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Buyer Tips
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If you want a house with character - perhaps even a history of its
own - consider an older home. Middle-aged houses often reflect
the love and care that have been lavished on them through such
owner-added touches as crown moldings, carved fireplace mantels and
built-in bookcases. Often older homes are also found in
neighborhoods that present a more varied environment using a broader
range of architectural styles, as well as a range of colors and
texture of materials. Mature trees, established lawns and years
of gardening often add much to the feel of a community.
With older homes, however, come older floor plans that may not fit
into today's lifestyles. Traffic flow may not be convenient,
master bedrooms may be small, closets almost nonexistent, and kitchens
and baths outdated. If you think remodeling costs will make the
house the most expensive home in the neighborhood, keep looking or you
may lose money in he long run. Your repair bills will most likely be
higher at least in the beginning years of ownership. And
remember that old homes are unpredictable - you never know when the
roof, furnace or water heater will need replacing.
This Homebuyers Tip was excerpted from:
Kiplinger's Buying & Selling A Home, by The Staff
of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Kiplinger Books, 1996.
ISBN 081292780X
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