Scot, this sounds like a pretty nice house. Before purchasing an older home I
would find out whether it is hooked up to a municipal sewer and water system.
If not you should check into the condition of the septic system and the well
and water pump. I'd also want to find out about the condition and age of the
roof and the amount of insulation in the walls and attic. It might be a good
idea to take a look at the electric and heating costs for the last few years.
About 8 years ago I replaced my old single pain windows and storm windows with
moderate priced double pain windows, and figured that I saved about 20 percent
in heating costs.
Good luck and I hope that this deal works out for you.
Paul Franklin
----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Howell
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 7:03 AM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] older homes - what to look for
Hi good people,
Well let me tell you a little story and try not to bore you to tears or make
this a super long message. My wife and I walk by this home and have done so for
several years. She has always commented on how lovely the house looks and
incredibly it went on the market about 10 days ago. Apparently the couple that
owned it has passed on and the kids have decided to sell the property.
So, here is a description, which will help set the tone of the question. The
house is a custom-built Rambler, constructed in 1954, and is all brick. The
house is not very large (according to the tax record is 1,500 square feet) and
has a living room, dining room, kitchen, full bath, and four bedrooms; on one
level. I neglected to bring a tape when we took a tour, but think I would if we
take another look. There is an attic with a fixed set of stairs and it has
flooring down and the roof is not plywood, but (I can't think of the correct
name) some sort of planks with shingles over that. The basement is partially
finished with solid pine paneling and interesting it has a solid block wall
running down the middle and apparently this was common in the 50's. It has an
oil-fired boiler that provides baseboard heat and it does have central air, but
that was added later and the air handler is in the attic and the vents are in
the ceiling.
Ok, so the purpose of describing this house is I am curious what things I
should be looking for if we seriously entertain the idea of purchasing it. I
understand there is a breaker panel and not a fusebox. However, let me mention
a couple other things as well. There is a separate two-car garage that does
have a fusebox, but this is a very substantial structure that they even put in
some ceiling fans since one of the kids used to detail cars in there. In
addition, there are two (I know this sounds nuts) walk-in freezers. I am
talking freezers that are stand-alone buildings. Apparently this gent used to
cut up meat for people if they would bring him the animal. Now the freezers are
no longer operational, but they have been used for storage and either would
make an excellent workshop. Oh as a side note, they are tossing in two
tractor/mowers, a big walk-behind mower, and a snow blower. SO, honestly, the
only issues for me is little if any closet space and that apparently was common
in the 50[s as well and I know I would have to install a dish washer and a few
other changes. The place has all hardwood floors under carpet and I can't
imagine it would take much to fix these up. So, of course I am researching
whether I could purchase the place that does sit on 2.5 acres and gee I could
sell one of them and make half my investment bak.
So, again, what stuff should I look at that could really be an issue for a
home of this age. Btw, I did not smell any wet oders or anything that would
indicate leaking of the basement or house in general.
SOrry for going on so, but hope it planted some neat images. As one final
side note/question, the windows are the single-pane type with storm windows.
The agent showing the home tried to tell me these are more efficient than the
newer double-pane windows and I think he's way-off-track on this. I remember
these growing up and having ice on the inside. So, is it possible that these
could really be efficient in some way? Just curious.
Thanks
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
