Hidden costs of older homes: What buyers should know

(InvestigateTV) — The housing affordability crisis in America is only growing.

Zack Dettmore, a general contractor and host of the show This First House, said he sees it daily.

People don’t have enough money to buy a new home, but repairing a house is expensive. He said older homes can cost 48 percent more than newer homes to repair and maintain.

“If you want to be a good steward of the home, you’re not only fixing sort of what you set out to do, maybe it’s put a kitchen in. You’re not only doing that, but you’re also maybe remediating for mold or asbestos or fixing some structural image damage or termites, right? So, there’s just a lot more that has happened to that house before your hands touched it,” Dettmore said.

For those thinking about buying an older home, it might be good to have a contractor look at it first. He said knocking out a wall may cost more than most think – maybe there’s plumbing or electric that has to be moved, and all of a sudden a $6,000 project becomes a $60,000 one.

“One thing that I tell people to look out for, is if you’re buying a house that has had a family living in it for maybe 40 or 50 years, that’s probably a good house,” Dettmore shared. “If someone else could tolerate it and all its character flaws, you could probably tolerate it too. It’s when you when you’re buying a house, it’s maybe had seven owners in the last 20 years. Something’s going on there.”

Dettmore said understanding “must-haves” versus “nice-to-haves” when buying a home is really important.

So is managing expectations, having a really good real estate agent and home inspector, and having people you trust to coach you through the home-buying process.

Description

Older homes cost 48% more to repair than newer ones. Contractor explains hidden issues like mold, asbestos and structural damage that can turn affordable homes into expensive projects.