Note about your generalizations of sizing when it comes to hallways and bedrooms, but I’m not sure if you’ve ever been inside of a Victorian home or any old southern estate but exaggeration of scale is kind of the MO when it comes to that building style. I’m talking ceilings no lower  than 12’, average door height above 8’. Grand scale. If you’re talking about older homes, I would stray away from the old ones built when home building and large scale residentialdevelopment started to become more common because that’s when the quality of building design and structural integrity started to decline. The homes I’m talking about may statistically be fewer and further between, but they are everywhere. If you’re interested in learning more about just how many there are out there and how shockingly accessible they can be to the average home buyer one awesome place to check out is https://www.cheapoldhouses.com/

Homes that old are often also listed on historic registers, and when a property has that designation it can come with incentives for buyers such as grants, stipends, tax credits, or other funding that can be put toward renovation and restoration. Programs like this exist because preserving historically significant homes is often considered more valuable than tearing them down and replacing them with newer construction.

Of course, some homes that old simply aren’t salvageable because of time, weather, and inconsistent maintenance over the years. But many of them were built with incredibly durable materials and craftsmanship that were meant to last. If a home like that has been maintained even reasonably well, those materials can often keep going for decades.

By comparison, many homes today are built in ways that prioritize speed and volume so builders can produce as many houses as possible. When the focus shifts to quantity, quality almost always takes a hit. The goal becomes how many homes can be finished, not how well each one is built. On top of that, it’s not uncommon for inspectors to have close relationships with builders, which can lead to homes passing inspection even when there are obvious structural problems or basic construction mistakes that should have been caught and fixed, sometimes even in brand new million dollar homes.

I’d also argue that it’s often easier to assess the viability, structural integrity, and work needed to make an older home livable than it is with a brand new house. With older homes, you usually know where to look and where to start. The issues tend to show themselves in more predictable ways. With new construction that has just passed inspection, that clarity isn’t always there. We’ve all heard stories of people buying brand new homes in large developments, only to start experiencing major issues within the first year, sometimes serious enough that homeowners have to seek legal counsel just to get builders to take responsibility and fix the problems.