Buying old houses that need reno.

[ecstasy_civic]

Where would I look to find these type of listings??

Ive looked in the paper, but didnt find much.

[ZorroAMG]

Try the MLS, or call a Realtor....

[Davetronz]

Just look for something priced a LOT lower than it should be for the area/age.

[JordanLotoski]

i wouldnt buy an older house, we did alot of looking and we found older homes where more money then what we paid for our new house......and with a new house u get a warrenty, and get to design it yourself:thumbsup:

[max_boost]

Originally posted by SIRCANADA
i wouldnt buy an older house, we did alot of looking and we found older homes where more money then what we paid for our new house......and with a new house u get a warrenty, and get to design it yourself:thumbsup: True that, I'm excited! haha

Only old house worth buying IMO are the ones that sit on two/three lots :D If you look at the areas North of 16th Ave NW, you'll see a lot of people knocking down the old stuff to build huge houses.

[JordanLotoski]

yeah if your looking at an old house say downtown with a good size lot go for it....lotta money in that in the future..but as far as house for house goes....id go new

[ecstasy_civic]

I just wanna fix it up and possibly rent it out or sell it in the future.

I have the resources right now to do all the repairs with a friend.

[ZorroAMG]

I'll get you the financing for the purchase if you need it, PM me...

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by SIRCANADA
i wouldnt buy an older house, we did alot of looking and we found older homes where more money then what we paid for our new house......and with a new house u get a warrenty, and get to design it yourself:thumbsup:

There are benefits to buying an older house, or else everyone would buy new. Older houses are built better than newer ones. That, and they are usually cheaper.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by SIRCANADA
yeah if your looking at an old house say downtown with a good size lot go for it....lotta money in that in the future..but as far as house for house goes....id go new Yah, proximity to downtown! I just hope its value continues to grow as baby boomers down size and choose to move closer to the city center. I've got a lock on a place, knocking down the old POS house to build a nice big one. Hopefully one day it'll be worth $1million dollars:nut:

[doc_speeder]

Originally posted by Weapon_R


There are benefits to buying an older house, or else everyone would buy new. Older houses are built better than newer ones. That, and they are usually cheaper.

In what way are older houses built better? How old are you talking? I believe that the new "engineered" trusses, joists, plywood etc, is better than the old methods of wood construction.

[ZorroAMG]

WeaponR

Actually, most people buy older houses because they are already built close to how they want it to look, are in the area that they want to be in and can move in RIGHT AWAY. New houses are almost always now in the suburbs far out of the city, are cookie cutter styles and are not ready for 8-12 months. You can't usually find good sized empty lots in great areas nowadays and if you do, you have to get comercial financing to buy it if you dont have cash. Then you must do a construction draw mortgage. Most people who have the big bucks will buy a house on a great lot, tear the SHITTY old house down and build a brand new state of the art one...if these people have the money to buy what they want and old houses are supposed to be better, why do they do what I just described?

[subdermal]

For the price of a new house in the 'burbs I got a 90 year old house a 5 minute walk from Eau Claire. I work downtown (both jobs :rolleyes: ) and get called in all times of day and night, so that was important, YMMV. Based on my experiences, I would reccomend:

Check how many people have owned it - one problem I've had is that the plumbing and electrical over the years have been partially updated/modified by 4 different families and it was way more of a mess because of that.

Check for stupid things owners might have done that you would never think of. The previous owners had for some reason removed all phone jacks on the upper floor (which we know had been in place previously) and cut all the TV cables 6 inches below the floorboards on the main level. :banghead:

Find out when the electrical/plumbing was last upgraded (water heater, breaker boxes etc) - this is important on its own, but also will give you an idea of how well the house was taken care of in general.

If you're planning any major mods, look into the bylaws for the neighborhood. I bought the place planning to cover most of the backyard in garage, and then found that in my neighborhood there is a limit on how much of your land can be built on. Which leads to my final suggestion:

Avoid dinky little 25' infill lots. A 50' lot will always be more expensive, but is well worth the extra space, especially for 'car people'. Looking back, I would rather have had a smaller house on a bigger lot.

I personally have been very happy in the neighborhoods just north of downtown (Kensington, Bridgeland, Sunnyside, Crescent Heights). It's the convenience of living downtown, but without the nightly sirens and junkies :D . There are still some good deals - there are also plenty of people trying to sell you their turn of the (previous) century 2 bedroom cottage for 350+K, so shop around...

[3G]

Originally posted by subdermal
I personally have been very happy in the neighborhoods just north of downtown (Kensington, Bridgeland, Sunnyside, Crescent Heights). It's the convenience of living downtown, but without the nightly sirens and junkies :D . There are still some good deals - there are also plenty of people trying to sell you their turn of the (previous) century 2 bedroom cottage for 350+K, so shop around...

I've talked to some older people who live in Crescent Heights and they told me they want to move out of the area because of too much traffic/people and shit. It used to be quiet back in the day.

[ecstasy_civic]

Originally posted by ZorroAMG
I'll get you the financing for the purchase if you need it, PM me...

I will definatley do that thanks:thumbsup: