Older homes do require lots of care at inspection, but so do newer ones. I sold one older home and bought another, and both times was told by contractors, home inspectors, movers, and various folks with no interest either way that a well built older home was the way to go. They pointed out if a home is updated and in good shape after 90+ years, the bones are good and generally homes that old are made of solid wood.
Much harder to cut corners back then. Not impossible, but harder.
I agree with the concerns about HOA. There are some crazy rules that come.with some HOAs, they can restrict pets, visitor parking, even the type of external light fixtures and plants you have. Personally, when we were moving we didn't think it was worth the hassle or the possibility of rising costs.
You also need to make sure your financial documents are in order. Before you even get a preapproval, have two years of tax returns ready to go, as well as several months worth of paystubs and bank statements. The bank will need all these for your mortgage app, and they love when people are organized. Ours was a bit messy because I work on commission AND I didn't have two years commissioned earnings (though I had 7 years at the employer) and my salary was mainly carrying the mortgage, so we had to send two years worth of tax returns, w2s, etc. Our broker was able to move our app through quite fast despite the headwinds because we were on top of our documents. So an afternoon of organizing will save you a lot of stress.