When looking at houses to buy in Champaign, we've been trying to focus on newer houses - 2 to 7 years old, or so. If they're older than that, we look for information about the things that have been replaced on the house, such as the roof, windows, or furnace. Otherwise, we could end up needing to replace some of those things sooner rather than later, and we don't really want to deal with that unless we have to.
After all, our house is practically brand new, even though it's 15 years old. Because of the tornado, we've got a new roof, new siding, new gutters, new windows, a new garage door - practically the whole exterior has been redone - and the interior has been newly painted, and not in extreme colors in every room. And because of the tornado, we didn't have to pay for all that - the insurance did! Except for the cost of the windows that weren't broken or scratched and therefore didn't need to be replaced. It was the time to do it, though, and we did get a nice tax credit for putting them in.
We've also done some upgrades on our own, like having ceramic tile put in the kitchen/dining room, front entry, and both of the bathrooms and adding a really nice deck on the back of the house. And we did have to pay for a new hot water heater a few years ago, so our buyer won't need to call a company like Hot Water Heating Calgary any time soon. That hot water heater should last for several more years.
So, while upkeep and maintenance may be part of owning a house, we'd like to avoid some of those expenses if at all possible. We can paint those crazy colored rooms and eventually upgrade our flooring to ceramic tile and hard surfaces, but we don't want to have to replace the hot water heater or the roof or windows in the next few years.
Then again, maybe we'll get a super super deal, and it will be worth the risk. We'll have to see what's available when we sell our house. The people who buy it are going to be set and shouldn't have to worry about repairs for a quite a while. (Send them our way. Thanks!)
