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If you want a house with character - perhaps even a history of its own - consider an older home.  Middle-aged houses often reflect the love and care that have been lavished on them through such owner-added touches as crown moldings, carved fireplace mantels and built-in bookcases.  Often older homes are also found in neighborhoods that present a more varied environment using a broader range of architectural styles, as well as a range of colors and texture of materials.  Mature trees, established lawns and years of gardening often add much to the feel of a community.

With older homes, however, come older floor plans that may not fit into today's lifestyles.  Traffic flow may not be convenient, master bedrooms may be small, closets almost nonexistent, and kitchens and baths outdated.  If you think remodeling costs will make the house the most expensive home in the neighborhood, keep looking or you may lose money in he long run. Your repair bills will most likely be higher  at least in the beginning years of ownership.  And remember that old homes are unpredictable - you never know when the roof, furnace or water heater will need replacing.

This Homebuyers Tip was excerpted from:

Kiplinger's Buying & Selling A Home, by The Staff of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Kiplinger Books, 1996.

ISBN 081292780X

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