Historic Highs and Historic Lows... Century Homes can be an Adventure!

Cobourg ON - former short-list candidate for national capital of Canada. Neighbour to Port Hope, original trading post in early settler days. Respectively called Hamilton and Toronto prior to the larger and more well know modern cities were named as such. Home to a great many well preserved and restored century homes - from starter to magnificent mansion.

The enduring appeal of of historic homes is unquestionable. There are legions of fans out there who troop through house tours and a few who will drop seemingly endless quantities of money into them in restoration efforts. And they do so for the love of something that today's newer built homes lack in many ways - character. These are houses built at a time when you finished the building you were working on before moving on to the next project, unlike today where houses are built in stages, row on row. Even modern custom homes are usually one of several projects any self respecting contractor or designer is working on. And the character that is added to these homes can easily be bought by the linear foot at your local hardware store or lumber yard.

But love can sometimes hurt you, and when entering into a relationship with a Century Home caution is always the wise approach. There may have been gold in the hills when the house was built - but in the walls of that house today can be heaps and heaps of trouble! More the caution if the house has been completely fixed up... surface work can seemingly increase the value of an old house tremendously, but what's behind all that new plaster and hardwood? Knob and tube? Dry rot? Vermiculite? Asbestos? Lead Paint? Sub-par construction by today's standards?

That last point could raise the ire of some Century Home fans I'm certain - but it's true, many of the oldest homes were built with what is known as "balloon construction." Balloon construction built outside walls of the house first then suspended the flooring in between... you know, with nails-n-stuff. Now, a floor that has been secured to a wall for over a hundred years with fasteners (rather than sitting on top of each level's wall) is going to be reaching its useful age sometime much sooner than when it was originally built. And the "stuff" of a typical modern family dwarfs that of a century plus ago. So the additional weight of more books, computers, clothes, bathroom fixtures and so forth will only add to that eventual failure if not addressed in the meantime. But can you find out if this is the case for your century home before you buy it?

Well, anything not visible becomes difficult to verify - so one must rely primarily on two elements of research before buying. First, seller disclosure - particularly if there have been renovations, repairs or upgrades to the house. Find out from the seller what they know, in writing, so you can be more assured you aren't buying a liability instead of a home. And this is a good point for Century home owners to pay attention to as well. If you are sinking that endless pot of money into upgrading and restoring your house, keep meticulous records of everything. There'll be gold in them there files! Future buyers who can see invoices, written proposals of work done and photographs as restoration is done will have a very good idea of what they are buying and likely value this knowledge in the homes final sale price.

Secondly, look into the house's provenance. Most towns and cities have historic archives available that may hold some useful information about when the house was built and by who, which can also lead to a better understanding of how the house was built and perhaps by reputation how well it was built. You may also find alterations to the house that should have had permits... which if not on record could indicate more recent concerns to the homes integrity. This isn't always easy work, and doesn't always bear fruit, but it's a good way to find out if concern is at all warranted about the overall soundness of an old building.

If neither of these approaches get you all the answers you need, then there is of course the option of doing a more thorough inspection - but these are expensive, often difficult to negotiate with the seller (who may have to lower the price of a house if a significant problem they previously knew nothing about is discovered) and can become messy if repairs are required and the present owner refuses to be satisfied. So really, if the seller isn't prepared to find out what's needed to make the buyers comfortable in purchasing the house... it may be best to just walk away.

This post just scratches the surface of Century home ownership, purchasing and selling as the issues are as wide and varied as the number of century homes available. Making certain you choose to work with a Realtor who is knowledgeable about the specific issues old buildings present is critical for all those who aren't themselves expert. But the character these historic houses - Jacksonian, Victorian, Edwardian (in our region at least) and others - are well worth investing in if you know what you're getting yourself into. Just don't let your love blind you to what lies in store because love lost can quickly turn into a nightmare, expensive and drawn out - just like any divorce.