Is it time to move on from renting and buy a house of your own? Is your current home too small and you want to buy something larger? Buying a house is the project of a lifetime that requires a lot of thinking and asking the right questions. In this article, we’ll help you ask the right questions about buying an old home and renovating it instead of buying a brand new home.

What are the Advantages of Buying an Old House to Renovate?

#1Old houses are Often Located in Good, Attractive Locations

One of the very first criteria for choosing your future home is its location (proximity to work, family, major roads, and public transport). Old houses that need to be renovated often have the advantage of being well located and close to the desired infrastructure (schools, shops, public transportation, etc.). There is also a greater supply of old than new homes. It is, therefore, easier to find an old property in most areas.
Most often, old houses may already be connected to the city’s networks: gas, electricity, sewerage, telephone lines. This will save you a lot of bureaucracy and expenses.

#2 Combining the Charm of the Old with the New

Renovating an old house is the opportunity to combine the charm of the old with the comfort of the modern. To breathe new life into the home, you can renovate the exterior and take advantage of this opportunity to improve the home’s insulation, which reduces electricity costs and increases comfort. This way, you enhance the aesthetic value of your property, you improve the energy performance of your home, but you are also making it more environmentally friendly.

#3 Attractive Prices

In a lot of instances, buying an old home and renovating it is far less expensive than buying an entirely new home. This means you either can reduce your home budget or you can buy homes in more attractive places, buy larger homes, etc. Whichever you choose, this means you’re having more options with how you want to spend your money.
Of course, this is not always the case. There are some instances where the foundations of the home are badly damaged, and in these cases, you need to replace or heavily repair large parts of the foundation, which would be extremely expensive. So you have to be careful and always check the integrity and quality of the old home before making the final decision.

#4 The Duration of a Renovation Versus the Duration of the Construction of a New Home

It can take up to six months to renovate a house, while construction from the ground up takes about 12 months. Of course, your renovation work will depend on the condition of the home, its surface area and how many changes you want to make, but you almost always will need to spend more time during constructing a new home than you do renovate it. This is especially true if you hire one of the luxury home builders and renovation companies to take care of the renovation for you.