Showerthought: everyone says old houses have "good bones" but that phrase is doing a lot of hiding
I keep seeing people fall for that line on listings, like a 1912 four square in Canton, Ohio for $29,000 is automatically solid just because it is old. I looked at one last month and the "bones" were fine but every window sill was rotted from 40 years of water getting in, which is the part nobody photographs. What is the one thing you always check in person before you believe a listing?
Canton, Ohio is my old stomping ground and I looked at a 1910 four square there back in 2019 that taught me the same lesson about window sills. The one thing I always check now is the basement, specifically where the floor meets the wall, because a wet basement tells you way more about the real "bones" than any old growth beam does. Rot and water damage hide down there where no listing photo ever goes, so that is where I start before I believe anything else.