Hi good people,
Well let me tell you a little story and try not to bore you to tears or
make this a super long message. My wife and I walk by this home and have done
so for several years. She has always commented on how lovely the house looks
and incredibly it went on the market about 10 days ago. Apparently the couple
that owned it has passed on and the kids have decided to sell the property.
So, here is a description, which will help set the tone of the
question. The house is a custom-built Rambler, constructed in 1954, and is all
brick. The house is not very large (according to the tax record is 1,500 square
feet) and has a living room, dining room, kitchen, full bath, and four
bedrooms; on one level. I neglected to bring a tape when we took a tour, but
think I would if we take another look. There is an attic with a fixed set of
stairs and it has flooring down and the roof is not plywood, but (I can't think
of the correct name) some sort of planks with shingles over that. The basement
is partially finished with solid pine paneling and interesting it has a solid
block wall running down the middle and apparently this was common in the 50's.
It has an oil-fired boiler that provides baseboard heat and it does have
central air, but that was added later and the air handler is in the attic and
the vents are in the ceiling.
Ok, so the purpose of describing this house is I am curious what things
I should be looking for if we seriously entertain the idea of purchasing it. I
understand there is a breaker panel and not a fusebox. However, let me mention
a couple other things as well. There is a separate two-car garage that does
have a fusebox, but this is a very substantial structure that they even put in
some ceiling fans since one of the kids used to detail cars in there. In
addition, there are two (I know this sounds nuts) walk-in freezers. I am
talking freezers that are stand-alone buildings. Apparently this gent used to
cut up meat for people if they would bring him the animal. Now the freezers are
no longer operational, but they have been used for storage and either would
make an excellent workshop. Oh as a side note, they are tossing in two
tractor/mowers, a big walk-behind mower, and a snow blower. SO, honestly, the
only issues for me is little if any closet space and that apparently was common
in the 50[s as well and I know I would have to install a dish washer and a few
other changes. The place has all hardwood floors under carpet and I can't
imagine it would take much to fix these up. So, of course I am researching
whether I could purchase the place that does sit on 2.5 acres and gee I could
sell one of them and make half my investment bak.
So, again, what stuff should I look at that could really be an issue for a home
of this age. Btw, I did not smell any wet oders or anything that would indicate
leaking of the basement or house in general.
SOrry for going on so, but hope it planted some neat images. As one final side
note/question, the windows are the single-pane type with storm windows. The
agent showing the home tried to tell me these are more efficient than the newer
double-pane windows and I think he's way-off-track on this. I remember these
growing up and having ice on the inside. So, is it possible that these could
really be efficient in some way? Just curious.
Thanks
