South Jersey, NJ · Member since 2014 · 154 posts · 50 votes
When buying an older home from say 1920-1940 are there certain things that should be double/triple checked before moving forward? I have a number of handy men in my family including myself who can make $5,000 look like $25,000 in updates and repairs. But are there things that can surprise you that can really eat away at your dream? Things that come to mind (lead paint, asbestos, bad roof, bad foundation). Are these all things a home inspector can check for to be sure you avoid any major financial surprises other than what you already saw on the surface? I'd always favor the side of caution.. if I think I'd need $5,000 I'd probably have $8,500 ready to go. Just want to see if there are things out there that could be a surprise $15,000 that could be avoided.
Investor/Landlord · Farmington Hills, MI · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
If the house was built in that time period assume it has lead paint as almost all house paint contained lead at that time. If you sand down far enough there will be lead dust. If there is old wrapping around heat ducts it probably has asbestos. It isn't that expensive to test for lead or asbestos though the homeowner may not want that done. (Once they know about it they may have to remedy it.) Any inspector should be able to see a bad foundation or bad joists in the roof if they have access. You may want to test for radon in the basement.