Are you buying an Older Home? Here are things you need to consider.

Buying an old home can be fulfilling. It can often look beautiful, especially if you’re not a fan of modern architecture, and you might find that it has a load of character that new homes can’t get. It might also have ‘better bones’, meaning it was built at a time where structural integrity was higher quality than it is now. Old homes also have a certain romantic air to them, with large fireplaces, potentially much more wood and not a bit of plastic in sight. If you’re in love with an old home, try not to get too carried away – here are some things you need to think about before you make the purchase. 

Older Technology and Materials

Older tech and building materials often add to the charm of a place. It can make the home feel unique and suggests the house has long-lasting durability and character due to dove-tailed wooden joints or hand-scraped ceiling beams that people don’t do nowadays. However, doing things the old-fashioned way means the house is less suited to host modern conveniences. The plumbing and wiring are probably incredibly old and will need replacement, as will the windows and insulation, which can be a fortune. Living in Sydney almost definitely means you’ll need a Sydney air conditioning company to come in and sort out your HVAC as you should not wait for a scorching summer to sort out any old and temperamental HVAC systems. 

Remodeling may be more essential than you think

The aesthetic of previous generations does differ from what people tend to want now. People want large, open rooms with big bathrooms and bedrooms, which just weren’t priorities 100 or 200 years ago. You’ll likely have a small bathroom and poor storage options, which may mean you will feel a bit claustrophobic. Remodeling some of the inside spaces might start to feel more essential the longer you live in it. This is one more cost that you should think about. 

Insurance 

If you live in a 150-year-old house, homeowner’s insurance will be an expensive necessity. That’s because there are more risks in older houses, requiring expensive fixes which insurance companies will not feel happy about paying. If you don’t update your wiring and plumbing, you will find that prices will be even steeper due to fire hazards and water issues.

Roofs and Windows

Your roofs and your windows will probably need replacing – any roof that’s older than 20 years is likely to leak anyway and crumble which can cause knock-on effects that translate to expensive repairs. Old windows are single pane and terrible insulators. You can tell how old your windows are by the thicknesses at the top and the bottom– older glass doesn’t flow downwards over the years like a popular rumour suggests, instead antique glass wasn’t as quality controlled, creating a liability for insulation. Before you buy your home, you should get in contact with specialists that could give you an estimate about how much it would cost to roof your house and replace your windows; then add that to the rapidly growing bill.