We just got the inspector's report on the house we're buying in Washington DC. It is a basically solid house built in 1939, about the same age as me, with similar defects in plumbing, roofing, settling in places etc. Its the first house I ever bought without a front porch, though it has many other fine attributes including being right across the street from a park (with 6 shuffle board courts,) and being 3 blocks from the DC Metro.