Houses are very different. I grew up in a guest house (so: three floors, a cellar, 14 flats/rooms) that has various layers from various ages. The foundations are hundreds of years old, most of the rest 50s, 60s, 70s, 90s.

If you're living in a new house you may have peace for a few decades, but at the cost of everything piling up the longer you wait. Exchanging corroded drain pipes someone thought was a good idea to bury in concrete is especially fun. At some time door hinges break, window mechanisms break. Water pipes clog, electrical is outdated (e.g. landlines are out, ethernet or fiber is in). The intercom breaks, wasp nests are under every second roof tile, there is a water intrusion in the cellar, a storm knocks down the fence, the washing machine breaks, the garage door motor dies, the asphalt on the runway cracks and needs a tar pour, the attic needs to be insulated, a portion of the roof needs to be retiled, the wooden parts of the facade need to be repainted, a drainage needs to be dig to avoid water piling up into a garage, a doorway has to be added to a repurposed storage space.

And mind, I was the son of the house, this is only some of the stuff I worked on before I moved out with 18.

There was constantly something to be done. What and how much is mostly a function of (1) the age and build quality of the house and (2) your own standards when it comes to maintenance.

I think it's a U shaped curve probably... lots of stuff breaks initially due to mistakes/defects, and then 10/20/30 years out. The sweet spot is moving into home renovated 5-10 years ago.

I've lived in a new construction condo as well as a 1970s home that had renovations in 1990s and 2010s.

New construction you deal with a lot of defects that show themselves in the first few years. You also contend with modern construction just being lower quality materials in a lot of cases unless you do a high end build for yourself. So the floors, cabinets, etc are going to wear out much faster.

My 50 year old house of course had a ton of deferred maintenance from previous owner that resulted in break-fix work on plumbing, heating, cooling, siding, roofing, etc.

I type this as I have 2 faucets, a fence, some driveway potholes and paver stones to mend, an irrigation head to replace and a new central air unit coming in next week. Dishwasher was replaced 2 months ago.