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Unfortunatley, after you cut the old and infirm from the herd, you might not want to eat live in them.
Looked at a house yesterday that I'd had hopes for based on price/sqft/neighborhood. It had a great garage, but that was the best thing about it. It had been added to twice by mysterious builder(s) whom my father described as "imaginative", i.e., making it up as they go along.
You can tell by the interesting topography of the floor. Old houses often settle on their foundation. Old houses that are basically in three parts, some of which don't have foundation*, settle like a soufle after you've done a raindance in the kitchen.
I'm keeping it on my to-watch list, not because I have any desire to take on that kind of project, but because the price it sells for eventually will be informative.
I find realtors very awkward, by the way. I wish they'd hand me the keys and wait in the car. I usually bring my Dad with me, and he knows more about a house within five minutes of walking around it than the agent ever does. Some of the time even I do.
This realtor commented that we were "more adventurous than most buyers", which was code for "willing to get dirty." I don't think I'll ever really get the whole mainstream method of house shopping, where you look at paint and carpet and where the TV will go. I can repaint and tear up carpet and I don't give a shit about the TV, but I do want to know how the foundation is built. Why wait for the inspection to tell you if you can find out NOW?
For the record, I know that foundation structure problems like the ones at this house are fixable, but it'd have to be a nicer house before I considered it. If it had even a partial basement to work in leveling the floor wouldn't be so bad, but digging out, jacking, and repouring in a two foot crawlspace takes someone crazier than I.
*No, not even post and pier. Not built on slab. Just kinda stacked on (possibly untreated) lumber. With a little line of concrete poured around the outside. WTF?
Looked at a house yesterday that I'd had hopes for based on price/sqft/neighborhood. It had a great garage, but that was the best thing about it. It had been added to twice by mysterious builder(s) whom my father described as "imaginative", i.e., making it up as they go along.
You can tell by the interesting topography of the floor. Old houses often settle on their foundation. Old houses that are basically in three parts, some of which don't have foundation*, settle like a soufle after you've done a raindance in the kitchen.
I'm keeping it on my to-watch list, not because I have any desire to take on that kind of project, but because the price it sells for eventually will be informative.
I find realtors very awkward, by the way. I wish they'd hand me the keys and wait in the car. I usually bring my Dad with me, and he knows more about a house within five minutes of walking around it than the agent ever does. Some of the time even I do.
This realtor commented that we were "more adventurous than most buyers", which was code for "willing to get dirty." I don't think I'll ever really get the whole mainstream method of house shopping, where you look at paint and carpet and where the TV will go. I can repaint and tear up carpet and I don't give a shit about the TV, but I do want to know how the foundation is built. Why wait for the inspection to tell you if you can find out NOW?
For the record, I know that foundation structure problems like the ones at this house are fixable, but it'd have to be a nicer house before I considered it. If it had even a partial basement to work in leveling the floor wouldn't be so bad, but digging out, jacking, and repouring in a two foot crawlspace takes someone crazier than I.
*No, not even post and pier. Not built on slab. Just kinda stacked on (possibly untreated) lumber. With a little line of concrete poured around the outside. WTF?
