“The grand old lady on the hill” may be the description you see in an ad for a century home on a prestigious street in town. As a novice real estate buyer, you may fall in love with the look of history re-visited but we warn you to be conscious of making buying decisions without considering the following…
1. What is the heating method of the home? If it’s oil, make sure that oil tanks aren’t buried on the property that are no longer legal. Be sure to also check out the efficiency of the furnace as multiple fireplaces often occur in century homes. Check out their efficiency and safety. Is there central heating with cold air returns and heat runs, or just fanciful grates in the upstairs room floors?
2. How much and what kind of insulation is in the house? Century homes have been known to have many different types of insulators – from old newspapers, straw bales, horse hair, or sheep’s wool, and may have asbestos-wrapped areas.
3. What type of wiring exists? Many century homes are found to have knob and tube wiring, which is an outdated, unsafe fire hazard that may invalidate your ability to obtain insurance for your new-to-you (old) home. Throughout the years, some of the wiring could have been “upgraded” to aluminum wiring or mixed with copper wiring, which can pose an electrical fire risk at the junction box over time, if not properly remedied professionally with a designed termination box.
4. Is the basement full, half-height, stone-walled, or dirt floor? Is there evidence of water in the basement or just in the spring or during heavy rains?
5. The plumbing – is there lead in the pipes that will require changing for health reasons?
6. Has it been designated as a century home and given a plaque from the historical society? In some communities, having the designation brings not only an air of distinction, but can also make it subject to the historical society’s input with regards to renovations, extensions and upgrades that you may want to do. Some communities have programs available to help maintain, renovate and upgrade a century home within guidelines established by the town’s historical society. In other words, the owner of a century home is not allowed to modify their home at their own whim or solely without approval from the preservation society.
7. Have the century details been preserved? For example, are the baseboards, crown moldings and leaded glass windows original? If not, and you want to replace the current ones, you may pay a premium price for the millwork or the window detail.
Century homes can be wise investments – ones you can enjoy for many years and they would be a fine place to display your valued antiques. A word of caution, though, don’t purchase blindly without the home being inspected by a certified home inspector that specializes in century homes. Contact us at Gallo for more assistance.
