Old House? New House? Which to buy? Here’s what you need to consider before you start looking. Many of us think fondly of our childhood homes. We remember the expansive walk up attics, wrap around porches, solid banisters we could slide down and wood floors that showed the years of feet that had passed through. Now we long for older homes with solid construction, quality craftsmanship and details from eras gone by. Wistfully we go on about the hand carvings, tiles around the fireplace or turret rooms in the homes we have known. But how do the old homes we admire stack up against the newly built models?

Typically, old homes sit on generous plots of land in or near town. Mature trees and plantings provide shade and beautify the home and neighborhood. Newer homes are often located in the outskirts of town. The farm land that has been re-created into the newest neighborhood doesn’t offer the older trees because either it was pasture land or the developer clear cut the whole area when starting to build. If you move into the development early, be prepared to put up with construction vehicles, dust and noise until the neighborhood is completed. Landscaping in new homes may be sparse or even non-existent. It takes time for the award winning lawn to settle in. An older home can win here.

Newer homes are ready for our electronic crazed lifestyle.The electrical system is ready to handle everyone in the family having a TV, computer, cell phone and ipod. Older homes usually mean older wiring in the walls. The fuses have been upgraded to a circuit breaker box - but that doesn’t mean that the wiring in the walls has been replaced at the same time. This can be judged a tie between older and newer since you can upgrade the older home to meet the electrical needs of today.

The layout is drastically different now in newer homes. Entertaining is no longer a formal event. Architects now design homes for our more informal and casual lifestyle. The many cozy rooms, tight closets and usually only 1 bathroom found in older homes have been replaces with family kitchens, big walk-in closets, family rooms and multiple car garages. This area is strictly up to the buyer. What appeals to one will not appeal to another. So we have to judge this one a tie as well.

In the area of energy efficiency the newer home is probably the winner.Unless you are prepared to replace all the windows and increase the insulation, the newer home gives you the assurance of new materials in these areas. Single pane windows give character but not much energy savings. Even with storm windows a lot of energy is lost. Homes are built tighter today and therefore save energy.

Now let’s get into the wood used to construct these homes. Before 1980, commercially available wood was harvested from old-growth forests, which produced a dense durable lumber. Today the wood used by builders comes from young, fast growing forests. In the younger wood the growth rings are spaced farther apart and the wood is inherently weaker and more prone to rot. Some new home owners complain about the flimsy materials, thin walls and shoddy workmanship. Still, new homes benefit from new technology and are often built with more windows. But here I am going to side with the older home - they win as far as durability of materials is concerned.

Long before we understood the effects of lead exposure, lead pipeswere standard equipment. Over the years most owners have replaced them with pvc, copper and galvanized pipes (which have been found to corrode). Although copper piping and tubing are now the products of choice, fittings connecting the old lead or galvanized pipes to the copper piping may be vulnerable to corrosion.

In the end it is really up to you, the buyer. After all you are the one who is going to live there. If the charm and beauty of an older home wins your heart - great! If you want to be the first to use everything in the house - great! In either case hire a qualified home inspector to check out all the details. After the home inspector says its a winner and gives you an all-clear, you have one last decision to make: Does the home fit your lifestyle? Only you and your family have the answer to that question.

(c) Shannon Aldrich, Keller Williams Coastal Realty, Portsmouth NH 2008

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