^ which would you choose? - updated with pics

[Deleted]

Would you rather rehab an older home (built in 1920) or buy new (built in the last ten years)?

Assume that the purchase price + cost of renovation of the first house would equal the purchase price of the second house. The sq. footage of both houses is pretty much the same. School districts are similar. The first house is located in a neighborhood of older homes and the second one is in a new development. The newer house has a bigger yard but also has higher property taxes (by about 4k).

Which do you think you would choose?

[Susie]

If purchase price + rehab cost for the older home really = purchase price for the newer home, I'd go old home, hands down.

I qualify it that way because we bought the newer home IRL. Purchase price + rehab cost was prohibitively high.

[ijack]

how much would you have to renovate on the older home? electricity, plumbing, structure would probably make it a no for me.

[EmilieMadison]

If the overall end cost (purchase price and reno) would be about the same for both, then I'd go with the older home. Well, as long as I LIKED the older home at least as much as the newer one.

[spankswife]

New home. Houses are head ache enough, let alone an old one...

[h]

The old house, assuming that when you say the cost of purchase plus reno is equivalent to the purchase price of the new house you are budgeting for other people to do all the work. I would not want to do the work myself with three little kids.

[ondaflipside]

$4K extra taxes a year is a no go for me.

[thumper55]

new house.
upgrading and having a bunch of contractors in your house all day long is no fun. not being able to use some parts of your house that are under renno is no fun. also I would stay home all day while people are inside my home, which is no fun too.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 13:25:03 GMT -5 spankswife said:

New home. Houses are head ache enough, let alone an old one...

This hands down. Unless I am a person that enjoys reonos or strongly prefers a house with character.

[chia]

Probably the older home... but, only if the layout is right.
Some of the older homes are so choppy.

[mbcdefg]

New house. I'm lazy.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 13:22:50 GMT -5 ijack said:

how much would you have to renovate on the older home? electricity, plumbing, structure would probably make it a no for me.

It's a lot. An addition, kichen remodel, new windows, knock down a wall to open the layout up, refinish floors, new driveway, landscaping, patio, a few other smaller things.

[h]

Sept 25, 2012 13:36:31 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sept 25, 2012 13:22:50 GMT -5 ijack said:

how much would you have to renovate on the older home? electricity, plumbing, structure would probably make it a no for me.

It's a lot. An addition, kichen remodel, new windows, knock down a wall to open the layout up, refinish floors, new driveway, landscaping, patio, a few other smaller things.

Would you be able to have all the work done before you moved in? That would make a difference to me. Living through a major remodel--and without a fully functional kitchen--with kids would be tough.

[magdala9]

There are no new homes in our area--only condos. We have purchased three older homes and renovated. We each did one before we were married and now live in the third that we purchased together.

[downtoearth]

I love the character of older houses and older neighborhoods - can't be replaced by the new house feel IMO. I'd go older house if you are keeping a lot of it's character.

[lys]

What is the quality of the original constrution of each? I like the quality of older homes that have been well cared for - but need updating for energy efficiency, cosmetics.
Some new construction although usually better for energy efficiency is poorly constructed and will not last nearly as long as one built a good many years ago (like 1920-1940)

[ijack]

Sept 25, 2012 13:36:31 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sept 25, 2012 13:22:50 GMT -5 ijack said:

how much would you have to renovate on the older home? electricity, plumbing, structure would probably make it a no for me.

It's a lot. An addition, kichen remodel, new windows, knock down a wall to open the layout up, refinish floors, new driveway, landscaping, patio, a few other smaller things.

if that's all I would pick this option. as long as the big things (structure, electricity, plumbing) is going to last a while.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 13:39:53 GMT -5 h said:

Sept 25, 2012 13:36:31 GMT -5 @lcap said:

It's a lot. An addition, kichen remodel, new windows, knock down a wall to open the layout up, refinish floors, new driveway, landscaping, patio, a few other smaller things.

Would you be able to have all the work done before you moved in? That would make a difference to me. Living through a major remodel--and without a fully functional kitchen--with kids would be tough.

Nope, we'd have to live through the renovation. That does concern me.

[sporky]

Definitely the older. I love older houses and older neighborhoods that aren't as cookie cutter as the newer ones. Plus DH loves renovation projects so I'm not sure he'd be happy without something to work on!

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 13:31:47 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

New. I have no interest in renovations and I have no real interest in "character" in my house. How much is the $4K difference in taxes as a percentage of the total? Is that affordable? $4K is more than our total taxes, so an increase of $4K would seem very punitive.

It's just an estimate. Taxes in our area are based on the assessed value of the house which is usually taken from the purchase price although you can argue them down. We pay about 10k right now.

[atouchofklasse]

Does the new house have established trees? How does the privacy of the yards compare?

We faced a similar choice and chose the newer house. Better yard, better layout, same big trees, same sidewalks. it was a tough choice though.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 14:15:42 GMT -5 atouchofklasse said:

Does the new house have established trees? How does the privacy of the yards compare?

We faced a similar choice and chose the newer house. Better yard, better layout, same big trees, same sidewalks. it was a tough choice though.

No and that's one thing that I do like about the older neighborhood. But trees grow right? lol.

[thatgirl2478]

How much bigger is the lot on the newer home? If it's substantially bigger, I MIGHT go with that one. However there are a few other considerations - which house is closer to amenities? Library, pool, schools, parks, stores, restaurants? If you have kids, being close enough to walk to those things might be nice.

That said, if everything was equal (or almost equal) I would go with the older house assuming it had character. I don't like houses without character - old or new.

[schrodinger]

Sept 25, 2012 13:36:31 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sept 25, 2012 13:22:50 GMT -5 ijack said:

how much would you have to renovate on the older home? electricity, plumbing, structure would probably make it a no for me.

It's a lot. An addition, kichen remodel, new windows, knock down a wall to open the layout up, refinish floors, new driveway, landscaping, patio, a few other smaller things.

With an addition, no, I'd go for the newer house. Additions add an entire layer of complication to the process. Now you have two foundations settling at different rates, the HVAC in the old is probably not designed to handle the additional square footage, the roof mods have to be done just right . . .

If it was just interior work, I'd lean towards the older house, but your worklist has me firmly in the new house camp.

[Deleted]

Sept 25, 2012 14:22:36 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

How much bigger is the lot on the newer home? If it's substantially bigger, I MIGHT go with that one. However there are a few other considerations - which house is closer to amenities? Library, pool, schools, parks, stores, restaurants? If you have kids, being close enough to walk to those things might be nice.

That said, if everything was equal (or almost equal) I would go with the older house assuming it had character. I don't like houses without character - old or new.

The newer house is on 1.5 acres. The back yard is definitely big enough to put a pool in, which I've always wanted to do. The older house is on a really small lot (like .25 acres I think). However, it is close enough to the stuff you mentioned that we could easily walk there which you definitely couldn't do with the newer house. We'd have at least a fifteen-twenty minute drive everywhere.

I'm torn. I feel like I'm leaning more towards the new house but DH is really sold on the old one.

[atouchofklasse]

Sept 25, 2012 14:19:00 GMT -5 @lcap said:

Sept 25, 2012 14:15:42 GMT -5 atouchofklasse said:

Does the new house have established trees? How does the privacy of the yards compare?

We faced a similar choice and chose the newer house. Better yard, better layout, same big trees, same sidewalks. it was a tough choice though.

No and that's one thing that I do like about the older neighborhood. But trees grow right? lol.

I would not buy the new house then. Keep looking.

[kellbell191]

Old. I hate the new cookie cutter houses on their cookie cutter lots.

[Myrrhine]

I live in an older updated home and really like it. But it was already updated when we moved in. I am renovation averse, and where I live the expense of renovation is usually less than the increased value of your home (so your home value might go up $25k after spending $50k in renovations).

I would be tempted to buy the older home if there were some magic guarantee that updating the older house would cost no more than the brand new one, but in real life... I could see myself buying the newer one.

[hbomdiggity]

Older home. After considering both ourselves we decided we wanted something with character and began to absolutely hate tract homes.

[rubytue]

H is really picky. Nothing before 1950 bc he hates plaster. I prefer homes before 1980. That said, we live in a 1994 house, own a 1968 home, and use to have a 1982 home. So we are all over the place.

I prefer the build quality before 1980, but the features of a new home. A 10-year-old home is the worst of everything b/c everthing that was builder quality will die in the next 3 years.