Mice and rats can become a problem in any home. But if you are buying an older home, especially near a wooded area, the battle with rodents can be a fierce one no matter how well you store food.

Those little critters really want what you paid for--your beautiful older home. The great news is, taking simple steps can deactivate your rodent magnet of a home so you love your home purchase.

1. Fill Those Old Holes with Steel Wool

Older homes have all the charm. They're worth that 30-year mortgage Virginia Beach. But it's been here for years. That means shifting, cracks, holes where mice can enter, leave, and hide.

Previous homeowners may have attempted renovations that left cutouts in the wrong place. Eager rodents may have expanded these holes.

Seek these out and seal them up with steel wool. Unlike plaster, cardboard, or other solid material that seem to seal a hole, rodents can't chew through steel, making it a cheap but effective fix. Plaster over the hole for aesthetics, but stuff that steel wool in there first.

2. Avoid Perpetual Darkness

Depending on the local housing market, you may buy more home than you actually need. Now, you have extra rooms your family doesn't use regularly. These spaces become catch-all extensions of your closet or a guest room that lies undisturbed all but a few weeks a year when you have your in-laws over for an extended visit.

These neglected spaces can quickly become rodent playgrounds. They love the dark and have plenty of spots to nest.

To make these rooms less enticing, mark some dates on your calendar. Go in and move all the boxes from one wall to the other. Make some noise.

Turn on the lights for several hours at least once a week and leave the shades on the windows to let the daylight in.

Some exterminators even recommend running a strobe light in there 24/7 when you're not in the room. All of this gives rodents the sensation of being in an unsafe, lived-in space.

3. Put Out the Antifreeze

Please realize this one does kill the rodents. But honestly, when it comes to rodents, sometimes, it comes down to us versus them.

Antifreeze tastes good to mammals, including mice, but also dogs/cats and children, so proceed with caution. Set it in places out of reach of those who might be harmed.

This is a fast way to get a handle on an out-of-control rodent population when flipping a home. Once you do that, it's easier to exclude them from the property more permanently.

4. Put a Brick on It

If you have holes or cracks, you can't fill with steel wool, something heavy that rodents can't chew through like a brick can do the trick in spots where you don't mind a random brick sitting next to a wall.

5. Store Dry Goods in Glass

Most dry goods come in flimsy plastic, paper, or cardboard from pasta to rice to flour. But moving that food to a hard plastic reusable storage container won't cut it. There's virtually nothing standing between your quinoa and that hungry mouse.

Invest in some stylish glass containers with hinged tops. They not only match the vintage look of your older home. Rodents can't get through them.

Mason jars work great too!

6. Get the Caulk Out

Seal what you can with caulk. Even small cracks can become larger entry points if you allow rodents to exploit them.

7. Move Brushpiles Away from Your Home

Live bushes or brush piles near the home can become outside attractants. They nest there first and then realize it's much nicer inside the wall versus outside.

So cut back the overgrown bushed near the house and move any brush piles or firewood a couple of hundred feet from the house.

8. Make Sure Noone's Feeding Them

If you have kids--or a less responsible adult--around who doesn't understand that rodents carry many nasty diseases, they could be setting food out for the mice. It's fun to watch them eat.

Please encourage this person to pick up birdwatching or spend time in nature to watch animals being animals. They don't have to do that in your home.

9. Know the Signs

You may move into your older home to find that the previous homeowners co-existed with the local rodent population. So you need to know what to look for. You may see:

• Dark droppings that look like little grains of rice for mice.
• Chewed holes in boxes, paneling, baseboards, or drywall
• Hole-filled bags of grain or seed in the pantry or shed
• Expanded holes where pipes and wiring come in
• Dark skid-mark trails

Catch these signs and talk to your home inspector about them before you sign your final mortgage papers to love your older home.