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Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda
Plus the utility bills are so much higher. My house is 2006 and my buddy's is mid-80's, his gas bill ends up being almost double mine every month. I can only imagine how much worse it is in even older houses
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A $2-5K per year in extra cost perhaps? Someone ball parked it for me like this once: If you're spending $20-50K plus to address this for a couple thousand per year in savings (ie: high efficiency HVAC, windows and improved insulation), ignoring potential differences like condensation issues or unaddressed issues that cause premature deterioration of the home, I think the break even is around 5-15 years.
Another way explained to me was like this: If most specs are around the same, but old vs new is $150K. $5K a year in utilities savings ($400 a month) is 30 years+ to break even. We might be sold on efficiencies, but in reality, we're being sold significantly more on curb appeal than real efficiency savings.
This is why old home demand vs new home demand isn't dead. The efficiency difference is significant enough to pay attention to, but not so significant that it cripples you in owning that less efficient home vs a significantly more efficient new home. This is perhaps similar in continuing to drive that 10-15 year old car vs buying a brand new car. It'll cost you less to run, but it'll cost you a significant chunk upfront to acquire it. By the time you break even, you're almost at the same point of deciding on replacing again. Most people slap on the cheapest option (ie: Shakes/asphalt vs rubber, tin or clay for roofs) and are OK with replacing slightly earlier. That's fine and normal. The sole exception I personally would go with going forward is fibre cement siding over vinyl siding. Slightly fire resistant, less prone to fading and more likely to withstand hail.
I've been on the fence for doing some efficiency upgrades in my home after this discussion with a friend. It seems that rather than focus on efficiency decisions first (ie: HVAC and windows and roof) I can consider doing some reno work first (ie: Modernize certain rooms/things/curb appeal, seal obvious spaces with potentials of leaks, landscaping etc.) instead.
There's also a curiosity whether efficiency rebates amounts and percentages will go up again (ie: NDP era). If I hold out on these things until the absolute latest vs considering doing them a few years early, it might benefit me to wait it out vs being proactive on some of these things.
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Originally Posted by calgarygeologist
I live in Varsity and there is definitely a lot of interesting homes here. When it comes original design/layout many homes are similar but there are quite a few that have really bizarre layouts which is probably associated with the modern design language in the 50s/60s. 80s renos can be absolutely hideous .
When we moved into our house almost ten years ago our neighbor was a senior in his 80s and he was the original owner of his home and had never done any upgrades or renos. We checked it out when he was moved into a home and his kid's listed the house and it was so unique. Obviously the wall paper and finishings were really crazy and vintage but it was a 1500 sq ft bungalow with a really closed off floor plan. It had a lot of separate different rooms and no real hallway to speak of and you had to walk through some rooms to access other rooms. I couldn't really figure something it what was going on.
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These two were a bit of an adventure pictures wise.
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...algary-varsity
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...algary-varsity
I get the unique floor plan and stuff. I saw a few Million+ homes in different neighborhoods where some of it wasn't my thing, but I could see why the owners like it, or certain things were IMO unpractical, but undeniably kinda cool. I'm not the type that loves complete cookie cutter either.
But these two were reminiscent of getting lost in the old engineering building at the U of C. One was like stitching 3 houses from different eras together. The other was like someone went to Canadian tire... then Mastercraft and Party city got into a fight, then decided on the worst compromise ever.
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Originally Posted by Sliver
lol, oh yeah. The good old days of uninsulated walls, asbestos, lead paint, lack of building codes, creaky floors, 2x4 construction, etc. etc.
Give me a break. I mean, sure, some are good (survivorship bias), but old homes cost a fortune to keep up to snuff versus the years-long maintenance holiday you have with a new build.
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No worse than a car though IMO. Sure, there's like water heaters and stuff like that that might go a few years earlier because they're older. Maybe the roof, garage door, deck rebuild, cracked concrete, landscaping etc. but if you're proactive and budget those in and carpet bomb those projects into groups over a single summer or two (vs spread out), they're no big deal.