Investor · PA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 602 votes
12y
The age of a house is not going to change maintenance costs significantly. I would say maintenance costs are almost completely random and depends on how many things there are to break.
Developer · Decatur, GA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
If it's a house from the 50s/60s never updated, then you might have galvanized plumbing and old cast iron drain pipes. Old, out of code wires. Floors under the kitchen and baths may be rotten. Those would be the major repairs I'd plan for, if they haven't been addressed already.
Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2012 · 397 posts · 187 votes
12y
@Stanley H. I buy these kind of houses all the time, and I agree with above statements ... once you have any deferred maintenance taken care of, I have found I don't have any difference in the percentage based on the age of the home.
Investor · Queen Creek, AZ · Member since 2014 · 35 posts · 14 votes
12y
@Nathan Brooks that is good to know! We recently bought 3 duplexes built in 1949... and I was starting to wonder what our ongoing maintenance costs were going to look like.
Somewhere on the forums someone suggested looking at the major components of a property such as roof, appliances etc. and looking at expected life vs cost of each item. For example we have 6 water heaters that are approximately 6 years old. If a water heater is expected to last 10 years and the replacement cost is $400 then we need to set aside enough money each month to ensure that in 4 years we have enough cash set aside to replace the 6 water heaters. My understanding is that this is another way of estimating repair/capex costs.