We own 2 houses... one 1918 foursquare and the 1920 unknown style house =D beside ours. We've never had a problem, we've gone through Ditech (wouldnt recommend them) and Wells Fargo. As long as it's appraised and can meet a 5 point inspection, you should be good.

Darlynn Warren
Lakeland FL

As long as the house passes inspections, there should be no problem. Doesn't hurt to shop the banks a bit.

We own a 100+ year old home and had no problem with financing it either. Got a very good rate on our mortgage also. Check your local banks and on-line. Your personnel finances may have more to do with getting financing then the condition of an older home. NancyLouise

Thanks, Darlyn, javern, and NancyLouise. This info helps me a lot. If everything goes well, I'll surely let you know. If not, I may be too depressed for a while.... Wish me luck!

Thanks, Sono

We bought a mid-1800's house in the late 1980's (awful interest rates then: 10+% even for excellent credit with a 30-year fixed!) and the only issue was whether the house had heat in the second floor. That was a big problem since it manifestly did not and had never had any.

We just added electric baseboard heating units, well, at least that was the plan, but it turned out that our walls had no cavities to pull wire through. There was no electric service on the second floor, either, but nobody thought to ask about that, and we didn't volunteer. Of course we left it to the last minute and my husband had to leave on a business trip. We did put the units went in, but fortunately no one asked if they were actually connected. Electric heater units long since removed to chicken house and mortgage paid off so it doesn't matter any more. But it's fair to say that we still don't have heat in the second floor - two decades later, (though we did run 110V service, eventually).

If you get a no from one bank, don't give up. Try local banks and credit unions who may not need to resell their paper, they can usually be more flexible.

Now old houses that are not currently habitable are a different kettle of fish, but people do get loans for them, too. However it's a tougher challenge. Good luck with yours.

Molly~

Hi, Molly -- Thank you for all that info. It is very helpful and gives me hope! Thank you!

Sono

What I DID have problems with was getting insurance for my 1924 Craftsman, which I rented and then bought from my landlord. The insurance company I had had my renter's insurance with here for 4 years (Safeco) cut me off when I bought it, because "they don't insure houses built before 1930". I asked my neighbors who they insured with, and ended up with AAA.
Carla in Sac

We've only lived in old houses and haven't had bad experience with getting financing. However, I've heard lots of stories, just like sautesmom mentions, about owners having difficulty with insurance. Depending on your area of the country and depending on the insurance company, you may end up checking around and around and around before you'll find someone to cover the house. We have State Farm and it's been ok so far.

I bought a house built around 1910 just over a year ago. the loan was not the issue for me that part went way smoother than my first house which was only 12 years old when I bought it. I had trouble with insurance. my realtor had me get like 3 quotes plus one from the company my first place was insured with. I ended up getting it from the company I was already dealing with due to all kinds of things other companies were comming up with. that company sent me a letter a month after I settled to cancel the policy. (Litiz Mutual) the reson they sited was that the replacement cost was so much greater then the homes market value, 300,000 vs 85,000. I have Erie insurance now. intrestingly State farm would not cover the place.

I had no problem at all getting financing for my 1926 Tudor.
Regions Bank has a program where you can finance 100% with 0 down and no PMI.
As for insurance, State Farm covers me and they didn't even come by to see the house before approving us.
Easy easy easy.