Would you ever consider buying a 110 year old farm house if everything was "original"

[Parrothead]

So, if you had the opportunity to purchase a 2700 sq ft, two story, 110 year old farm house, on 10 acres, for under $90K, barely 30 min from the city, would you do it?

 

 

Yes, rather quickly.

[Aggie]

That house doesn't look like it was *all* built 90 years ago. It looks like it's been added onto, so I would expect the floor plan to be awkward and some less-than-quaint attributes.

 

But the last pictures you posted look wonderful! I love that wood trim and the wood doors!:001_smile:

[LauraGB]

That house doesn't look like it was *all* built 90 years ago. It looks like it's been added onto, so I would expect the floor plan to be awkward and some less-than-quaint attributes.

 

But the last pictures you posted look wonderful! I love that wood trim and the wood doors!:001_smile:

 

That's what I think, too. I mean, the bathroom and laundry room at least had to be added after the fact - I'm guessing it's that far left part of the house, likely off the kitchen, which I expect is in the middle bit. Dh thinks the middle part was the first part, but I'm thinking the right part was added shortly thereafter because I don't see a break in the foundation.

[Guest submarines]

You know you need to come back and tells us more about the house after you see it, right? ;)

[SweetBean]

I love the wood work. Yes! I would do it in a heartbeat.

[staceyobu]

That's a nice looking house! I want to see more pictures! No advice on whether to buy or not, though! Sounds like it could be a dream or a nightmare!

[2squared]

We live in a 125yo farmhouse on 5 acres. We absolutely love our location and living in the country. Our country neighbors are salt of the earth (much unlike our city neighbors), and living rurally is everything we wanted for raising kids.

 

That being said, we did completely gut our house before moving in. My dh ripped out all the plaster, redid all the wiring, insulated everything, replaced the staircase, moved odd walls, and on and on and on. It was a ton of work, but I can't imagine trying to do any of it while living here. Ripping out plaster is a huge, huge mess. The wiring would have been more than tricky to do a room at a time. I wouldn't have bought this house if we would have had to live in it while it was being remodeled.

 

My house is ugly from the outside, whereas yours is adorable, so my thoughts are biased by the ugliness I see every time I walk in. We have bugs everywhere, mice every change of seasons, and bats in the summer. :glare: We have a partial stone basement which is wet year round, and has interesting critters living down there. We did catch a lizard down there and keep it for a pet for a while.

 

We put radiant heaters in most rooms, and if I had to do it again, I would take out the forced air duct work and heat entirely with radiant heat. It is the cheapest heating option for us, and it is so toasty. The areas without radiant heat are freezing.

 

We haven't put any gravel on our driveway the three summers we have lived here, and I don't expect to next year either.

 

I wish we would have bulldozed this house and started over. Remodeling seemed to be the cheaper answer, but with the amount of money we have put in, the remodeling we have ahead of us, and the monthly maintenance required, we could have made the bigger house payment.

[justamouse]

Oh, I don't know if I'm supposed to do this, but here is a picture of the outside of the house (I'll come back and delete it tomorrow). The outside does have vinyl, which is definitely not original, lol. But the top part (the scollops) are wood. The front screams wrap-around porch to me, which would mean a roof over that weird looking middle window.

 

The barn is on the other side of the driveway.

 

 

 

ETA - And here is the view from the road (since I'm probably not supposed to be doing this anyway...)

 

 

In a heartbeat.

 

My house is 131 years old. YES, it has it's eccentricities (the plumbing, oh the plumbing...), but we love it.

 

You are either the type of person up for this adventure, or you aren't. You will either love the sweat and $ poured into it, or you will hate it with every fiber of your being.

 

We've lived in new houses, now we have an old one, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Need some inspiration?

 

http://www.katyelliott.com/blog/

 

The story of a 260 YO Marblehead Mass farmhouse that they're breathing life into.

 

Now, take this with a grain of salt, because I am the person who dragged my Dh to every dilapidated old house in the county and extolled the virtue of it's good bones. I see the end product, he sees the $$. :D But, we both love the history and the way these houses are built.

Edited August 22, 2011 by justamouse

[Amy in NH]

For under $90K I would. But I would be taking out a loan for $130-150K to afford to fix it. And that's just for supplies. DH and I can do most of the work ourselves. If I had to pay someone else to do the work, then no.

[LauraGB]

Here's another pic of the upstairs:

 

 

Anyone know what that wire/cord-like thing might be leading to the end bedroom?

 

Here is one of the flooring:

 

 

Goodness, it would be worth it to rip out all the walls just to get rid of that nasty paint.

[DawnM]

:iagree:

 

We have renovated houses and we are now TIRED!

 

Dawn

 

At one time, absolutely. It was my *dream.*

 

Now? I really don't know. I'm tired, & new houses look. so. EASY.

 

I think ages of kids is a factor, too. 10yo could really enjoy helping w/ renovations. 4yo & under could really get hurt.

[DawnM]

It is a nice house!

[Mommy22alyns]

Here's another pic of the upstairs:

 

 

 

 

Ohmygoodness, my grandma has that exact shade of paint in her stairwell. :001_huh:

 

To your original question, I wouldn't, not in a million years. But I'm not handy. :)

[justamouse]

that floor and hallway are beautiful.

 

Imagine the walls painted a creamy linen, with the floors refinished and lustrous. That hallway is so wide you could fit a bookshelf along it.

[rwjx2khsmj]

As far as I can tell, I admit that I did skim some of the thread, you've only talked about the house.

 

Is living on a farm a dream and this the dream house? Or are you just looking for something out of town? Do you have plans for the land? Are you planning to do all the work yourselves? Do you have an endless supply of money?

 

Really, the house is just the beginning if you have intentions of using the land for farming or even just for 4H projects for the kids. The farm can cost more than the house depending on what you plan for the land.

[Garga]

that floor and hallway are beautiful.

 

Imagine the walls painted a creamy linen, with the floors refinished and lustrous. That hallway is so wide you could fit a bookshelf along it.

 

 

I do love the wide hallways.

[Aubrey]

You only live once and if you can affort it and if this is your dream give it a shot. Regrets are hard things to live with.

 

 

Nice looking house, and yes a wrap around porch would work nicely.

 

Regret goes both ways, though, doesn't it? ;)

 

Fwiw, I wouldn't automatically change the color of the walls. Not my favorite, but...some historic value. I'd research a new color before changing it. No, I wouldn't--I'd get dh to do it. And then be annoyed w/ him for being too detailed about it. :lol:

[swellmomma]

Maybe. It is common in my town for people to buy those really old houses cheap. Strip them down to basically just the frame and start over. It works out cheaper than building or buying new. That said, from what I have seen talking to them even after it is all "done" it is never really done and other projects and costs come up. My current house is 81 years old. It had many upgrades done in around 1973. But nothing since. We have lots of drafty windows, no insulation in several walls and those with insulation it is not great. Electrical is only 70amp rather than 100 amp. etc. In otherwords it needs $$ and time to fix it up. Over all it is in good condition so no risk of fires, or leaking roof but still needs work to update it. I don't think I would go much older than this one unless I had the money and time to completely gut the place and replace the foundation and basicaly start from the ground up to make it all new for the cost of old kwim.

[elegantlion]

Yes, definitely. Starting from an original house is soooo much easier than fixing someone elses poor renovation!

I'd aim to live there though, it will be a bit of a nightmare (btdt) but you will get it done quicker if you are on site all the time, plus there will be more money for the renovation instead of paying for somewhere else to live.

 

My dh (a carpenter) says this repeatedly. We hate to see these gorgeous homes all decked out with faux wood paneling, it breaks my heart.

 

You know you need to come back and tells us more about the house after you see it, right? ;)

 

Drooling over the photos. :D The floors look like a gem. I love the mitered corners in that one photo.

 

I would take lots of photos, take someone who doesn't feel all a twitter while looking at old homes to give you an opposite perspective, and carefully weigh the costs.

 

Dh basically did a gut remodel on our current home. the plumbing and electrical were updated however. It's smaller and we're 90% done and I love it. There is nothing like living in a house with aged character. Our previous home was a 70s ranch and it NEVER felt like home. This feels like home. We got such a deal it was worth the effort. Our house has new vinyl siding as well. It will do for now. Long term we want to take it off and put on cedar plank or shingle siding.It would give the house a whole different feel.

 

IMO to do a complete overhaul you'd have to feel committed to the house. I'd probably spend more time making sure the location was right for long term. Rural locations I would check emergency services, permit requirements, and road maintenance.

 

I could be thinking of someone else, but were you considering a cooking business? If I were starting a business I would not try to take on a whole house restoration.

 

I love that we are in a real home with original charm, but we knew we could handle it. We also bought smaller, not only for price, but because we knew the remodeling wouldn't cost as much. 2700 sf can be a large investment.

 

Please let us know, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for the right family.

[Ecclecticmum]

We live in a 50 year old mostly original farmhouse, and its going to require enough work. I can't imagine a 100 year old one.

 

For instance, this is what we have to do just off the top of my head:

 

Carport beams need replacing (sagging) as well as part of roof

Entire stumps under house need replacing (house is sagging, cracks forming)

Back Paddock needs to be slashed and covered

Bathroom needs to be entirely ripped out (right to beams) and replaced (floors rotten, moisture got in)

Loungeroom Faux wood wall panels need replacing (bending)

2 other walls need replacing (1 with giant hole, another that has bent so much you can see where the beams are)

Entire floor (underneath) needs insulation as right now, in the kitchen you can actually see through to the ground.

Farm Gate needs to be moved onto our property (currently going off lane belonging to other farmer)

Fences at back need to be secured (puppy is currently getting out somewhere)

Concrete slab on top of sewerage needs to be replaced

Fence needs to be erected to stop children/pets entry to tank/sewerage area

Most doors in house need locks/handles (due to owners replacing doors without replacing stumps no door closes fully, so the "doors" are just slabs of wood)

Roller on door needs replacing.

Roof needs securing (currently birds are housing in there, and coming into house through bathroom ceiling fan) as well as possums getting in.

 

This is just stuff I can think of off the top of my head, and does not include any modifications we ourselves want to make (such as enclosing verandah, making outdoor cat run, putting in more powerpoints, split system for heating kitchen/schoolroom) For just the stuff that NEEDS to be done, we are easily looking at $30,000 and a LOT of work ourselves, and we have to do this round homeschooling, and round our kids. We also have to have about 2 months where we'll be using a plastic tub to bathe in and a port-a-potty to go to the toilet.

 

Its not fun and games, and will severely get on your nerves, suck up all your free time and your money.

 

Unfortunately with my stress levels and the real estate agents round here (renting was over stressing me out, making my CFS worse and giving me daily panic attacks) the only option was purchasing, and for your price range, this was the only suitable thing (others were death traps for the kids, complete with rocky uneven backyards, and electric or that stabbing fence (forgotten what its called)

 

If you have the option, I would look at something that needs only slight renovations, and most of them being cosmetic. Once you actually get into plumbing/electrical, well thats big time, money & basically the house has to be torn to shreds to do it.

[sparrow]

So, if you had the opportunity to purchase a 2700 sq ft, two story, 110 year old farm house, on 10 acres, for under $90K, barely 30 min from the city, would you do it?

 

 

No, never again, but if you and your husband are handy and are looking forward to a project together, go for it! That house has beautiful woodwork.

 

We are not that handy, nor that ambitious. We had a 100 year old house in town and the fact that every single window and door was an odd size drove us nutso. You can't just go to Home Depot and buy a new door for your bedroom. You have to special order everything.

 

I'm excited to hear what you think after you see it!

[Unicorn.]

Did anybody else just have a convulsion, as if she said, "Bulldoze your grandmother & get a new one?" Or was that just me? ;)

 

I did! I would buy it in a heartbeat. New houses aren't built as well, and have absolutely no character what so ever.

[Cera]

Probably.

 

If I had another place to live for the first two-three years after buying it I would consider it. I would also need to have the available funds for the repairs (new plumbing, heating, electrical and insulation, windows, etc).

 

What will the house be worth once it is renovated? Will it be worth at least close to the purchase price plus expected renovation costs (I would have a contractor look it over and give you an estimate in case you wind up unable or uninterested in finishing the renovations)?

 

Would you buy the house if it was already renovated?

[BatmansWife]

My first thought was no...because I immediately thought about lead paint.

 

Buuuuutttt......now I see the pictures. :drool: I would love, love, love a big house. :001_wub: My dh had a siding/remodeling business for years....so he would be able to do all the work if we ever bought a fixer-upper. But, more than likely we'd only fix what was absolutely needed to be fixed (to meet codes) and then live with the rest of it the way it is (other than repainting, of course).

 

I live in a 120 year old farmhouse. There are a lot of things to love about it, but there are many, many times when I think I want to pack it all up and move to our rental house in town, but the thought of having townies for neighbours makes me physically ill. :tongue_smilie:

 

It is a endless series of repairs and repairs and more repairs. It is always something. There has never been a month where something didn't need work. Almost nothing works like it is supposed to work. When I'm feeling charitable, I say the house has a lot of quirks. When I'm being realistic, I say the house is a disaster waiting to happen. :glare:

 

I have chosen to cultivate a state of blissful ignorance when it comes to this house. When something goes wrong, I don't want to know what it is. I don't want to know how to fix it. I just want it done. Luckily for me, dh is well versed in the trades necessary to do just about everything that's ever needing doing around here.

 

Just be realistic about what you're getting into and don't expect anything more than that.

 

:lol: This reminded me of my favorite scene in Baby Boom:

 

Uh-oh! Your well is dried up.

 

Oh..oh thank goodness. I thought it was serious. Well can you fill it up? There's a hose out back...

 

Fill it up? hahahaha..fill it up?! Lady, you're out of water. You'll need to tap into the county line and that's 3 miles down the road!

 

Look Mr. Boone...I'm almost out of my mind here. I don't understand these technicalities, just tell me one thing...is this going to be expensive?

 

Uh...yep..

 

Well do you know approximately how much this is going to cost me?

 

Uh...nope..

 

Right...well can you just GUESS!..........I just want to turn on the faucet and have water...I DON'T WANNA KNOW where IT'S COMING FROM!!!

 

:smilielol5:

[ma23peas]

No.

[mrbmom77]

Did anybody else just have a convulsion, as if she said, "Bulldoze your grandmother & get a new one?" Or was that just me? ;)

 

I'm with you!

 

OP, I work at a house museum built in 1906. In my 9 months here, I have learned I don't want an old house. Ever. I want a new one that looks old. The house requires constant maintenance even after a $2 million restoration. The house shifts, it wasn't built for a/c so controlling the temp and humidity is difficult, there's just always something going wrong. Thankfully, we have a foundation that covers all the expenses (including the $800 electric bill).

 

Well, maybe I'd do it if someone left me a huge inheritance. :tongue_smilie:

[Rhonda in TX]

No way. We're remodeling our 1978 home and it's about to do me in. The only way I'd ever do something like this again is if everything was fixed and updated before we ever moved in.

[amy g.]

I'd do it, but I'm just crazy anyway.

[Garga]

We live in a 50 year old mostly original farmhouse, and its going to require enough work. I can't imagine a 100 year old one.

 

For instance, this is what we have to do just off the top of my head:

 

Carport beams need replacing (sagging) as well as part of roof

Entire stumps under house need replacing (house is sagging, cracks forming)

Back Paddock needs to be slashed and covered

Bathroom needs to be entirely ripped out (right to beams) and replaced (floors rotten, moisture got in)

Loungeroom Faux wood wall panels need replacing (bending)

2 other walls need replacing (1 with giant hole, another that has bent so much you can see where the beams are)

Entire floor (underneath) needs insulation as right now, in the kitchen you can actually see through to the ground.

Farm Gate needs to be moved onto our property (currently going off lane belonging to other farmer)

Fences at back need to be secured (puppy is currently getting out somewhere)

Concrete slab on top of sewerage needs to be replaced

Fence needs to be erected to stop children/pets entry to tank/sewerage area

Most doors in house need locks/handles (due to owners replacing doors without replacing stumps no door closes fully, so the "doors" are just slabs of wood)

Roller on door needs replacing.

Roof needs securing (currently birds are housing in there, and coming into house through bathroom ceiling fan) as well as possums getting in.

 

 

 

Hmmmm. I'm going to change my answer from "No" to "It depends."

 

Ecclecticmum's house (quote above) is 50 years old and needs a TON of work. I live in a 61 year old cape cod and it's in beautiful condition. The roof needs to be replaced (but so do the roofs of houses built in 1996), and we're thinking of replacing the windows slowly. Two years ago we replaced the a/c unit. THAT'S IT. Those are completely normal things that people do pretty commonly every 15 years or so.

 

Structurally, my 61 yo house is completely sound. Nothing sagging or broken or unsafe.

 

Now, of course, 61 years is different from 100 years...but maybe it depends on the house. You need to find someone who really understands building to come and give you honest advice about how much work your house may need. It might not be much at all! Or it could be a disaster.

 

It will depend on the condition of the house.

[Matryoshka]

I grew up in a 300+ year old house. My current one is brand-spankin' new by comparison - it dates to 1880. I love old houses. New houses are so badly built, although they may be less work to start, often they start falling apart when the old ones are still going strong. How many of those tract houses are still going to be in good shape in 100-200 years?

 

If the sills and the structure are strong, that's important - wouldn't get a house that had big problems in those areas.

 

Dh is very handy. He replaced all the wiring (and yes, we had knob-and-tube) and plumbing. We now have outlets more places than most modern houses because he's wiring guy (electrical engineer). He also jacked the house up a bit, and we sistered some sagging beams with steel. Honestly, we could've probably lived in the house just fine without doing any of those things, or at least not to the extent he did.

 

We had other people refinish the floors, put in all new windows, delead the trim and doors (walls are horsehair plaster/wallpaper - but lead paint was usually only used on woodwork, not walls - wherever we'd used gloss/semi-gloss paint now). Then we had everything painted/wallpapered.

 

We never had to rip out any walls to get at wiring. Someone suggested that one had to. No, you don't. Our walls are still all horsehair plaster, with the lathe intact.

 

Dh also upgraded the steam heating system and put in some new radiators. We did not have any ductwork installed. Our wing is heated by a wood stove (although we have backup forced hot water with radiators - dh put those in after puling out the electric baseboard that was in there). We do not have AC - we live in the north and are miserable for a week or two in the summer, but other than that it's fine.

 

We had the kitchen redone (I'd rather redo a 1950's kitchen because it needs it than a 1990's kitchen because I hate it) and dh did the bathroom(s). We still only have one full bath. There's a half-bath downstairs, and the second full bath is all ready to go but dh hasn't gotten around to installing the appliances yet (they're in boxes on the floor). Girls are now 13 - time to finish 2nd bathroom!

 

We did all this before we had kids. Dh is obviously Mr. Handyman. Would I do it with kids and a less handy guy? Good question. The plan is this is our forever house, so I didn't mind making it just like I wanted it.

 

Maintenance - we have had to paint the exterior twice and just did the roof for the first time after 16 years. We've put in two water softeners. We've had to redo the porch because of some rot (but if dh hadn't taken off that gutter and never replaced it, that wouldn't have happened). We're doing some more interior painting this year because the trim needs freshening. Those would all have needed doing in a new house we'd lived in this long too.

 

We never did blow in insulation. We've insulated part of the wing with fiberglass insulation (walls there are knotty pine and we could access them easily). But we have a wet basement and blown-in insulation could cause rot problems. But it really hasn't been so bad without it.

 

My friend moved into a $1 million house at the same time we bought ours and put in our new windows. Her windows had to be replaced after 7 years because the sills tilted wrong and they rotted. Our first windows lasted over 100 years, and the new ones are also fine.

[Scuff]

Our house is over 70 years old. We just had the electrical done a few years ago. It was a simple jobs (a couple days) and they didn't have to rip out anything. We now have tons of outlets. (Except I forgot to have him add outside outlets. :/ Make sure you write down everything you want done.)

[EKS]

Have you got an extra $100,000 and 5 years to donate to the property?

 

 

At least.

[JFSinIL]

I would have a thorough inspection first and figure out costs for bringing the place up to code - the price may well have to come down substantially ;).

 

I am in a 1906 four-square and would love another old place!

 

Now that I have looked at your photos - we have the same baseboards!!!!

 

Could the wire thingie be from an old door bell (if there was ever a second family living upstairs? or intercom?

Edited August 22, 2011 by JFSinIL

[TammyinTN]

No...great to look at, but I don't want to live there.

[4wildberrys]

So, if you had the opportunity to purchase a 2700 sq ft, two story, 110 year old farm house, on 10 acres, for under $90K, barely 30 min from the city, would you do it?

 

This house still has the original electricity, original windows, no furnace or a/c (wood stove heats the whole thing presently, supposedly :rolleyes:), but does have plumbing, original woodwork, doors, floors, and is structurally sound. The ten acres are mostly in front of the house (long driveway), it has a big ol' barn with the stone foundation, but it has rotting toward the top and an awful roof. We would spend the next couple years remodeling it before we'd be able to move there.

 

The back of the property was sold to another person who will be building a house quite far back (think a typical farm field length - it's the other 30 acres of the farmer's land). According to the realtor, these people are "into" organic farming. But the present crop surrounding the house is soybeans, so the soil needs a lot of time and amending.

 

Would you do it? Is it insane? *Everything* needs to be ripped out and replaced or refinished. We are going on Tues to look at the inside (beyond the pictures she gave us). We have seen the land and outside of the house in person.

 

NO WAY! ...Well...changing my answer to maybe after seeing the pictures. It looks well built and solid! Definitely get an inspection to make sure foundation is sound. Plumbing and electrical will be the most expensive in our experience, but if you guys can do much of it, maybe not. If it was me, I would only refinish what absolutely needs it---original floors, doors etc are so charming!

Edited August 22, 2011 by 4wildberrys

[4wildberrys]

Only if we wanted it to suck up every ounce of energy, every moment of our time, and every dollar we ever made.

 

Whatever you think it will cost to refurbish, double or triple that.

 

If you think it will take 2 years, it will take 4.

 

Yep. BTDT---with a 1938 house and a 1902 complete redo. Twice the money, twice the time----quadruple the stress and headache :tongue_smilie:

[justamouse]

There is nothing like living in a house with aged character. Our previous home was a 70s ranch and it NEVER felt like home. This feels like home. We got such a deal it was worth the effort. Our house has new vinyl siding as well. It will do for now. Long term we want to take it off and put on cedar plank or shingle siding.It would give the house a whole different feel.

 

IMO to do a complete overhaul you'd have to feel committed to the house. I'd probably spend more time making sure the location was right for long term. Rural locations I would check emergency services, permit requirements, and road maintenance.

 

I could be thinking of someone else, but were you considering a cooking business? If I were starting a business I would not try to take on a whole house restoration.

 

I love that we are in a real home with original charm, but we knew we could handle it. We also bought smaller, not only for price, but because we knew the remodeling wouldn't cost as much. 2700 sf can be a large investment.

 

Please let us know, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for the right family.

 

Man, how true. I've owned two new houses and they've never felt as much as home to me as this one. We were TERRIFIED buying it. It's a huge investment, and we were afraid of hating it, but every day I wake up and am so deeply happy to live here. Every day. I tell my Dh at least once a week how I love this house and how I never, ever, want to leave. They'll have to wheel my cold, dead, body out. This is home. This is where I'm raising my kids. This is it. I never, ever felt like that in any other house even though I owned them.

 

THAT said, we just got the chimney's repointed and the slate roof fixed. That was this year's job. Next year is the fencing. The year after that we may finish out the attic because MIL is wanting to stay with us more and more. I, lilke Paula, am DYING to rip off the siding and find out what fishscales they had originally, and what the colors were (I see bright, bright yellow and kelly green trim where I can peek in). The circular windows in the attic need to be reglazed. ALL of the windows need to be replaced (though there's storm windows on them now) There's ALWAYS something to do. But that's house maintenance! Even in our other houses, there was always maintenance.

Edited August 22, 2011 by justamouse

[Laura Corin]

 

Now, of course, 61 years is different from 100 years...but maybe it depends on the house. You need to find someone who really understands building to come and give you honest advice about how much work your house may need. It might not be much at all! Or it could be a disaster.

 

It will depend on the condition of the house.

 

A very large proportion of the housing stock in the UK is over 100 years old.

 

Our house has a 100 yo cottage - similar to this one - at its core, with various later extensions. The previous owners had to work hard to give it proper foundations - it was built as a labourer's cottage and the original work was poor. The owners took on more than they had bargained for and spent a lot more time and effort than they expected. It's now dry and warm.

 

Our old house in London, by contrast, is almost 200 years old, but was built well to begin with. It's had a bit of modernising over the years - we put in central heating - but the structure is sound and we didn't have the continual problems that others on this thread report. It's a Georgian stone-built town house and it's solid.

 

Good luck with your decision - I would get a really good survey done before committing.

 

Laura

[Denisemomof4]

If you had the money ro do it tomorrow -at. Yes. In a heartbeat. We spend more time on our property/farm than anyone ever will living in a development. We love it. As dh and necome older, more and more of our quality time os spent on projects at home; gardeniin (flowers and food) painting, endless fencing issues. We LOVE to be at home more than anywhere else. Country life will always be for us until we're too old to live here. i could NEVER be tjis happy anywhere else. All of my friends have also chosen the country. I dont know a aingle pwrson who dexided it wasn't for them but hear of it here all the time.

 

 

Your project will be a real labor of love, and it's not for the faint of heart! Only you and your dh can decide if it's right for you.

 

Electricity would be my #qfriends priority.

 

Let us know what you decide!

[In The Great White North]

We had a 100 year old house in town and the fact that every single window and door was an odd size drove us nutso. You can't just go to Home Depot and buy a new door for your bedroom.

 

Actually, they did have standard sizes that fit our 200 year old windows. Doors had to be custom.

[elegantlion]

Man, how true. I've owned two new houses and they've never felt as much as home to me as this one. We were TERRIFIED buying it. It's a huge investment, and we were afraid of hating it, but every day I wake up and am so deeply happy to live here. Every day. I tell my Dh at least once a week how I love this house and how I never, ever, want to leave. They'll have to wheel my cold, dead, body out. This is home. This is where I'm raising my kids. This is it. I never, ever felt like that in any other house even though I owned them.

 

 

 

I hugged my house this winter, really I did. It felt goofy. This from someone who has moved every 5 years for the last 20. I never want to move again.

[catz]

Man, how true. I've owned two new houses and they've never felt as much as home to me as this one. We were TERRIFIED buying it. It's a huge investment, and we were afraid of hating it, but every day I wake up and am so deeply happy to live here. Every day. I tell my Dh at least once a week how I love this house and how I never, ever, want to leave. They'll have to wheel my cold, dead, body out. This is home. This is where I'm raising my kids. This is it. I never, ever felt like that in any other house even though I owned them.

 

That's how I feel about our current home too (vintage 1915). :001_wub: I even love it's quirks at this point. Like how the steps squeak when you walk down them. All 4 of us have a different squeak pattern, so you can tell who is walking down the stairs even if you can't see them. :D

[LauraGB]

As far as I can tell, I admit that I did skim some of the thread, you've only talked about the house.

 

Is living on a farm a dream and this the dream house? Or are you just looking for something out of town? Do you have plans for the land? Are you planning to do all the work yourselves? Do you have an endless supply of money?

 

Really, the house is just the beginning if you have intentions of using the land for farming or even just for 4H projects for the kids. The farm can cost more than the house depending on what you plan for the land.

 

Being self-sufficient (as much as possible) is the dream. We want to be able to have orchards (peaches, plums, pears, apples, etc) and gardens. Invite people to come on over and pick their own. And a place for dh to move his machines for his business to (possibly the renovated barn) and still run that one. This house in particular? I'm not sure - I haven't really seen the inside or the whole grounds yet. But looking at other properties within a 30-40 mile driving distance to town, this place is an unbelievable steal, even if we had to tear it down to the foundation and start all over; other places half the size, half the land, absolutely disgusting inside are well over the price for this one. So, I'm thinking it's either a deal of a lifetime, or there is something terribly, terribly wrong. If the realtor is being honest, it would be a perfect opportunity to put in some pretty great features like solar hot water, outdoor furnace...fun stuff like that, without compromising the house itself.

[LibraryLover]

You couldn't buy a wooded acre here for 90k.

[Shelly in IL]

So far, we have put in $60K for a complete redo of outside, including roof, big deck, siding, and stone front (and this was done inexpensively for what we got - and hubby helped the contractor)

$6,500 for updated kitchen that we did - new appliances, painted cabinets, moved and reorganized cabinets, etc. (Not the expensive redo that it looks like - I'm a great deal finder).

$8,000 for new sidewalk, landscaping (I realize this is a fair bit, but it is a huge area, and needed a great sidewalk to match the new outside of house)

Approx. $6,000 assundry repairs, minor updates and it still needs probably $10,000 inside.

That being said, we are at approx. $90,500 and we haven't even touched our barn yet. Or the impossibly long driveway that needs re-blacktopped. The electricity and the plumbing was in good shape - but the heater/a/c is probably 20+ years old. Not to scare you, but it is not for the faint of heart, or faint of budget.

[Garga]

I'm sticking with my post about getting someone in to inspect the place and finding true quotes for costs. If it's something you can handle, go for it. All the posts about people loving their older homes has reminded me that I have my 61 yo cottage and I love it. There are a number of things that are awkward about it (being that there are 2 add-ons). For example the kitchen is small, so when people say things like, "The kitchen is the center of the house--everyone gathers there. You can do school in the kitchen," well....that's not true for me. Another example, you have to walk through a bathroom to get to the playroom.

 

But, as other posters have said, I LOVE this house. It has LOTS of character. (And only 61 years old!) The older you get, there is often more character.

 

My MIL loves things to be shiny and new and she Does Not Get my house. I was with MIL and SIL looking at model homes (SIL was looking) and I was being polite and saying things like, "Oh, isn't this a lovely room." My MIL and SIL turned to me and said, "Well, maybe one day you can sell your old house and get something brand new!" And I didn't have time to edit myself before blurting out, "Oh no way! I hate these ugly new things!" Oops. (I guess I was the evil SIL and DIL in that story--insulting their love of new houses. Oops!!!!)

 

So.....find out if it's structurally sound and get a real estimate from plumbers/electricians (if possible) on costs to upgrade. If it's do-able, go for it.

 

P.S. Also, I see from your avatar that you're a Weasly. I can't imagine a Weasly living in anything LESS than a 100 year old house.

Edited August 22, 2011 by Garga

[Momma H]

I agree with the not doing it. We just did.

Our house is 92 years old. We had to do absolutley everything. Siding, spetic, electrical, gutting rooms, insulation, carpet, roofs, lighting, fixtures you name it--we did it.

We lived in it for 3 1/2 years before we did all that stuff and I was convinced my kids had lead poisoning. It was a pretty nasty place. (we have/had great land.) We are selling it and losing at least 50k -- maybe more.

[curlylocks]

We're in the process of buying a house built in 1803. :)

 

It has had some updates, (some wiring, a furnace and insulation) but needs more...mostly wiring, plumbing and windows...all things we can do ourselves. The rest is strictly cosmetic and we can work on that over time.

 

It is on 25 acres and we hope to purchase it for about $90,000 -- much less than anything comparable in our area.

 

Not that we'll ever sell it, but we figure once we're done, it will be worth at least twice if not three times our purchase price.

[LauraGB]

P.S. Also, I see from your avatar that you're a Weasly. I can't imagine a Weasly living in anything LESS than a 100 year old house.

 

:lol:

[LauraGB]

I just pulled the flyer we took yesterday (before we spoke to the realtor) and it says "Seller will give upgrade allowance at closing $2455 for the well (lists the bidder) and $12450 for mound system (lists the bidder)". What does that mean? Does that mean that the asking price is that much lower at the end of everything??:001_huh:

Edited August 22, 2011 by LauraGB
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