We bought a home built in 1971 and the biggest thing we had to consider was ELECTRICAL.
- There just wasn't enough amperage for the new appliances we installed and some future expected power draws (dock & pool).
- And there are not enough outlets in the house to run all the electrical stuff (clock radios, entertainment such as TV, DVD, VCR, cable box, etc, lamps, and everything else that plugs in.
- The add-on cable lines were poorly located on the outside of the house and drilled through the walls, rather than run through the attic.
- There are no outside outlets at all, so I have to weed-whack & edge the lawn by running a really long extension cord from the inside of the house.

The water pressure is weak. The outside faucets (to which you would connect a hose) are some non-standard size, so we have to get weird fittings for all of our hoses.

Also (not that an inspector could find this), when we broke through the slab to bring the gas line into the house (originally only went to the garage for the water heater), we found that the main kitchen sink drain pipe had gotten backed up with grease, causing water to rest behind the backup, causing the pipe to rust through, and in fact the kitchen sink was draining directly to the soil beneath the slab. It smelled awful (rancid grease).

You're going to find even more quirks with an even older home. These are the things that we didn't really think much about until we started renovating.

The big-ticket things are going to be more along the lines of: age of the roof, condition of the foundation, HVAC, etc. If it was a multi-level house, I'd worry about plumbing, too. Make sure the house is insurable (I have a friend who bought a 1920 gorgeous Victorian built on a brick foundation in California, and his insurance company dropped him like a hot potato until he got a new foundation.)

Hope this gives you a few ideas....

I own a old house, 1830;s Federal Style. some of the things you need to watch for are:
The condition and care given to the mature trees in the yard. It's EXPENSIVE to have old trees cut down. Bewary of dead trees in the yard!
Look to see what damage the mature trees might have done to the roof.
Look at the roof see how old it is and how many layers it has on it. If it's not been reroofed in awhile you may be looking at stripping it down to the wood to reshingle. Shingle disposal is expensive.
Look at the gutters...or for lack there of.
Check the foundation for cracks and water leakage. downspouts that are missing or not directed int he right way can cause major foundation problems.
Ask about the cost of heat and the type.
Ask about any hidden or old oil tanks.
If septic ask where it comes out, when it was cleaned last. Look for a cleanout pipe.
Check to see that all windows open and close. Many have those rope and weight set up and if the ropes are cut it can be a pain to repair...not impossible just time consuming.
Check the fireplace on the outside to make sure the brick work is in good shape and doesn't need to be repointed.
Check the wiring. Make sure you have enough outlets in the rooms and that if you need to add them you can without tearing the whole house apart.
Check the mechanics carefully. They are probably in need of replacing if it hasn't been done in the last 20 yrs.
Be wary of do it yourself fixes to things inside the house.
Take a careful look at the boundries of the property. If they haven't been done in awhile they need redoing.....a fence in a old house can often be on the neighbors side of a lot.
If the house is wallpapered ask who did it and when. Nothing is worse than trying to remove wallpaper that was applied incorrectly.

The biggest issue with our previous 1964 home was that it had only 100 amp service to the house. It was not a problem for us (only two of us) but it is probably insufficient for a family. Standard now is 200 amp or higher. It also had its original boiler, which worked fine still, but scared the buyer of the house due to its age. I think you just need to see how it was maintained. I personally think older houses were better built with better materials in those days. Our house had six inch walls and the foundation was solid and in excellent shape.

I also have a 1964 home, not many issues as it was hand built by the original owner who was an amazing carpenter.

Yes, I did have to upgrade my electrical panel for more service, and had to have the gutters re-installed since one of the previous owners had them installed wrong.

This year, I've owned it for 10 ... I had to re-do the roof, a complete tear off.

But any house, even brand new one's, have their issues .. chose your battles and look at things you can fix in the future as opposed to all at once.

carol is right about wallpaper. I have spent hours trying to remove the original wallpaper in our powder room. Don't know why I was so naive, should have deducted the cost for having this done by a professional from the offering price.
This is one big pain in the *** and the walls will have to be repaired after you get the paper off.
Also you could take an iron with you to see if the wiring is adequate. In a house we owned in Houston the lights would dim every time my iron heated up, it was very annoying.

DD's house built in 1930 would pop a fuse if you ran more than one thing in the kitchen. They did do a complete redo and up graded the electrical.
Looks like electrical is a main thing to look at and question. Roof too.
Kathy G in MI

As with any home purchase....get a good inspection before you close.
Even if you don't negotiate for repairs, you'll at least know the issues that you house has.
I own an 1926 home and our inspection lasted 6 hours and I followed the inspector writing down everything he said needed to be fixed.
We also negotiated getting the sellers to pay for a complete roof replacement on top of the purchase price.
You should also ask this question in the Old House forum to see what their advice might be.

BTW, I love our old house....creaky floors, original windows and all.

Good luck.

Thank you all - this is great information! I'll feel much more prepared to check everything out tomorrow.
Laura

Yes, the electrical for sure - like others said be sure the amperage is enough for everything you want to run at the same time - and find out what is wired to each breaker if you can. The house we sold last year was built in 1968 - and all four bedrooms as well as the living room and dining room had window units for AC - central air is rare in Hawaii. The problem is that they were all installed on the same breaker so it was not possible to run all the units (or even several of them) at the same time without tripping the breaker.

We knew this before we bought (from the inspection) and opted not to upgrade the system until we saw how it affected us in day to day living. We found that the breaker would trip if we were running more than three AC units and then used a blowdryer at the same time - just an example. We knew what combinations would trip the system and it never tripped unless alot of AC was on - noticed it more when my parents were visiting and it wasn't just the two of us in the house. Anyway we worked around it - we rarely wanted AC anyway because the tradewinds were cool and it wasn't humid at all - but when we were listing the house for sale we brought in an electrician to run new dedicated lines to all the bedrooms and master bath and add new breakers to the panel - then made sure we could have all the ACs on at once and use the outlets and still not have it trip. We didn't want it to be an issue for resale even though we were totally ok for two years with the system the way it was.

I should have finished up with telling you that electrical isn't a dealbreaker as long as you know in advance, as much as you can, how it's set up and if it can be upgraded if you choose to or find out you need to. We had just a 100amp panel and could still run everything else in the house as well as wash clothes and run the pool filter nonstop at the same time - it was just running multiple AC units that caused the problem.

I wish you the best, good luck and I hope everything works out!

Check the disclosure sheet carefully.

We are looking at a 1935 cottage on a lake and I just learned about the life span of leach fields.

All of these things you will find out about when you have your inspection done.

Do not skimp on the inspection.

MP

I very much agree with the things Carol has suggested. In addition to checking the fireplace on the outside, look into the fireplace on the inside. Does it appear that fires have burned there recently. We learned after buying our previous old house that the flue all the way up had mortar that had failed so we couldn't burn fires without risking sparks getting into the framing of the house. Estimate to rebuild (due to other quirks about that particular chimney and flue) was $7500.

Check if the pipes are galvanized, copper or pvc. Galvanized isn't a problem but there's a higher likelihood of mineral buildup inside and that'll affect water flow.

I agree with Carol about checking for the number of outlets in each room. A 1945 house probably was only built with 1 per room. Also check if the walls are plaster or now drywall...or drywall over plaster. Outlets are harder to install in plaster...not impossible, just harder.

Pay attention to how many closets. If the house is in original condition, chances are there won't be many.

Does house have forced air heat or a boiler and radiators? Keep your fingers crossed for radiators - much more even and less dry heat. Are the heating pipes in the basement wrapped with a cloth like substance? If yes, it's possible this is asbestos wrap. And that's fine if it's left alone but some owners want to be rid of it and there's a process for getting it off and out.

Are floors level? If not, do they slope because the house settled?

And I couldn't agree with Carol more in being alert for previous homeowner's DIY repairs and updates. Way too often half-a.. repairs and updates were done which are a royal pain to redo properly.

Good luck.

I'll second the last statement. Before a home gets vintage and becomes a character home it's just an old home and often goes through numerous resales, or even put up as rental property. If it's in need of repair, the owners often do it as cheaply as possible just to get it sold. I much prefer as near as possible to the original everything and renovating myself to undoing shoddy work before I get it back to the original bare bones.

Routine home inspections are a fairly recent phenomenon, at least in the heartland. So, if it looked good, it eventually got sold. Many of what could be beautiful Victorians in my area had their ceilings lowered with that grid and cardboard system. In fact one I recently bought had this done to hide a damaged ceiling from a leaky roof. Then there was the paneling craze. I can live with real tongue and groove, but I'm talking the fake wood pattern on particle board. It's everywhere here to hide plaster cracks. Ditto the interior stucco walls. Carpet to hide bad hardwood floors. And of course the asbestos and lead paint issue.

If you are looking at an older home, always wait for a bad rain and then insist on looking at it again the next day. If you see a sump pump remember they don't work when the electric goes out.

Check all windows that they open and shut and look for condensation in the new tilt out windows. It's permanent and won't go away if it's in between the panes.

Smell around. It can tell you a lot about moisture, plumbing issues, pet damage, fuel leaks. And don't be afraid to turn on the faucets to check for water pressure and take a paper cup with you and actually taste the tap water if you know it's safe to drink. Look for calcium deposits and check the plumbing for shut off valves where they need to be. Septics can be inspected, and it's a major issue if your prospective home has problems. If you are looking in areas where the house is not on a pubic water system, then ask to see the test results. Sometimes wells cannot be made safe, ever, no matter how many times you have shocked them. You're up a creek if they don't test safe and will have to install a system to chlorinate them or a reverse osmosis system. Both are expensive. These are also issues you may find in newer homes.

You may also want to check with insurance agencies and go over what you have found with them. Our house is nearly two hundred years old. We have met all the criteria to get insurance and it's what we consider reasonably priced and we're happy. But........ our agent even jokes with us that what we have is a white elephant. No way on earth would we ever be able to replace the construction on this house, beamed everything, tongue and groove connections, three course brick exterior and even interior walls. And every window is a different dimension since they were all custom made. If you do desire to keep the history intact and remodel with any integrity down the road, to match materials is...

I'm living in a house that was built in 1972 according to the tax records my husband checked after our old agent had the house listed at 70 years old. This was probably one of the biggest reasons no one looked at the house; it would have made it the oldest around. Go to the tax assessor to see that you can back up the info about how old the house is in case the owners missed it, like I did. I had no clue when the house was built and honestly never questioned it when I saw 70 for the age. Live and learn.

What everyone says about the electric is right on. I'm feeling pretty good that our house has been upgraded, we have multiple outlets, lights on the ceilings (some houses don't), boiler and radiator heater, central air, new roof, shut off valves on every sink / shower / water heater and no plumbing leaks.

A few years ago when my dad was still alive, we replaced the water heater. I was sure it was going, we never seemed to have enough hot water. When the power was put on for the new one, it stayed cold. Turned out we didn't have the right service to hook it to (or something like that). We do have outside outlets, along with 2 working hoses, which were changed. We've also replaced almost all of the windows. We've fixed everything that's popped up in the last 8 years I've been here. The next person should have it pretty easy.

The condition and care given to the mature trees in the yard. It's EXPENSIVE to have old trees cut down. Be wary of dead trees in the yard!

I wonder if this is different with every area. We also took out a few mature sugar maples, but the cost wasn't bad. I will say that sugar maples seem to be the worst trees for our area. Hubby's a truck driver; it never failed that we'd have a storm on those rare times he didn't come home. Now, if I see a tree is dropping large branches, it's out of here as they rot from the inside out.

If you are looking at an older home, always wait for a bad rain and then insist on looking at it again the next day. If you see a sump pump remember they don't work when the electric goes out.

Don't let this deter you from buying a home. At a house we rented 15 years ago, we had a generator for this reason. If it's an area that loses power regularly, a generator is worth every penny.

The 1945 date gives me pause. Lots of houses were thrown up very fast at the end of WWII. Building codes have improved a lot since then.

We moved from a 1950's brick ranch to a new home six years ago. The difference is amazing. The new house is TIGHT -- plenty of insulation and good low-E windows. Although we replaced all the windows in the ranch and blew in insulation (there was NONE), that house was always drafty. In the new house, a car can pull up to our front door and our Westie doesn't even hear it!

Having 9-foot ceilings and 36" wide doorways and large bathrooms is wonderful. We are just now beginning to have a few repairs/replacements; six years without those maintenance expenses was great.

Our new house has the advantage of having been a teardown, so it isn't out in the "boonies", but close to town, rail, schools, all city services. Best of both worlds.

I'm not saying not to buy a house with a sump pump, but be aware that it can impact insurance when you see them on new homes because of their electric dependence. I suggested you view homes you are considering purchasing right after a rain, because there is no way the seller can hide water defects then.

I'm not saying not to buy a house with a sump pump, but be aware that it can impact insurance when you see them on new homes because of their electric dependence. I suggested you view homes you are considering purchasing right after a rain, because there is no way the seller can hide water defects then.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you had. When I read the post there were a lot of thoughts running through my head that I wanted to comment on.. lol

Your advice was good

If you are looking at an older home, always wait for a bad rain and then insist on looking at it again the next day. If you see a sump pump remember they don't work when the electric goes out.

There are water powered sump pumps and water-powered backup sump pumps so the pumps work even when electric is out. Many municipalities require a sump pump before sale, even if water in a basement has never been an issue.

Water powered sump pumps won't do you much good in a rural setting where your water supply is dependent on an electrical pump pulling it up from your well.

The sump pump statement was aside. The main reason I said you should visit houses after rains is it saved us from making a couple bad choices once when relocating and needed to purchase a house........quickly.

Yes, there are disclosures, but some disclosures are as euphemistically written as they can be. May show some water after a severe storm, for example. I'd rather see for myself beforehand than hire an attorney and go after a failure to disclose in court.

Hire a good reputable, experienced home inspector...but not a "jack of all trades, master of none".

If the HI offers additional services, make sure he has licensing and/or training and or certification that your state may require. If your state does not regulate any of the following practices, at least ask if he has solid training and education in the field ÂÂ.as opposed to being self taught...as well as solid experience. Some HI's pretend they can do everything......NOT.

If your state regulates the profession, visit the state website...and find out what is and isn't included. From there, you can only assume that the HI has qualifications in what IS included.

Some of the services that are not part of a home inspection in most if not all states are as follows:

Termite (and other wood destroying insects) and/or inspection for pests (aka rodents) of any sort.

Existence of or leaking of underground oil tanks.

Radon testing.

Chimney flue inspection.

Mold testing.

Air sampling.

Hazardous materials (asbestos, pesticides, poisons, etc)

Septic systems ( a major issue, as many will try to tell you that a dye test suffices...NOT...get a full blown inspection by a company that specializes in septic)

Swimming pools.

Always get a copy of the contract at least a few days prior to the inspection...in order to know what to expect...in order that you may arrange for any other inspection or testing that you may require.

And...ask the seller for their heating bills as well as the electric bills....in order that you can obtain a good idea of overall utility cost at the outset.

Best wishes.