Don't know where in the country you are, but if there is any risk of earth quakes, I think presumably un reinforced brick would be a real earthquake problem.
Otherwise it sounds very nice, maybe you shouldn't tell us where you are and what they're asking, many of us would probably cry! <GRIN< Tom Fowle near San Francisco which is still either overpriced or no where you'd want to live. On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 07:03:39AM -0400, Scott Howell wrote: > 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 >
