Pulaski

IMO It doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Personally I wouldn't buy a whole lot older than early 80's, but every house I have owned from almost new to 95 years old, US and UK, has had faults and issues that did not show up on the inspection, including among other things, dangerous wiring issues, wrongly connected plumbing, none-code stud walls, no tar paper under the roofing shingles, badly installed heating, and a reused AC system (it was two mis-matched parts, one of which was significantly older than the house it was installed in!). The newest houses meet current codes, may have superior insulation, and shouldn't need a new AC system or roof for 15-25 years respectively, but they tend to be on smaller lots
There is no M&S in the US.

Bob

But there is free shipping to the US....unfortunately not on the food though.

Yorkieabroad

And if you are going to be buying brand new (ie building it) then make sure you are right on top of the builder every step of the way. That was a learning experience for me.....

That's another thread all of its own, down the line though....

Yorkieabroad

Chop Shops for A/C? Never heard of that one!

Yorkieabroad

Think those are at the optimistic end of the spectrum for round here. Not sure about Florida though.

Pulaski

Personally I think a lot of people are suckered into buying a roof prematurely, even (especially?) when there is "hail damage". A colleague had an inspection for his roof when several of his neighbors had roofs replaced on insurance for "hail damage". The roofing contractor said there were certainly signs of hail impact, but that it had not impaired the integrity of the roof, and he advised against having the roof replaced.

Yorkieabroad

I'm sure they are....it was a feeding frenzy round here after our big hailstorm a couple of years ago. Every man with a truck and a ladder slapped a magnetic sign on advertising roof inspections or expert roof replacement.....and all of them used the same tag line...."get a new roof for the cost of your deductible...you may as well do it as the premiums will go up anyway because everyone else is doing it....". None of them would give quotes...it was all "we'll do it for whatever the insurance will pay". Pretty sh1tty business.

But I will say one thing, some friends are in a rental, and they had horrendous damage...a lot worse than ours.....you could see from ground level where their shingles had been blasted in great swathes. Their overseas landlord refused to even get it inspected, and about a year later when the next big rain came through, their upstairs flooded and the ceilings came down.

The house opposite us used the same inspector as we did...theirs passed, ours didn't. They had no subsequent problems, so reckon the inspection was good, but earlier this year when they came to sell, the buyer couldn't get it approved for a mortgage, so they ended up dropping the price of the new roof, and the buyers got it done. I genuinely think the sellers were totally screwed by the buyers mortgage co, but it was a divorce situation, and I think they had lost the will to fight....