# Moving from a newer to an older home - your experience?



## Maybe Later (Feb 19, 2011)

I'm curious if any of you have moved from a newnewer/ home to an older one and whether you are willing to share your experience.

My family and I have been living on an acreage for a little over five years. For a number of reasons - including, but not limited to, another child on the way - we've decided to move into the city where we both work. Currently I'm leaning towards an older house, of a similar size, in an established neighborhood that would probably be less expensive than what we would sell our home for. Over time we'd most certainly renovate, but not immediately.

However, we had our current house house built for us, we still love it, and truth be told, I would like to build again. This probably won't work for us since acreage sales usually take somewhat longer and we would likely have to sell the house before committing to a new build and renting a house for six months to a year during construction. It would also be more expensive to build a similar sized and styled home and though taking on additional mortgage debt isn't a significant obstacle it doesn't seem to be the best choice right now for a number of lifestyle reasons, not the least of which is moving twice and finding the right rental for three kids five and under.

It seems to buck the general trend to "downgrade" (not the right term, but I think you'll get my point). Has anyone done this? Best move ever or significant regrets?


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

So hang on, you own a house that you love on some land.

You one day want to own a house just like that, but you want to move into the city at this point, knowing that building again in the future will be difficult.

That's a bizarre way of looking at things, that's for sure. But whatever.

How old are we talking? 20 years, 30 years, 100 years? Huge difference. My house is 100 years old, and I love the character, but I freeze in the winter and sweat in the summer. Plaster cracks, and things get old.


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## Maybe Later (Feb 19, 2011)

Sorry to be unclear. I'm thinking about building new in the city now vs. an older home. 

I love the acreage lifestyle, but it's not the right time for us right now. It was great as a childless couple and even when our first was tiny. I'd certainly consider it again down the road but our life would be simpler in the city, strange as that sounds. Different priorities now.

I'm thinking something built from the 60s through the mid 80s in the neighborhoods I have in mind, rather than 2006, when our current home was completed.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I watch love it or list it and every time they reno a old city home they find knob and tube wiring ,many things rotting not up to code .I would allow $100,000 to upgrade all structural stuff in a old home.Crazyjack is correct ,difficult to have the modern heating/cooling in old homes.May be lucky to get a Gas fireplace installed in rooms with exterior walls jack .My friend has a old house and they have three sources of heat in the houses ,original oil /wood burning stoves and were able to get a couple small gas stoves installed as well.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

We moved from a fairly new condo in Vancouver to a 100 yr old house in Winnipeg. Took 3+ years and 80K worth of renovations to get it up to snuff. And thats with dh being an electrician and us and friends doing a lot of the demo and some of the reconstruction work. It was well worth it for us, but I would never want to do it again. (We did not have children at the time.)

There are pluses and minuses to older houses which I'm sure you are aware of. If you get a renovated older house that was done to a high standard (ie make damn sure permits were pulled, if not, walk away... and do not take anyone's word for it, check with city hall yourself that the permits were pulled) then an older house is WAY nicer than a newer house you can get built today.

For instance, in our 100 yr old house there was no chipboard in the house, no laminated anything. All the hardwood was solid wood, not this engineered crap thats full of chemicals they use today. The trim was all solid wood, the floor joists were HUGE, as was the wood used on the exterior walls. And solid wood too, not this soft wood they use for studs now a days. Even with the highest quality builder I bet you can't get the quality of materials you did years ago. Older homes often (not always but often) have larger yards which can be a bonus.

But then we're in a newer (4 yr old) house and I love it too, I like that it's more energy efficient than most older homes (important in Ontario!), the basement doesn't smell musty, the floorplan is open and airy and we have a huge 2.5 car attached garage (hubby likes going for a bike ride and coming home, clicking the garage door opener and wheeling inside  ) and many other nice benefits.

Most of this info is from my own personal experience, which I'm sure varies person by person and house by house.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

The OP is looking at a house built in the 1960's or 80's Hardly qualifies as old if you ask me. At that age you're starting to look at original furnaces and windows, there shouldn't be to much in the way of major issues, but there could be tonnes of cosmetic.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

We moved from a 2007 house in the burbs to a 1950's house in the city. We had to replace the furnace immediately, get waterproofing done on the basement, and we renovated the main bath after a year or so as it was an eyesore. Also had new windows put in. I think we spent about 30k altogether in renovations. 

Our "new" house feels more homey than our old one did. The 2007 one was modern and airy, but did not have the cozy feel that our current one does. We also feel like the 1950's home is more sturdily built than the modern one was. 

You may get lucky and find an older home that's been recently updated, best of both worlds.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

It depends on what part of the city you go to. Some parts of the city that date back 80-100 years have been properly maintained and are always undergoing renovations. Pride of ownership and you can tell when you drive by that the people living there are pretty meticulous. The property prices are high and the neighborhoods are good. The yards can be pretty small but not much smaller than the yards found in new developments.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

What's an "acreage"?


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Four Pillars said:


> What's an "acreage"?


I was wondering that myself. I've seen people refer to 1 acre as an "acreage" I've always considered an acreage (in the residential sense) to be more than 5. Woodlot: 25. Farm: +50. But that's me, and I admit, totally random.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

I also consider acreage to be in the area of 5+ when speaking pure residential (ie house and maybe a garage/workshop). To me a 1 acre lot isn't really that big and I don't consider it "acreage" per say, although technically I guess it is acreage.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

1960's to 1980's is not that old but any house over 30 yrs old will likely need to have the windows changed out for more thermal efficiency, potentially new exterior doors, soffit/fascia replacement if wood, some exterior work, furnace and water heater replaced, insulation added to the attic, kitchen and bathrooms updated. A 30 yr old house should have copper and ABS piping so the plumbing should be okay (but older houses may have cast iron wastewater plumbing which could be an issue). Look very carefully at the electrical system and avoid anything with aluminum wiring (many houses built circa 1970-1975 could have aluminum wiring).


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## Maybe Later (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for the thoughtful replies all. Mostly I was hoping not to hear, "worst mistake we ever made!" Addy and Spudd provided the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I imagine we would prefer something original to something redone by someone else - I'm a DIYer (not the Disaster DIY kind) and I'd rather not have to figure out someone else's mistakes.

@marina - funny you should mention Love it or List it. That's our current strategy, do the little things around our house that make sense, in a way that we like and would live with, but also that would appeal to others (no fuchsia walls) while we look for houses. If we can't find places that we like more than what we have now, then we'll consider not moving quite yet.

@FP For us an acreage is 12 acres, no outbuildings (yet, but might be if we stayed). We're 15 minutes outside of the city where we work and we've planted a couple thousand seedlings. I enjoy the work living out here entails, but I resent not having enough time to do everything I would like to around the yard. Maybe later when retirement seems closer and kids are a bit older.


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

Maybe Later - a bit of a different view. Your love of your house and land oozes out of all your emails in this thread. A 15 min drive is not really that far out. It seems you're worried that if you move you will regret it. So I would take a cold hard look at which of 2 situations this is. Either, for whatever reason your current living style will just not work going forward. Then sell, move, etc - but don't ask yourself if you will regret it. You will; but you'll realize you had no other option. Alternatively, your current lifestyle has compromises that are suboptimal, but is part of what you love about having your land, caring for it, etc. Then make your compromises and bring up your kids with the best of both worlds - watching the seedlings you've planted grow as well as going to town 15 mins away once in a while. Make it a virtue rather than a millstone.


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