly (we were prepared for the second one, but the first was a total surprise). Crawlspaces are easily shrugged off by a client because they are simply too put off at diving in there. The inspector will often save the day, but in a world of due diligence money going directly to the pocket of the seller like we have in North Carolina, a bit of scrutiny by a prospective buyer can save them zillions.
I’m hoping everyone takes all this advice, plus, never buy from a flipper! There used to be a lot of honest and professional flippers, but now they are too hard to discern from the others they compete with. I’ve talked to them, and mostly they do things they would never do to a home that wasn’t going to a stranger.
Keep in mind that during the 80’s people were encouraged to save due to the interest rates. Right now there’s very little incentive to save because those who are saving are watching those who are reckless taking it in. I’ve been trying to save for a home and it’s been discouraging to watch prices continue to not budge because there’s people willing to get into a mortgage where they’re paying 40% of their income. It’s insane.
The housing market in 2024 poses difficulties due to uncertainties about the Federal Reserve's ability to curb inflation and reduce borrowing costs without adversely affecting demand for assets like homes and automobiles.
Consider shifting from real estate to stocks during severe recessions. While market volatility presents short-term trading opportunities, it's crucial to approach with caution. This isn't financial advice, but investing during such times may be a strategic move, consider adopting the services of a financial expert.
I fully agree and place great value on my advisor's role in guiding my daily investments. They excel in both long and short strategies, managing risk for potential gains and protection against market downturns. Their access to exclusive insights and in-depth analysis makes exceeding expectations a regular outcome. In the two-plus years I've worked with my advisor, I've gained over 1.2million dollars.
@@mariaguerrero08who is your advisor please, if you don't mind me asking?
"Gertrude Margaret Quinto" is the licensed advisor I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment
I realized that the secret to making a million is saving for a better investment. I always tell myself you don't need that new Maserati or that vacation just yet. That mindset helped me make more money investing. For example last year I invested 80k in stocks and made about $246k,but guess what? I put it all back and traded again and now I am rounding up close to a million
You work for 40yrs to have $1m in your retirement, Meanwhile some people are putting just $10k in a meme coin for just few months and now they are multi millionaires. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life
Thanks for continuing updates I'd rather trade the stock market as it's more profitable. I make an average of $34,500 per week even though I barely trade myself.
I'm favoured financially, Thank you Jesus $32,000 weekly profit regardless of how bad it gets on the economy.
How
..? Am a newbie in crypto investment, please can you guide me through on how you made profit?
Thanks to Mrs Maria Davis.
My 120 year old home stacks up very well against newer ones, thank you......
All solid wood in my home...no ply wood or fiber board. Cherry wood stairwell, parkay floors...all my pipes were replaced in the 1970's!
I agree! Newer homes are junk
That's great for you, but her advice is good about old homes. If you're lucky, the previous homeowners fixed all the problems she mentioned.
I was set to buy a 90 year old house and it still had knob and tube throughout the house. Some old homes are money pits.
@@Steph-yz4tn you are so right about knob and tube wiring!
Mine too
LMAO my aunt in France lives in a 350+ house. It's bloody awesome.
And in many places in Europe a house that age is often considered "new" 🥰🥰
She must live next to my grandmother. She lives in a shoe and has alot of kids.
@@uscitizen898
Let's not exaggerated...
I'm French btw.
And also Canadian, but not French Canadian...😅
Yes but probably made of stone with clay tiles on the roof.
@@abelis644lol that’s funny, canadian french?
I bought my first home back in 1977 for $35K and sold it in 1980 for $70K. Throughout the years, I have determined that perhaps the most important thing to have in real estate transactions is a knowledgeable, attentive, assertive real estate agent who truly works on your behalf. Agents who are professionals of this caliber aren't growing on trees so you have to interview candidates and get references.
If I were moving to New Jersey I would be setting up an interview with the author of this informative video.
[DISCLOSURE: I do NOT know this agent in any way, shape, or form. I am just impressed by the information she presented in this video.]
I live in England and would never buy a new home. My house is 120 years old and, yes the plumbing and electrics are not the original and neither is the kitchen or bathrooms but that is not big deal. The basic structure, the design and the location are what made me fall in love with it.
I live in Europe. I never considered getting an old house any more than I would purchasing an old car or somone elses old shoes or clothes! My home only needs to last me as long as I live in it i.e. no more that 70 years. After that it can fall down for all I care as I would be dead ROFL 🙂
We bought a short sale and were tied up with paper work for 8 months! On the day of signing they informed us the house was in a flood zone! We were so exhausted and had already invested so much time and energy into getting this house that we caved and signed. Not only do we have ridiculous insurance, but every remodel, construction project, even fences are subject to flood regulations. It makes everything so much harder and more expensive. This lady is right! Don't buy it!
So sorry that happened to you! I am renting an older home (100 years) in New York state and learned about those “500-year” floods- last summer our unfinished basement that “had NEVER in its history had water in it” was flooded (13-17 inches) by heavy rains-and it could have been worse since house next door had 3 FEET of water.
I would never have expected this and lucky we didn’t buy this, just rented. We lost some possessions that were kept in basement , but lesson learned so that now we won’t buy anything in a flood-able area, second we will never store anything in a basement within approx 15 inches of the floor.
Not just rain, but in case of burst pipes new rules: Nothing in cardboard, nothing wood kept down there, Nothing kept on bottom shelf of wire rack shelving units-not even in plastic bins since we discovered they get lifted, then float no matter how heavy! And then tip over allowing just a little water inside to ruin your stuff!!
Lucky our washer & dryer were fixable (thanks to RUclips appliance guy DIY advice to run dehumidifier after taking apart & drying out the machines, wait a week to turn ANYTHING on to keep circuits from shorting out…
Hey, just saying be proactive before the 500 year flood bites you like it did us.
@@robinmeyer5016we have a sump pump in our basement, otherwise it would flood during our rainy season. I would ask your landlord about a sump pump.
@@robinmeyer5016 lessons are always learned best the hard way! I wouldn't have understood unless I lived through it. But I will definitely learn from yours!
You might want to investigate a letter of map amendment or letter of map revision to see if your location in a flood zone has changed or can be changed. Check with FEMA.
@@rcwesselFEMA are the nincompoops who put a whole block in the flood zone that didn't even get a single wet basement during Sandy!
I grew up in an Edwardian Queen Anne house with 26 rooms. It was full of drafts, but it was a child’s dream and my parents upgraded the house over many years without destroying the original features. An old house with parquet floors, 14 foot ceilings, brass door knobs etc., makes a great home!
😍😍😍
26 rooms?????
Must have been expensive AF to heat!!
I had that same dream when I was young too. Amazing.
Sounds absolutely wonderful. I love big old houses.
My grandfather-in-law was an engineer and city planner and he always said to go to planning departments or archives to get aerial photos of what the land looked like before development if possible. If you see water, even a small, seasonal drainage stream, run. He insisted you would have nothing but foundation issues forever. My ex-sister-in-law worked for a home builder and she also said you really need to get geology reports and land-use history reports. She knew of entire developments built on little more than sand. Those homes were barely five years old at the time and already a mess. People also need to know that buying rural doesn't mean you own everything and can do whatever you want either. There are often pipelines under the land. In Alberta Canada, if they need to put in a highway, frack, install an oil well, or build a utility corridor, you learn pretty quickly how little control you have over your own land. There are also often strict land-use regulations that have to be followed and sometimes you have to pay for expensive environmental or historical impact assessments before you can make any changes. Bottom line: no matter what type of property you are looking to buy, investigate every possibility for what you are getting into and don't assume anything.
CA homeowner. In CA We can remove asbestos or lead as homeowners without an abatement license. We are both engineers and I’m an MD. We took all appropriate precautions for our non-friable asbestos (floor tile) and tested for lead-based paint. That being said we did incur significant expense in re-piping copper and replacing cast iron sewer pipes with ABS. Also your comment about 1960’s wiring is valid. Thanks for a great video.
Our home was built in the 1870s. We have replaced everything. It's a fantastic home. Built better than anything new today.
That's really the way to go if you can manage it. The only main drawback is regarding the typical lack of insulation (or insufficient insulation). If you're gutting outside walls, that's great, but otherwise you'll be stuck with a higher fuel bill than newer construction.
@@fleatactical7390 But you can do blown-in insulation from the interior quite easily in older homes with not very much "repair" to the interior walls. Costly? Yes, but in the long run less than many years of higher heating/cooling bills.
@@uscitizen898 Good point, that is true. It can have mixed results depending on the existing materials in the walls, but yes, it will usually help and no doubt pay for itself over time.
@@fleatactical7390 My parents had an old house. Bedrooms without closets, no kitchen space.
So many new homes are junk.
Pure junk. So geeedy capitalists can make a fat profit
That’s not true
Yup! Many of them are put together with tape and glue
In California old homes have to be retrofitted to meet the standards of earthquake insurance companies. I know this because I got a letter in the mail a few weeks ago. Fortunately my home was built in 2014, so I don't have to worry about that.
@@tallflguy There is a reason US homes are generally known as being built out of cardboard compared to other countries where they are expected to last - at least - for a century or longer. My grandparents home was built in the 1300, I've rented a house built in the 1820s (relatively new in comparison) and another built in the 1920s and ALL were far better than those built much more recently (after the 1980s for example).
Definitely agree with the LLC flip. I bought one in 2022. I love this awesomeA frame, but I'm still spending SO much money fixing things the very unskilled flipper messed up.
Our first home was in a flood zone, although in 1986 it was only $400 a year. We flooded every spring, the basement filled with water. But it was all we could afford and we were very very happy for 12 years. We simply didn’t put anything in the basement.
As a contractor for 30 years, I would definitely agree with staying clear of a flipper. I’ve been called to do work they flippers don’t know how to fix and they want the “cheapest “ job. I will refuse unless I can do the work correctly. Most do nothing but cosmetic improvements and hide the problems.
That's exactly what I suspected with flippers, basically do the cosmetic work, get some idiot couple to think it looks "cute". Got one down the road that just did that. Bought it for 215K less than year ago. Granted, looks like they did bunch of work, roof, new a/c/heat unit, flooring. Asking 270K for it. Only a 1200 sq ft house, hardly any land on it, and the backyard is a hill sloped towards the house. And, it's been vacant since I moved in back in 2013, and actually had vines and trees overgrown all over the house, no one ever cut the grass either. The market is hot in our area, but that house is still vacant 2 weeks later. Probably no help the neighbor has gazillions of cars parked in their yard and occasionally has a huge RV parked on the road. Maybe 150K max for it, simply because the market is insane, but anything more is just ridiculous.
so true, saw owners do this to make quick sale, got burned on my first house in TX this way
I can only agree with you. As a contractor, I tried to flip houses but lost a lot of money, because I eliminated ALL of the existing problems. I couldn't find a buyer who is willing to pay the price required to cover the cost. Now, I concentrate on high end remodeling, where the home owners are willing to go the whole nine yards.
🎯
I love my house, but it was a flip. And I did notice the paint was sloppy in some areas which made me wonder. I had a complete inspection and there is a lot still wrong with it, but i've corrected much of it. Probably should have waited to invest in a new home. One of the problems was with the sewage system out to the street. It cost me over sixteen thousand the first two weeks I was in. It also has very old electrical that has never been updated. And i'm working on that right now. If I went back and look at the list of everything that should be done I will probably get sick so I am just doing the big danger things. Cosmetically, besides the paint facet is off in the bathroom in the bathtub. Not sure if it was always like that, but it doesn't align proper, really. Other than that, the house looks so beautiful. I get a lot of compliments, but I do worry!
Renovating an old home far outweighs building a brand new one. To each thier own.
It can, especially when you have astronomical materials costs today. But even that aside, a gut or remodel will always be cheaper. And usually easier to manage and control in terms of the trades doing the work.
Especially since many newer homes in subdivisions are built so poorly
@@alexcanning5383Exactly
Not necessarily. Often, old homes have severe problems, like with rot and termites.
@@joevarga5982 Failing foundations, mostly caused by years & years of improper drainage. I've seen many..
Hahahaha the talking German shepherd 😂😂 Nice touch. Love it 👍🏼 Enjoyed the video too👍🏼
Glad you enjoyed it
Everyone..have a wonderful day..blessings and much love to you all ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
My house was built in 1919…. I rather deal with older home problems, than new house problems.. I have seen the catastrophes of a new house…. My brother made a wonderful career fixing new house problems.. I have new electrical, new plumbing …. All houses need constant maintenance…. As my late husband said…. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance….
Yes maintenance is key when owning an old home! Thanks for watching!
@@JackieBaker Yes it is. It's also important in newer houses. Even a custom built, brand new home will require maintenance. It's like..... death and taxes. You can't get away from any. 😉
That’s what sold our house for us. We lived in it for 24 years and it was minimally updated but we had maintenance records for everything. Sold the house in 3 days.
@annassiter4087
Yep, mine's 1918 👍🏼
Mines 1921, owned it since 2009. New roof, windows, siding, water heater, central air, furnace, HVAC, and plumbing have been installed. Electrical is next 😉 wouldn’t trade the craftsmanship of the structure for anything!
I’m sorry, but the new houses are made so cheaply they don’t even withstand bad weather. I find old homes were constructed, much better than the homes you see going up so quickly now. Nowadays builders are cutting the cost of everything when building homes and using the cheapest products, material’s and even labor. I live in NYC and the older homes were built by well known architects. My house was built in 1925 and God willing next year we will celebrate its 100th birthday. We moved in in 1993 and have no complaints. It’s a beautiful colonial house with bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, finished attic, large living room, large dinning room, kitchen, finish basement and nice size yard. We raised our 3 children here and have no intentions on going anywhere. The family who sold us this house. Moved to a brand new house and they regret selling our home. They wish they would have kept it. I think your advice may depend on where people live. If you buy an old home that’s never been upgraded yes than you are going to spend a lot of money. Spending money is also true with new homes when the builder used cheap materials that didn’t hold up. I will take what you said with a grain of salt. I would recommend that buyers hire a good experienced engineer to look over an older home for you before you buy it.
Thanks for sharing your feedback! Yes a good engineer looking over the home is key!
Agree a price with most builders , then he’ll find ways to source the cheapest materials to increase his profit.. then he will over order those materials and the valuable materials he hasn’t used will be taken away in his van to be used on his next job..that he will charge again for.. and we think oh he’s tidied up the waste.. what a nice man..yes folks you’ve been cowboy buildered again..and you thought you could trust him to be decent , didn’t you..? But he’s been into your nugget gulch.,again..there are two things certain in this world ..taxes and this..
New track houses are literally built with paper , cardboard and plastic
The only wood is the framing. Doors and moldings and trim are all made from pressed cardboard and sawdust . Slapped together by the lowest bidder
@@mhughes1160 Even the framing is compromised - when have you seen a 2x4 that actually measured to that size?
New construction homes in my area end up having roof problems as early as three years - new construction is what’s keeping roofing companies busy !
I’d buy an older home with electrical and plumbing updated
Great advice, esp the recently sold/remodeled. We often see the "graywash syndrome," with grey plastic fake wood floors, cheap kitchen and bathroom remodels, white spray-painted everything. We look for 1960's brick ranches that have been owned by original owners and never remodeled. Just bought one this year and we love it.
You're 100% right about very old houses. I was young and unexperienced, and I felt in love with a 100+ years old apartment. After a couple of years living there, things started to become very complicated because the building began to show concerning sings like structural breaks. Long story short, I had to finally move away because there were serious riks of collapse. Some years later I sold it for an absurd price.
My friend does repairs on the new tract houses just before closing. Basically he fixes whatever is on the punchlist. He shakes his head at what is going on with these new builds. They are a mess; he says he wouldn’t buy anything built in this decade.
Yep older homes are built better. The new construction is crap! IMO
@@Mithras444
Yep, I wouldn’t buy anything built after about 1960 - prewar houses are even better.
Is it getting too expensive to build basements? I live in Iowa, not a flood zone, or ground that would prevent a basement being built but all the new construction for new homes around me have no basement. There is a safe room built into the home in case of a tornado instead. Can someone answer that question for me? It’s even the nicer, more expensive homes being built with no basement.
@@kimberlychodur3508 Iowa is known to flood on occasion just fyi. The entire state used to be swamp and marshes and it’s now the most terraformed state in the country due to monocropping agriculture.
Anything after around 1970.
I'm a retired home inspector. Your video is spot on. Buy a newer home with post 1968 wiring, post galvanized plumbing and modern insulation systems.
WhT year and up do u suggest?
@@angelasmith257 Homes built after 1968 have a three wire electrical system. About that time PVC/CPVC plumbing was introduced. Both game changers.
@@aubreytycer8708 in ur opinion which year had the best built homes ?
My 1968 haza AFCI, copper pipes, etc. It was remodeled by a contractor who was building homes on nearby lots, he put in shitty fans for the bathrooms I replaced.
Solid advice!after buying and selling many homes over the years u learn alot!ALWAYS do a home inspection w/ a inspector u trust and is working for YOU! Not the realtor…
Back in the day, when I purchased my first home to live-in; that was Miami in the early 1990s, first mortgages with rates of 8 to 9% and 9% to 10% were typical. People will have to accept the possibility that we won't ever return to 3%. If sellers must sell, home prices will have to decline, and lower evaluations will follow. Pretty sure I'm not alone in my chain of thoughts.
If anything, it'll get worse. Very soon, affordable housing will no longer be affordable. So anything anyone want to do, I will advise they do it now because the prices today will look like dips tomorrow. Until the Fed clamps down even further, I think we're going to see hysteria due to rampant inflation. You can't halfway rip the band-aid off.
Home prices will come down eventually, but for now; get your money (as much as you can) out of the housing market and get into the financial markets or gold. The new mortgage rates are crazy, add to that the recession and the fact that mortgage guidelines are getting more difficult. Home prices will need to fall by a minimum of 40% (more like 50%) before the market normalizes.If you are in cross roads or need sincere advise on the best moves to take now its best you seek an independent advisor who knows about the financial markets.
Impressive can you share more info?
There are a handful of experts in the field. I've experimented with a few over the past years, but I've stuck with ‘’Marisa Michelle Litwinsky for about five years now, and her performance has been consistently impressive. She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I needed this myself, I looked her up, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.
Grew up in a 1792 home. Much better built than the crappy 1998 I currently own. My friend built her home. Within two years she had black mold from a leaking pipe and shoddy workmanship.
I’d buy an old house in a heartbeat.
I built my own house, myself that is and it’s in perfect condition at 12 y/o.
I have an old home. Built solid.
You are right about the cost of bringing them up and caring for them, but they kick butt over new boring looking and cheaply made home.
I agree! Most people don’t realize this stuff until it’s too late. After 20+ years of cleaning houses I’ve seen all kinds of issues homeowners have had with houses and it helped me personally to learn from their mistakes and I knew what to look for when buying a house a few years ago. Very informative!
I went under contract for a home that was purchased by an investor , they upgraded this house , grab it countertops , LVP flooring , new water heater , and they took the old water heater , car tires and other metal trash and put it on the back of the house and left it. I took that as a sign and I walked away.
For folks who don't know...LLC is Limited Liability Corporation.
If a LLC business does something to put them at financial risk and is sued for damages, they can opt to declare bankruptcy and the plaintiff gets nothing. Then, the owner(s) can choose to create a new LLC and continue doing what they were doing, free and clear of the settlement debt.
Wow thanks for that input. So many of these things should be illegal.
Not true. An LLC doesn't fully protect you and it also depends on the state.
There's more to it then that. Technically an LLC only risks the amount of money or assets put into the company and can protect your personal assets outside of the business, assuming you follow the rules closely. You are still required to be bonded and insured based the requirements of the industry you are in. If you do not have insurance your personal assets can be seized upon a judgement. Also, if are deemed personally negligent or fraudulent, it will not protect your personal assets.
You really do a great service by warning on these points! By Gods grace I now say, I dodged a lot of RE-buying disaster bullets! That's because as it was, I was ignorant; but every very old, 1960s - 1940s house I bought while with wife & children living in them, I ended up making the money back-plus profits...which amazes me now. But yes, you really have some $aving advise list there; that I can vouch for!!! This one about oil tanks in the ground hit home with reviving my memory of when we moved into an 100 yr-plus crooked 2 story in rural KY, and then noticed a black steel pipe barely sticking out of the dirt, horrified to find the old rusting tank with fluid still in it, where we had only a shallow well for water! So, we really enjoyed a mini farm life at first, but we're benefitted by a Sudden go-ahead to a mega-prison being built 1/8 mile from us! The govt. forced-bought a slice of the 3 acres, including the outhouse we had on it! Then we had to sell and sold the whole place with about a 30% gain on what we paid...Great help at the time.
THANKS, so far you really gave me reason to subscribe! Subed 👍
(Bronx-born, Bergen County raised ☺️)
It’s actually Limited Liability Company. An LLC is not a corporation.
When we bought our house it had a buried oil tank, still in use. We asked the seller to remove it. What a nightmare! Our own agent acted like we were overreacting. They tried to guilt us into letting them decommission it. They did a wick test and said there was no water in the tank so it didn't have any leaks and it was perfectly okay to leave it there. No! We insisted we wanted it out, they made us feel crappy about the whole thing - but finally the seller agreed to remove it. When they pulled it out of the ground there were so many holes in it and there was oil in the ground soil 14' down. We were right and glad we stuck to our guns, but at the time, I did tell our agent, "If this sale falls through, we are done." Our agent later told me that they had 3 more buried tanks after ours and that they had learned a lot from our experience.
My property has an unused oil tank, above ground and abandoned. Is there some sort of risk to that?
I DESPISE agents that act like they aren't working with you! Mine tried to have my house re-appraised because the seller was going to cough up a pretty penny. She tried to have it re-appraised to where I'd have to ask my lender for 10k more to pay back. Trust completely broken and I'm happy my Lender immediately emailed and called me before going ahead
@@kumikor3392 So did you drop the agent?
@@iamhischosen3866 no, it's super late in the process. Now I have to treat her like a child that a parent can't 100% trust. I'm double checking all her words, micro-managing the progress and expecting updates in a timely manner. I speak with my lender who I can trust more, but I'm definitely never recommending this agent again
My house is from 1890. It's been 'in the family' since day 1. Newer bathrooms/kitchen (1993). I basically ripped everything down to studs. Replaced wiring, removed ALL cast iron pipes, and replaced most copper pipes with pex. New insulation in most walls. During the winter, I can crank my heat to 75 degrees, and in no time, I'm nice and warm for many hours before the boiler kicks on again.
The one thing I absolutely HATE about the house is the tiny closets. I was told that is because there were 'community' closets way back when. Since bathrooms were outdoors, the present bathrooms were the closets/storage.
Jackie -- I HIGHLY appreciate you and the information included in this video. We are in our 50's and trying to buy our very first home. I knew about some of these things, but you include things that I would have never considered ( ie., old homes (LOVE 'EM but I'm gonna think twice now). Again, just really appreciate the solid, sound advice. Take care.
It is not about the age of a home but the quality of construction. I owned a 100 year old
Arts and Crafts home. The electrical work exceeded today's quality and codes, and the plumbing
did as well with copper piping. The foundation was perfect and the framing was oak you
could not drive a nail in. All the finish work was done in heart of pine without a single knot.
From my 60 years of home ownership and buying, building and selling homes, the worst
homes in the US are split foyers and tri-level homes. There are too many steps, and they
are too hard to heat and cool. They are very difficult to sell, and they sell at lower prices
per square foot.
Agree , love my craftsman home.
....and they're ugly inside and out.
I love split levels, and they're common in my area but this is a very temperate climate so you can get by with open windows to help cool and fireplaces to help heat. I wanted one so bad but couldn't find one that was just right for us. We ended up with a brick ranch with a finished basement. Now I can't imagine living anywhere else!
You mean Craftsman?
When looking for a home, we avoided a split foyer home because of dealing with moving furniture. We did purchase a newer construction home 1991 in 1999, fortunately, the owner and designer was the builder. HE and his wife were very particular with their build. Sold due to children grown and wanted single story. Love the house. The Changes we've nade were according to our needs. Mainly updating style. Go with quality work.
Yes! All these great tips plus never buy someone else's flip. Corners are always cut.
Yes! Sad fact but it's true!
You can check out the type of plumbing and electric by going into the basement. There are RUclips videos on many repairs.
@@shanedavison7473 That's great if you want to throw money and your time into a house you just purchased, otherwise, not great but a potential money pit. The price one pays should reflect that. The question is "what is your time worth?"
Yep, bought a flip. And you don’t see the issues until after you move in. I already have to get the windows redone and the “bathroom Reno”is already falling apart. They painted or glazed the tub and it’s already peeling. The seller side, your realtor and inspector are all in on the racket so they’ll never point out the problems.
But you’re also asked to not buy an extravagant remodel where corners were not cut. The likelihood of a flip is more than an extravagant remodel. My feeling is buy if the price is right.
As a rental investor, I've owned over 10 duplexes in the range of 80 to 100 years old. The plumbing and electrical issues are real, but you can still do okay if you price that in appropriately when you buy. Just realize even small units can cost tens of thousands to update for those two things alone.
My father bought the house I grew up in (1891 Victorian) in Glen Ridge, NJ for $55,000 in 1976 on a 30 year mortgage. Tons of knob and tube, an oil tank in the basement for our ancient furnace and a kitchen that was remodeled in the 50's that we never touched and always kept the same. 13' ceilings on the first floor. 10' on the second and about 9' ceilings on the 3rd floor. All walls were plaster and lathe from before WWII (so no asbestos in that). Only sheetrock in the house was to drop the kitchen ceiling to 10' in a 1950's remodel. What a goofball, right. It was sold in 2017 for $600,000.00 )without doing anything but cleaning it up when they moved and then it was bought by some company that flip remodeled the kitchen, the basement and added a 3rd floor bathroom to sell it for $900,000.00+ in 2018. what a completely terrible decision on my father's part, right? Oh, you meant buying houses currently. That's fair I guess. Sure wouldn't have gotten it for a song like he did back in '76. It's all certainly relative to what you and the economy are currently doing.
Regarding flood zones: I recommend not even buying *near* a flood zone, or just outside it. My husband and I purchased a home in ‘96 and in 2008, the flood zone map was changed, enveloping our property.
Never never, never, and again, never buy in a flood plain. Although our home never flooded (even 20 yrs ago it was flooding all around our metro area) we were in the flood plain and you cannot shop around for flood insurance as you can car insurance. The cost of our flood insurance went up every single year by at least $50. we were fortunate in the zoning eventually changed and we sold the house. We paid hundreds of dollars monthly for flood insurance. If we were still in that home, the flood insurance would be almost as much as the mortgage payment.
I have owned two old houses, both over 100 years old. They have been less problematic than the newer homes we have owned! But, they had been restored prior to my purchase. The quality and beauty of the old homes far surpasses anything new.
Actually, the 100 year flood plain does not mean it floods once every 100 years. It actually means that there is a 1% chance that it will flood in any given year. And just because it flooded, say, 5 years ago that does not mean that it will not flood for anothe 95 years. It has the same 1% chance every single year, even 1 year apart. And, this is only an estimation. We don't have a large enough sample to give good statistics of how often a flood happens and with the changing climate things are even more uncertain. Basically, stay well out of the flood plain but if you must get flood insurance.
9:46 yep. Custom work in a home always raises a red flag to me. I immediately see $$$ and have to pause and evaluate whether or not upkeep, maintenance, repairs, etc are worth it when it comes to the enjoyment I will get.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Re the Seller's Disclosure, I sold a house thinking it was going to a first-time homebuyer, so I typed up seven single-spaced pages of info about the house for them, believe it or not, so they would understand absolutely everything, including in a major rain storm where the water in the alley flows and how to prevent drainage problems on the site. Turns out, the buyer was actually a flipper. He worked on it for three YEARS (while working on other properties) before putting it up for sale, so potential buyers thought he just updated his house. Posing as a potential buyer, I asked for a Seller's Disclosure from the real estate office, and was very surprised at how much important info he didn't disclose, including where (and what type) the French Drain pipes were located, info about having upgraded all the outlets, including the GFCIs, etc. Had he been honest, he would have simply handed the buyer the info I typed up and told them what he did since purchasing the property. So, in closing, a Seller's Disclosure doesn't always tell you everything you need to know, but most often is the best info you can get.
As a renovator I began photographing everything after digital cameras and colour printers became available. I mean like photographing opened wall and joist cavities while pipes and wires are exposed. Documentation which could save a lot of time and trouble to a future electrician or whoever. Always affixed a large envelope beside the breaker panel, containing such "x-rays" of the house including floor sketches of the circuits keyed to a responsibly marked panel. Should be law this info must stay with the house, but my city hall has yet to even archive such voluntary documentation, and it took them twenty years to figure out an emailed photo can often save the cost of an inspector visit.
Buyer beware. I always have an acceptable home inspection as a contingency . Ie only looking for huge problems so i can get out of the contract if something expensive is found that i don't want to deal with. Unless the seller wants to pay for the repair .
@@pong9000nice. Most would appreciate that.
My house had bad leaking in the basement shortly after I moved in. Not in the seller's disclosure, yet they just happened to have placed a rug right in the middle of the basement in a low spot and under that rug you could see damage to the paint job. When we ended up ripping out this ridiculous man-house in the basement (seriously, it has windows...inside the basement) we found the damage and could tell it had been going on for quite some time. No way they couldn't have known. But they were idiots who ruined their water fixtures by never repairing a broken water softener (thankfully that was super evident so I knew what I was getting into) so it's just par for the course.
Flippers are parasites. We went into serious debt thanks to one of their disgraceful ilk and their mold infested lipstick on a pig disaster. The inspector sucked, btw, and caught none of the very obvious things our later contractor pointed out in under fifteen minutes.
I bought a old home. It is beautiful. My husband took our time to update it, but it worth it. Very well built.
Kathleen, what do you do to heat your home?
That’s one of my concerns buying an older home. Since they were not as well insulated, most have high ceilings……even when I was a little girl my grandmother paid quite a bit to heat her house. Other than that, I think nothing is built like an older home. My grandmother’s house had pocket doors, and stained glass, and carved railings….. I look at it this way, every house will end up needing some type of work…,it comes with the territory!
I bout a 150yr old home on the mainline, 19 acres, i had it completely redone from top to bottom, its now a beautiful 6 bed 7 bath guesthouse on the edge of my property. I built a new home for myself centered on the land that meshed well with the look of the guesthouse. I dont regret a thing! I love it ☺️
I just saw you're a Jersey girl! I have a house down the shore in Strathmere, gotta love the jersey shore!
Just because the house is less than 100 years old, doesn’t guarantee there are no problems. We bought a 10 year old house and the pvc pipes burst less than a month after moving in because they cut corners during construction. We had to replace pvc pipes with copper to make sure it won’t happen again.
Exactly. years ago we bought a SIX year old house in Maine. I figured 6 years old, what can go wrong it's like buying a 2 year old car. Everything went wrong within 2 months of moving in. new roof, whole new septic system, plumbing, electrical. Oh and btw, the guy that owned the house was a builder! I'll take an older home any day of the week. I can go on about new houses my sister bought WOW!
I watched the build of a subdivision by me as walked through them daily as part of my nightly walk. What I saw that got covered up by Sheetrock and concrete told me never unless custom build that I oversee. Buyer beware!
I’ve seen ads for two year old homes being “move in ready”….yeah it should be.
Stop using cardboardy tubeing for pipes
It's incredible that PVC is even allowed for pressurized pipes. For sewer, it's fine, though.
Copper is still best although PEX has proven to be reliable. There is really no good reason to good PVC or CPVC for pressurized pipes.
I guess she’s saying… don’t buy a house if you’re poor…
Since becoming a homeowner, I have a saying: if you can’t afford to buy it twice, then you can’t afford to buy it. There are several things I need to do to my house as it’s 80 years old and thankfully most of it is cosmetic, but I’m just waiting for the hot water heater to go kaput any day now. Also it seems like every 18 months something goes caddywompus with the HVAC system, and I need to get an electrician over here to fix a thing or two that was rigged by the previous homeowners. Plus squirrels love to eat my porch, thankfully they have not touched a piece of wood on the rest of the house (the porch is newer and it’s my understanding they can’t treat the wood the same way they used to with certain chemicals cause of the EPA or something). My one saving grace is that my house was built by the U.S. Navy so it’s otherwise held up extremely well.
Sounds more like she’s saying Don’t buy a house.
I mean....Hasn't that ALWAYS been the case?
@@lmitchell3604 I agree with most of what you said but I want to point out that even the new home are having issues. Not that our house is newer. Our ranch style house was built in 1960 and over the years we have had to replace a lot of the items you have mentioned. My point is that a lot of the things that you have mentioned can happen to almost any home not in the much older home. Unfortunately the homeowners before us thought that they were competent DYI’s and anytime something breaks we now know that we are going to open the Pandora’s box of financial pain just to get it fixed correctly. However we love our house and property and would not want to live in town. So as you said…be prepared to have deep pockets to buy a house in today’s market.
If you're not smart and you buy the wrong house, you will be poor!
As a former code enforcement housing inspector in several Midwest cities I have to agree on much of your info - and many of the comments. Get inspections!!!!
Research about the area and type of house you’re buying. Also as a home owner my motto is if you’re paying more than $50,000 for a house you’re buying too much house. 😆 I’ve lived in a renovated a barn, old ranch homes, and currently enjoying an old trailer in the southwest. Knowing how to properly DiY is a great skill. And if you can’t do it yourself (electric or plumbing) rely only on licensed people with good reputations.
My house is almost 100 years old and while I agree that the possible issues you state would be big ones, it's pretty easy to tell if your house has lead pipes or knob and tube wiring. Look around! Test the lights! Look in the basement at the fuse box, make sure its capacity is appropriate for the size of the home and look in the rafters of the basement at what type of pipes and wiring there are. If you don't know one thing from the other, that's totally ok (I didn't know too terribly much myself)...bring someone along who does.
Not saying that there can't be things you won't see on inspection (I had a missing electrical box on my kitchen light, for example) but those sorts of things totally happen in newer construction, too, and an older house is more likely to be built sturdy. Usually. Again, nothing is absolute and you need to actually look at the structure and if you don't want to get a formal inspection (depending on where you live the inspectors can be pretty useless like they are here or it can mean your offer doesn't get accepted because the seller doesn't want to wait), again find a friend/relative who knows some things and bring them with you.
Also, laundry chutes are awesome. I so regret that when I had the door of my bedroom closet expanded, I didn't have a laundry chute added in there. If you don't take safety precautions, that's on you.
Word of advice, talk to the neighbors. They know if a homeowner didn’t take care of their property, especially the outside areas. If they don’t take care of the outside property, they probably didn’t maintain the inside of the house.
Talk to the neighbors to find out what the neighbors are like, but your suggestion makes little sense, compared to looking at it yourself. "Maintain" is a nonsense word anyway. You're going to get it inspected, right?
@@stinkycheese804inspection isn't the end and be all, they are very high level. I agree about the exterior being a giveaway as to the overall condition. Have never seen a house that looked like trash on the outside but great inside.
I remember a story about well-known HGTV flippers and how some buyers who bought their flips complained about how shoddy their work was and had to spend money to get it fixed by a professional contractor.
was that "Love it or List it"? I heard of a North Carolina couple who took the show to court.
They use contractors in all the HGTV shows, however, does not mean they are good contractors.
@@mickyo7171 that's the God's honest truth!
@@raymondlussier3920 Flip or Flop Vegas was one of them
I agree with you and always have the same mantra. I also have the following:
Corner lots (yes, you get more property, but you also get stop signs and lights in your bedroom or living room. And restriction for fences.
This gal is right on. Pay heed!
Very good advice. I'm in my 70s and I would add to all those retirees that they might avoid houses with too many stairs. It's harder to use stairs when you get older.
My Dad's 87 and my Mom's 86. The stairs in their house keep them in shape😀. Use it or lose it.
@@samantha-eu3cc My sister, who lived alone, fell coming down the stairs. Your parents may be unusually limber, but not everyone has that kind of balance.
Bannisters, preferably double (on each side of the stairs).
My friend has multiple sclerosis, she showed me her new dream home; a split level. I was quite surprised by her choice, so many stairs. She relapsed and lost her mobility quite often. I havent seen her in many years, dont know if she still lives there.
@@samantha-eu3cc yes. I'm partially paralysed. I have various ways of pulling myself upstairs and it's the toughest exercise available to me. We're thinking of moving. My husband suggested a bungalow. Absolutely not!
I agree with everything that was suggested. But... If you buy an old house, don't depend on the inspector sent out for home purchases because they just do not tell you everything. It happened to me. The old house I bought was passed but we were not told of issues that we wish we had known. If you can, hire your own inspector. Believe me, it will be worth it.
Our house is 70 years old. Inspector missed tons of stuff, including asbestos and thousands and thousands of dollars of plumbing issues. My advice is to get a plumbing and electrical inspection.
Find a civil engineer.
A relative of mine purchased a condo - first home and yes, it came with an hoa. Two things. The person who inspected the property was so clueless that he didn't find that most of the windows collapsed and were in dyer need of replacement, the dishwasher didn't work nor did the washing machine that was included in the sale. He did threaten a lawsuit against the inspector and was reimbursed for the inspection but had to eat the rest. Furthermore, the building was sold after about a year of him being there and the new owners and staff were miserable. Needless to say, NO to condos and HOAs.
Yeah, my realtor told me the inspectors in our area are not worth anything and you are much better off finding a friend or relative who knows construction to come with you when looking for homes. They at least have your safety in mind.
Ruth here, make sure you lay up money, DO NOT LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK, you will always have repairs, whatever, l would not buy a split level, when older, ya don't wanna be going all those steps
Agree 100% with flood plain.. much of this other stuff can be fixed or delt with. My friends basement has beautiful asbestos flooring. My last house had a few knob and tube outlets..we used for low wattage items. Home also had asbestos pipe insulation in walls for heat...just leave them alone. My grand parents lived in one these and lived till their 90s. Don't freak out and think this old tech is going to kill you
My parents bought a home and it had some heating system that had to vent to the outside. Over dozens of years it was never checked and eventually we had to call a plumber to fix it. The plumber found out the problem with the heating system.
It was clogged up, trapping gasses that should have gone outside. Could have killed the whole family.
Get an AMAZING inspector if you buy an old home.
Also, if the property slopes down toward the house.
Heavy rainfall brings water toward the home.
Costly to mitigate.
I,totally agree! Our 1999 home sits up from,the road - no chance of flooding at,all - but the driveway is also sloped so……. When we were looking at homes in this area I noticed thst many sat lower than street level! I never understood why! Pretty dumb if you ask me!
French drain but yeah, a no off the bat.
So true. Friend twenty years ago had a higher field slip down to and thru his house in torrential rain. Buy on a hill not under it.
This causes massive foundation problems
I sure wish someone had explained that to my mother before she bought out current house. There is a slight hill from our neighbors house and every time it rains heavily (which has been pretty frequent in the 20 plus years we've lived in the house) the water comes in. We've managed to stem the problem to some extent but it stills gets damp in her bedroom along one wall and it got so bad in another room we had to pull the carpet out and get the floor tiled. I know the house is probably full of black mold and/or mildew due to repeated flooding over the years but financially hardships prevent taking real care of the problem. Our neighbors have the same problem as our property slopes down to theirs but they're lucky it's just their garage that gets flooded (well, they have a lot junk in the garage so maybe not so lucky).
Houses with complicated roofs are bad, too. More likely to break down, more likely to leak, SUPER expensive to replace.
Very true!
I got a complicated roof plan. Two A frames smacked together, but opposite ways, with a bedroom addition on main level and a dormer. We call it the funky house.
This part. Nice simple rectangular roofs are also vastly superior for mounting solar panels.
I'd agree. One thing I've learned growing up in my parent's house was never get one with a flat roof! Nothing but trouble. It always needed constant repair and had leaking issues.
We bought our home brand new, 34 years ago. We were shocked during the final walk through after the papers were signed.....we were told we should paint the whole exterior within a year because they just did a "base coat!". We didn't do that so ended up having to replace several wall panels on the outside when we had it repainted.
.
Oh wow, this is the first honest real estate agent I have come across, thank you so much!
It's all true, and when I was through all these filters (including wildfire zone), I ended up buying a flat on the fifth floor right on the highway. Btw, for me mancave (ugh) is as much a no-no as a fish tank or a swimming pool.
In 1984, we bought a house that was just above the 500 year flood plain. We sold the house in 1992. Water came within 15 feet of the building, but the house itself never flooded when we owned it. The rains were so bad this year (2024) that the house was flooded. It happens. Topography shifts. One of the things you don't mention is homes that are in a slight depression. If the slope runs downward toward the house, it will eventually flood in heavy rain. The water has no where else to go. We were lucky. We owned another property on a hill, where all of the water drained away from the house. Our neighbors were not so lucky and many of them spent a small fortune for construction fixes. Be sure that the property has methods to drain the water away from the house. This is particularly true of garages.
The answer is a moat.
It's not just money you may have to spend on repairing the house but also sheer stress of either figuring out how to do it yourself, or the stress of dealing with workers in your home all day long!
or finding someone reputable to do the work
The cost of stress is very underrated when purchasing a home
@@betmo Ugh. Yes. It's why I'm trying to make as many connections as I can while we're looking for land. Ideally, we'd like an old farmhouse and it'll almost certainly need work.
Can't lump everyone into one. Choose carefully and you can be happy. I've lived in a townhouse w/HOA for over 20yrs. Love it! Not super large, so HOA board members are always friends. Everything's maintained and all's good. Wouldn't change a thing.
If you're going to live in a SFHA flood area, plan on the house being flooded. Standard NFIP max coverage may only be $250k for the house and $100k for contents. But communities may give a 10% discount on flood insurance.
One other type of house I would *never* consider buying is a tri-level. "Tri-level" is code for "always having to go up and down stairs anywhere you go in the bouse."
Absolutely! My cousin lives in a duplex house with SIX split levels. My paternal grandparents were the original owners about 1970 or so, and I think that sort of architecture was the in thing at the time.
From bottom to top:
1. Game room that used to be a garage
2. Dining room and kitchen
3. Living room with front door as main entrance to the house
4. Bedroom
5. Two more bedrooms and both bathrooms
6. Bedroom
@@Tes7000 Mostly tri levels are cheaper to build
Maybe you should buy one so your wife gets a firmer ass instead of a fat lumpy one. Just a suggestion. Gotta keep them on the stair climber, ya know.
Split level or bilevel floor plan is not good
Can u imagine tryin to do that as u get older…
The house flipped by LLCs - spot on. My cousin bought a house from a wall street investor company - it caught fire (total loss) and it was due to crap insulation material around the fireplace. The reno was trash.
New sub, I enjoy your content!
Thanks so much for subscribing! So sorry that happened to your cousin. How awful!
@@JackieBaker her whole family was home, they barely made it out - you never think about the danger you put yourself in when corners are cut!!
Thank you for this free and great advice some of these things I didn’t know! We appreciate you!
Lots of good advice. Also, old homes have zero insulation or corn cob insulation. Utility bills in the north to heat a home during winter are expensive.
My house is 124 years old. I absolutely love it. As the saying goes, it has good bones. I had it very strongly inspected before I bought it. The plumbing was fine and the electrical was fine and that was my two main concerns. Don’t be scared of these old houses. The inspector told me that my house will still be standing in another 100 years. And the brand new builds that he is inspecting, he figures will literally not be standing in 50 years. give those old houses a chance. My house is small, but solid. I updated over the last three years and had no major issues. I’d rather invest in an old solidly built house than the crap that they are building nowadays. I have had less trouble with this house than my friend who bought a brand new build house has had.
Like I said I love old houses. But they’re not for everyone. I’m sure your house is very cool!
but how can an inspector be sure all the electrical and plumbing is fine when they cannot see behind the walls? Just curious.
@@randomletter-5i4same thing can be said of new builds in regard to inspection/inspectors. I know people who have bought new and have had plumbing, electrical, mold, because no inspection can catch it all.
@@jmbisme yep! Some friends bought a brand new house & it had many leaks & other problems. I've always bought old houses & didn't have any more problems & paid way less.
The inspector told me the same thing. They all have the same rhetoric because it’s all a racket and they’re part of the working parts of the cog to get the house sold.
Getting a home inspection is the best way to find out exactly what is needed. I would buy an old home any day of the week.
Excellent advice! I appreciate your effort in making your posts. Thanks!
Spot on advice about the sloppy flip. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
We purchased a home 2 years ago. We wanted a large home with a big yard. We opted to buy an older home (20+ years). The newer subdivisions had no yard and many had large HOA fees. They also felt like an apartment with the generic amenities. Just research what you want and keep looking. Houses were selling by the time I requested to walk thru so we had to act fast when we found our perfect home. Hired an inspector who I trust. The house wasn't perfect, but had good bones. No regrets. Just do your homework and hire a trusted inspector.
What’s up with these new houses that have no backyard?
I just bought my first house 2 months ago. Immediately when I started looking at homes I ruled out flips for these exact reasons. The cosmetic work was horrible and I didn't trust what was in the walls. My favorite flip red flag I saw, they walled off a portion of the living room to make a 3rd very small bedroom with a closet. The house had a double front door into the living room. They walled off 1 side of that double front door, so it was in the closet of the new bedroom. Left about 3-4 inches of the now useless left side of the door with the doorknob exposed. I was like first of all I don't trust this to be water tight and will probably leak into the wall that was just created. And more importantly, if someone does this and thinks it is ok, I don't trust anything else they did.
I ended up targetting homes that were being sold by a newer widow where the spouse that died was in their 60s/70s. (I did research through property records and obituaries) Why? Because the homes were well taken care of with plans for the couple to live there long-term then typically one would get sick (cancer everytime actually) and die so the survivor was selling to downsize.
I bought a great house with all new mechanics, quality everything, for below asking price within 48 hours of it listing.
Thats great. I would just be precautious regardinf if the cancer cause had anything to do with the house.
Thank you for giving great ideas of how to do it well. I'm pretty clear on what to avoid. It's so scary when we have to find a place to live in a hurry. Sometimes we dont have loads of time to wait, & with these higher int rates, there isn't nearly as much on the market. Renting doesn't work out if you have petS.
@@HumanOptimization Exactly what I was thinking. I don't think contaminated homes are as common as we may worry, though. The bigger concern is cancer being on the rise period.
My 100 year old home is renovated. I replaced the pipes, i completely redid all the wiring in the 2000s, I replaced any old flooring, but have most oak hardwood. All the house has been newly insulated in 2000s, all triple plane new windows, whole sections have been renovated with plaster and lathe removed and drywall replaced, with new studs. Oversized yard with 60- 100 feet trees, and vegetable gardens. So, some people continuously upgrade older homes, and cannot paint all houses the same.
When you enter & immediately see stairs going up & down, you are in a SPLIT FOYER.
If you walk into a home where the foyer & home level are the same level & at 90° to the front entry (2) ½ story stairs are going up & down, you are in a split level.