How much does the year a house was built matter to you?

Question

Hi all,

I've been looking into some potential cash flowing rentals in various markets. I'm noticing several of these homes have been built between the years 1900-1930. Seeing how old these homes are, that personally scares me. My thought is that things I wouldn't even consider or know about could crap out and cost a fortune to replace or fix if I were to purchase homes this old (plumbing, structural, foundation, electrical, etc). Would like to hear some of your thoughts - How much weight do you hold to when your rental properties were built?

Bill B. · Answer

I really don’t like older houses. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a house over 20 years old though some of them are approaching 30-40 years now that I’ve owned them so long. The first 10 years I didn’t have to repair hardly any furnace/ac units, garage doors and openers, water lines/sewer lines. With only a dozen properties im starting to do 1 or 2 every year. I can’t even imagine boilers, cast iron pipes, plaster and lathe, asphalt shingles, wood damage, etc.

The insulation is better, there’s no cast iron, lead paint, or asbestos. They’re already wired for cable, have grounded outlets, and gfci everywhere. To each their own, especially based on what their market offers.

Jared Hottle · Answer

This is a huge thing for me. Single story houses built 50s or newer I love. Usually built to modern electric and plumbing code and super easy to repair or fix issues because you have both attic and basement access most of the time. Also love 50s and 60 ranch style homes because you can pretty much nail down the rehab to a T as the square footages and labor costs are all about the same.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

The trouble can be when they update plumbing or electrical, they sometimes can't reach everything. The visible stuff is updated and hidden stuff is old. Inspection is good but some of it is a crap shoot. Most of my properties are 1980 and newer, the last couple are newer than 2000. I like newer than 1980 because they stopped using lead paint and asbestos by that point. Plumbing is all PVC or ABS, electrical is all circuit breaker and grounded.

Nicolas Nuvan · Answer

@Jonathan Shnoravorian

Inspection can only check so much. I’ve had clients buy a full gut and have a leak post closing. Find a brutally honest inspector and that may be helpful for risk management.

You’d only be able to inspect what you can see. And a lot of the house you usually cant see behind the walls prior to purchase. They go by telltale signs a lot of the time and give warnings.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Having owned a couple buildings built in 1900, I would never buy one again. Even though they both went through substantial renovation and updates over the years, there is always some old hidden problems lurking. You may have old sewer lines, old wiring, asbestos, lead paint, rubble foundations and various things that fall short of modern code. I had just weird things that happened. That being said if it was a total gut job and everything new, it may be ok.

Jonathan Shnoravorian · Answer

Thanks @Joe Splitrock

Jonathan Shnoravorian · Answer

@Joe Splitrock Yup, that's my concern. Curious to see how many other people had a similar experience. Does an inspection look into all of that, or is there only so much they can check? In terms of sewer lines, plumbing, old wiring, foundation, etc. If you had to give a year in terms of how old of a house you would buy, what year would that cutoff be for you?

How much does the year a house was built matter to you?

How much does the year a house was built matter to you?

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