Is An Old Home For You? - The Pros - Pride Of Ownership
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th

If you prefer a home that is unique and has character, youprobably are giving some thought to buying an older home. Beforebuying, it's a good idea to carefully evaluate the pros and consof owning the home. In this article, we cover the positivebenefits I have realized by owning a home built in 1825.

The Pros of An Old Home

In 1972, my husband and I bought a house built in 1825. Whilemaintenance has certainly been an issue, there are more than afew positives to the home. Everything is real. There's no fakeanything.



Bricks are brick. Wood is wood. Slate is slate.Fireplace mantles, chair rail, crown molding, and baseboards arenot dinky little things; they're beautifully proportioned. Thefloors are rich, wide, heart of pine planks.

There's a rich feeling of history and being connected to ourcountry's past that permeates through our neighborhood. GeorgeWashington grew up just across the river and trudged up the laneacross the street from us daily to attend school. James Monroeand Mathew Fontain Maury (the "pathfinder of the seas") livedwithin a block of us. Our house was used as a boys' militaryacademy (Philips' Military Academy) prior to the War Between theStates. Put together, one gets a feeling of wonder when walkingaround the community.

Old houses can also be a very good investment. First, there is alimited supply of them. With the popularity of historicsocieties and the preservation movement, people have become moreappreciative of them. Precisely because of the center citylocations of many of them (which provided drawbacks for us whenwe first moved here), they are often in what have become highlydesirable locations. Our house is within two blocks of commuterrail that runs into downtown Washington, D.C. and many oldcities have old house neighborhoods in terrific locations.Boston, Richmond, Savannah, and Charleston come to mind.

We paid $35,000 for our house in 1972. Within the last year, twohouses within a block of us have sold for more than a milliondollars. I have a feeling that our home may be the bestinvestment we've ever made.

That about sums it up. Beauty. A sense of it being "real."Feeling connected to the past. And a darned good investment toboot. Yup. We've spent some blood, sweat, and tears. Real money,too. But I'd do it over again in a heart beat.

About the author:Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing FSBOhomes For Sale By Owner. Visit our "sell my home" page athttp://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to list and sell your homefor free for one month. Visithttp://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale byowner.

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