Houses are a depreciating asset, and should be seen more like a car than anything else. Japan gets this right. While some houses are built to last and worth s

Houses are a depreciating asset, and should be seen more like a car than anything else. Japan gets this right. While some houses are built to last and worth saving (e.g. most houses you see still standing 150 years later) - most are definitely not. Trying to maintain a typical poorly constructed wood frame McMansion for 100 years probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Plus I've lived in old crappy houses. Old wiring definitely sucks - you may be limited in a room you want to do something else in, and then realize you can't do much due to the plaster walls to fix it short of gutting the entire area. Most plumbing is only really rated at 20-30 years, but it's rare to ever see anyone replace it wholesale. I've lived in crappy yet well maintained (but not updated) houses and it's not that much fun.