Bad idea to buy an old house?

[Guest]

This house seems to have a prime location, and seems comfy enough in the pictures, but is it nutty to buy a home built in 1910?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/96050_rid/3-_beds/0_singlestory/featured_sort/34.119693,-118.364125,34.067851,-118.399322_rect/X1-SS-18j30dg7u8yr9_4zss3_sse/20517575_zpid/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emo-instant-saved-search&utm_content=20181024-forsaleaddress-PSS&rtoken=c3ef9b85-caaf-482f-9b1a-430ac25de128~X1-ZU106c8zzvfxeyx_8l13l&3col=true

[+ tassojunior]

This house was obviously renovated. The year of the new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc is what matters (and roof of course). Even electrical done fairly recently is often too small for today and it's trouble to upgrade. If it still has lead pipes you're in for a lot of expensive plumbing. Most likely in a house like this all those systems are new. But be sure.

 

ps-My house in DC was built in 1865. All my systems are from 1980 though. My electrical had to be upgraded twice and my HVAC replaced once. Copper plumbing from 1980 is fine.

Edited October 25, 2018 by tassojunior

[Guy Fawkes]

Two words for your: "Home Inspection" everything else appears to be workable. But you'll need to know if there is any rot, termites etc

 

It's apparent that it's been well maintained, lovingly restored/upgraded.

 

This house seems to have a prime location, and seems comfy enough in the pictures, but is it nutty to buy a home built in 1910?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/96050_rid/3-_beds/0_singlestory/featured_sort/34.119693,-118.364125,34.067851,-118.399322_rect/X1-SS-18j30dg7u8yr9_4zss3_sse/20517575_zpid/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emo-instant-saved-search&utm_content=20181024-forsaleaddress-PSS&rtoken=c3ef9b85-caaf-482f-9b1a-430ac25de128~X1-ZU106c8zzvfxeyx_8l13l&3col=true

[+ WilliamM]

Two words for your: "Home Inspection" everything else appears to be workable. But you'll need to know if there is any rot, termites etc

 

It's apparent that it's been well maintained, lovingly restored/upgraded.

 

Apparent or not, that is the reason for a professional home inspection company certified by the state. Here in Pennsylvania the companies are certified by ASHI.

[MikeBiDude]

Not a bad idea at all! Home inspection as mentioned above....also many realtors will throw in a one year home protection policy. These vary widely and usually aren’t as useful as they sound.

[Walker1]

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA? What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

[MikeBiDude]

What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

That is not polite. “Normal person”

 

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA

It’s California baby. A hot neighborhood, maybe a nice gay DINK couple?

[Walker1]

That is not polite. “Normal person”

 

 

 

Well, by normal person, I mean the average American-not celebrities or those stock option loaded tech folks or high net worth folks. Most "normal" or average folks cannot dream of a 2 million dollar home .

 

I understand luxury areas, but was trying to figure out if West Hollywood is considered a luxury enclave or is this is the norm for CA now

[MikeBiDude]

Well, by normal person, I mean the average American-not celebrities or those stock option loaded tech folks or high net worth folks. Most "normal" or average folks cannot dream of a 2 million dollar home .

 

I understand luxury areas, but was trying to figure out if West Hollywood is considered a luxury enclave or is this is the norm for CA now

$600k is the SoCal Median

 

If I were to spend $2m on a house it wouldn’t be in WeHo, but there are beautiful areas there and the entertainment industry is so close by, and they pay.

[JayCeeKy]

What the same price will get you in Louisville, Kentucky (I know in LA, you're paying for the opportunity for nice scenery, beautiful weather, and high taxes):

 

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/fsba_lt/73476283_zpid/500000-_price/2070-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/38.433421,-85.365486,38.07215,-85.956001_rect/10_zm/0_mmm/?

 

BTW, Anchorage is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Louisville. And GOOBERnor Beavis lives just down the road. And, this mansion has been visited by both Muhammad Ali and Ralph Lauren, who personally helped design it. (In one photo you can see the bedroom wall that Muhammad Ali signed - I am supposing that is where he slept.)

Edited October 25, 2018 by JayCeeKy

[MikeBiDude]

What the same price will get you in Louisville, Kentucky (I know, you're paying for the opportunity for nice scenery, beautiful weather, and high taxes):

 

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/fsba_lt/73476283_zpid/500000-_price/2070-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/38.433421,-85.365486,38.07215,-85.956001_rect/10_zm/0_mmm/?

 

BTW, Anchorage is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Louisville. And GOOBERnor Beavis lives just down the road.

I hear you....I had a sister move just a few years ago from a decent 4 bedroom house in Orange County. Nicely remodeled, all the pluses.

 

She and her husband bought a 4 bedroom house a couple miles outside of Redding, CA.....8 acres with a year round stream running through the property, deer, wildlife, etc!

[+ Charlie]

I hear you....I had a sister move just a few years ago from a decent 4 bedroom house in Orange County. Nicely remodeled, all the pluses.

 

She and her husband bought a 4 bedroom house a couple miles outside of Redding, CA.....8 acres with a year round stream running through the property, deer, wildlife, etc!

And good wildfire insurance, I hope.

[+ tassojunior]

Well, by normal person, I mean the average American-not celebrities or those stock option loaded tech folks or high net worth folks. Most "normal" or average folks cannot dream of a 2 million dollar home .

 

I understand luxury areas, but was trying to figure out if West Hollywood is considered a luxury enclave or is this is the norm for CA now

 

As the rich get richer "luxury" is redefined a lot. $2M is now upper middle while true luxury starts more in the $20's. Upper market is between.

 

No idea what happens in the flyover states. I guess they have indoor plumbing now.

[+ Charlie]

A house built in 1910 may have had better construction than one built in the post-war boom. The first house we bought was built as a small brick workman's row house in 1884. We paid $13K and did most of the renovation ourselves in the 1970s, and had all new utilities installed (it had a non-functioning gravity-feed coal furnace in the dirt basement, no a/c, and still had the original privy in the back yard, although an indoor toilet and plumbing had been added in the 1940s, and the original kerosene light fixtures were still in place). The house is still standing, as solid as when it was new, and with little but some cosmetic refurbishment since we sold it 35 years ago. The current asking price is $485K.

 

That WeHo house sold 16 years ago for 1/3 of what they are asking now, but it looks like it has had a total, beautifully done renovation since then, so I am not surprised that in the current CA market they are asking $2M for a unique property.

[MikeBiDude]

And good wildfire insurance, I hope.

Fires just missed them.....interestingly a side effect I’d never thought of....their untouched property jumped significantly after the fires!? Turns out this is common, there is so much less inventory available in the market from so many homes destroyed!

[instudiocity]

What the same price will get you in Louisville, Kentucky (I know, you're paying for the opportunity for nice scenery, beautiful weather, and high taxes):

 

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/fsba_lt/73476283_zpid/500000-_price/2070-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/38.433421,-85.365486,38.07215,-85.956001_rect/10_zm/0_mmm/?

 

BTW, Anchorage is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Louisville. And GOOBERnor Beavis lives just down the road. And, this mansion has been visited by both Muhammad Ali and Ralph Lauren, who personally helped design it.

Yeah, that house is about $150/sq ft. In Cali, it would build for $150-200/sq ft or $2,600,000. But where would you put it? 20,000 sq ft of land is between $3 million and $20 million depending on the location and views.

[instudiocity]

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA? What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

I bought my condo in Studio City back in the late 1990’s. Today it’s value is $850,000. It’s Location, Location, Location!

 

But a normal person bought it for $163,000 23 years ago.

[Guest]

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA? What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

 

It's been a while since I lived in LA. I was going to say that west West Hollywood was more of a luxury neighborhood (i.e. 90069 as opposed to 90046), but I saw this place in east West Hollywood that's almost as expensive and doesn't look at all as nice, so maybe east West Hollywood is becoming just as exclusive as west West Hollywood:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/20788668_zpid/3-_beds/mostrecentchange_sort/34.102947,-118.340135,34.089621,-118.361528_rect/15_zm/X1.dash.SS.dash.18j30dg7u8yr9_4zss3_sse/

I just want to be near those go-go boys in 90069!

[Bargara Leatherboy]

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA? What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

 

2 years into our relationship we built a home on the edge of Sydney.

 

$157,000

 

We have made some improvements over the last 23 years but our current valuation is over the million.

 

Location Location Location is the secret.

[body2body]

Wow, 2 million dollars? Is West Hollywood a luxury neighborhood or is 2 million nothing in CA? What normal person can buy a home at those prices?

West Hollywood (particularly the West Side- west of La Cienega Blvd. ) has become a pricey neighborhood. The L.A. Times Real Estate section periodically publishes average sale prices and WeHo zip codes routinely give Beverly Hills a run for the money in the priciest residential neighborhoods in the LA Metro area. My 900 sq ft townhouse was purchased for $199,000 in 1990. Today several real estate agents tell me that they can get $700,000. The rise in values is, alas, changing the nature of the city. The prime stretch of Santa Monica Blvd. that once formed the heart of “Boystown” is about to have two big straight restaurants open. Small local, often gay owned, businesses are being driven out by astronomical rents. I had to relocate my business to Beverly Hills to find rent that was “affordable “. The cute young men who still flock to the Abbey and the Bars on the Boulevard, are coming from East Hollywood, and Koreatown, they can’t afford to rent in WeHo, where a One Bedroom apartment rents for $3500+ a month.

[spider]

Get a qualified inspector and attorney. Even lead piping will an issue may not be a mandated replacement you need to pay for. When I sold my 1930s house there was some lead piping remaining as well as a small amount of external asbestos siding that was completely intact. The buyers tried to get us to pay for both, but our attorney used the “common for the area and with no removal mandate” clause and it became the buyer’s choice whether or not to deal with it. One issue with lead point is that the insides have long since been coated with corrosion from the water and the lead level is minimal if anything. Get the water tested, our exposure was well below the minimal allowable level. Similarly the asbestos siding. As long as it is intact and not chipping, pealing, etc. there is no exposure to worry about. Only if it degrades or if you remove it is there an issue. Million of office buildings have floor tile that was installed with asbestos containing glue. It can stay there just as it is until the time it is removed. Sometimes we over react.

[+ deej]

$600k is the SoCal Median

And the kicker is that any home at or below median is likely either a fixer or otherwise distressed and will likely sell as soon as the listing hits, certainly before you see the listing. It’s a tough market to get into for first time buyers.

[Rudynate]

$600k is the SoCal Median

 

If I were to spend $2m on a house it wouldn’t be in WeHo, but there are beautiful areas there and the entertainment industry is so close by, and they pay.

 

 

West Hollywood is a famous gayborhood. It doesn't seem unreasonable that a house like that in WEHO would go on the market for 2 mil.

[bigvalboy]

"Is it nutty to buy a house built in 1910?" In my opinion, I would say it depends. Is it nutty to buy that house built in 1910? ...I tend not to get caught up in the fluff. I care about the guts of the house. It's location in general and it's location within the neighborhood. Home inspectors routinely miss critical flaws. From what I see, there's far too many negatives with the property, so there isn't anyway I'd drop almost 2 mil for that house, unless you could knock it down and build units.

Edited October 25, 2018 by bigvalboy

[+ Tarte Gogo]

I own a 1920’s house. The previous owners looked after it well. Had no problem at all with it.

 

You shouldn’t be scared of buying an old house, but you should be scared of this kind of prices!