There is a lot of information available detailing the benefits of purchasing an older British Virgin Islands Home. Older houses have lower purchase prices in comparison to newer houses. They are usually situated in established communities, having an existing good reputation for schools, transportation and commercial centers. Older houses have mature landscape designs and period-style architecture and craftsmanship. If all this appeals to you, you might want to consider an older house. However, older houses will come with their fair share of issues. To enable you to make the correct home purchasing decision for you, here are a few important points you may want to discuss with your real estate agent.
1) Structural Issues
The structural condition of older houses will vary. If it has been properly maintained, the structure will probably reflect the standard craftsmanship of years gone by aand will only require minor repairs, reinforcement or maintenance. More recent building work that may have been carried out on the house may not have been built to the high standard of the original home, and may need major repairs or makeovers. When the original building has not been well – maintained, you may be in for a significant structural overhaul. Neglected crawlspaces might have foundation and floor structure defects. Continuous water encroachment or past fires might have affected structural areas which are now hidden. Make sure your house inspector looks into the structure of the older house completely.
2) What Remodeling involves
Lots of people purchase a mature home with the aim of remodeling it to make the house more comfortable and increase the homes value. As with many things in life, the choice to redesign an older home comes down to time or money. If you want to spend more of your time on the project ans less of your money, you will need to be handy and keep your weekends free from any other obligations for many months. If you are too busy to take the project on yourself and would rather employ someone else to do it, your realtor can recommend a contractor who is an expert in raising house value by remodeling older houses.
3) Zoning Issues
Before buying an older house with the aim of remodeling and raising the value, ensure you thoroughly investigate zoning rules. Many older houses include zoning limitations, including pre-determined setbacks from property lines, limits on roof height, etc. If the house is on the municipal historic register, rules will probably be much more stringent in order to preserve the homes historic character. If you are thinking about alternative ways to use your older house, like making it an office, building an in-law apartment, etc., make sure you speak to your realtor about zoning specifics.
4) Price of Operations
Greater repair and maintenance expenses ought to be added to the budget when calculating the all inclusive costs for buying an older home. Makeovers, repairs as well as pre-purchase inspection costs could be substantially more than if buying a newer house. Also, the possible lack of modern insulation materials means bigger electric and gas bills in order to heat and power the home. And, major home appliances, plumbing and heating systems will probably need maintenance within the first couple of years of your possession.
5) Termites
In an older home, it is possible that termites along with other wood wrecking bugs might have broken timbers and structural supports for a long time before being detected. It is highly unlikely for any house stand for 100 years without any type of termite/ant/beetle infestation. It is important that you make it a priority to determine if there are any signs and symptoms of current infestation, and also to inspect the extent of the damage left from past infestations. If a wood insect has eaten away at the structural support of the house for a long time prior to being discovered, you may need to add reinforcement to the beams and posts in the basement. It’s also necessary to safeguard the house against future infestations. You may want to consider employing a pest management company to carry out preventative treatments in addition to periodic visual assessments.
