Buy a 1918 Craftsman house that just needs alittle work..

makes me think of my 80 year old house that's worth 30k but costs $110 a month in flood insurance(which makes up 1/3 of my mortgage payment)

I've actually done a few of these, but I can remember after the last one thinking never again..

My place was built in '71, and as it is it pisses me off every day.

Next house I buy is going to be brand spankin' new.

Man I feel the same way. The house (built in 1923) keeps me on my toes.
It looks pretty cool though.

"This Old House" is cool, but always way more work than expected. And you don't get back all that you invest. Learned my lesson. That's why I'm building from the ground up, which ain't the cheapest either. Financially, a 10-15 year old home with complete landscaping is probably the best buy.

Sg

After spending thousands of hours on site investigations, reviewing expert reports and reviewing construction doucments related to "new" condos and single family residences, I would never buy a new house and almost would not accept a new condo as a gift. Unless you are building it yourself, and know what you are doing, it is far more likely that the old house was built right in the first place than a new one. Sounds like there is a good story behind your 1918 house though.

You definately have to enjoy a to-do list that is never complete with an older home. It is easy to be pulled in by the curb appeal of a Craftsman/older home and a "fixer-upper" project; unfortunately, lists have a funny way of compounding the more you work. Project A reveals problem 2 which initiates project B, C, D, and so on. "Fixer-uppers" can turn into a second career if you're not carefull. While Craftsman style homes can kick you while you're down, I would take the Craftsman over the majority of new construction any day. Most new homes slapped together under the idea of production tend to deteriorate rather quickly. You can't blame builders for trying to make a profit but their shortcuts can get rediculous. It's not a mystery why my parents home built in the 20's that's been moved is still rock solid: quality building materials and practices will always trump shortcuts and poor material. However, if it's in your budget, a new home built with "oldschool" technique coupled with newer materials--the ones that are actually worth something--would give the best of both worlds: a new Craftsman/old stlye home that will probably be around longer than even the best built older homes.

Sure glad I sold my 1929 craftsman house. The last straw was dumping 30 grand in the basement foundation. I thought boats were expensive! My house had a hole in the ground that I kept pouring money into.

Ha Know the story well just spent 8 hours in the attic chasing and pulling wiring, then down to the basement to take the twists out then back upstairs. Foundation is fairly new on this one so someone else got the 30000 bill on that one. The roof was replaced after the big storm by the insurance company and its had new floors installed by the last and very short owners from California who tried to corner the Oregon realestate market. Anyway it was a short sale, that took months to close and scared away most of our competitors and we picked it up for about 15000 under what the appraisal came in at. Not a steal but still a deal..

plus, there is the added ventilation work from a while back

Plumbers were done yesterday, kicked out a weird closet wall and enlarged the bathroom by 30%. New tub/shower and moved the loo into the new area. Starting to look like a house again with about 150 hours of work. Drywall tomorrow, now I find out how good of friends I have..See who shows up and gives me

You never called me, and I have mad skillz.

Ha Digging deep into my family and old high school chums for the drywall hanging bit, it won't be bad only about 12 sheets of 4x12's..But thanks anyway..

5/8" 4x12?

Oh man. Don't get me started on this one. I bought (and now I live in) a 1907. I don't know if it is a "crafstman" home or what it is, but I have rebuilt this thing from top to bottom (plumbing, mechanical, electrical, data, floors, walls, trim, tile, cabinet, refinish hardwood, carpet, etc, etc).

Took me 2 years, almost every night and every weekend. I am only this fall getting back into fishing on the weekends again. I still have a little bit of work to do but for intents and purposes it is done.

I decided that I had to build all house systems myself, and for that I am thankful, I know where everything is. IT WAS SOOOO MUCH WORK.

And actually, the end product is pretty cool. You end up with a bunch of features that 99% of houses don't have. I hope my to-do lists are short since the moving parts of this thing are brand new.

Only had to use 1/2 because all the walls are backed with 3/4 fir planking. There has to be half a forest in that house! That said I dropped a corner of a bundle on one of my helpers foot, Mom's not going to be happy with me.

Yeah, but he doesnt want his place to look like an up scale chicken coop!

I love my 1926 craftsman. This place has been dialed in inside and out by myself as well as the previous owner. Still a lot of work to do to finish the basement, but I enjoy it.
Maybe its not your style, but I call it home.

Good on you for keeping up that house.
Nice lookin' pooch....looks like a yellow version of my blackie.