One of the most common debates a buyer may have internally, or actually debate over with a spouse, is whether to buy New Construction or Resale. Purchasing a home is a gigantic commitment, so lets weigh the pros and cons of BOTH. There is no correct answer here, only things that should be considered.
New Construction Pros
New Construction will charm you with its newness and readily maintained associations. It can be exciting to pick your floor plan (or have blue prints drawn for a custom built home).You are also able to choose your building materials and flooring. Modern floor plans better suite today's lifestyle of gathering in the kitchen area, and having a formal and non formal living space. A newly built home will have BRAND NEW EVERYTHING, be built to withstand mother nature, have larger rooms and offer luxury. A newly built home in most cases comes with a builder's home warranty and has up to date wiring ready to suite modern technologies.
New Construction Cons
When purchasing new construction, you can be limited geographically. If you are looking to live in a certain area, or in a specific school district then it may not be an option! Today's home lots are often much smaller than the lot of a resale home. When buying a newly constructed home, you may have to purchase appliances and window treatments because they might not be included in the price of the build-out. Many new home communities do not have mature landscaping yet and the associations are in their infancy, so the condition of the area in years to come will be left up to speculation. Let's not forget to mention that building can create budget and time restraints, which can cause stress until you get to the closing table.
Residential Resale Pros
Finding a house that fits all of your wants and needs in a specific school district or metro area may be easier with a resale home. Older resale homes can have charm, distinction and character that cannot be purchased or recreated in a new home. Often a resale home has existing window furnishings, mature landscaping, appliances and finished upgrades or fencing that would otherwise have to be purchased with New Construction. When looking at resale residential homes for sale, you can see immediately the kind of neighborhood you will be moving into and whether or not the association is actively involved in deed restriction. Another pro to purchasing resale is timing. If you don't have time to build - a resale is waiting for you to move into! Potential 'Sweat Equity' is also a great reason to purchase resale. You may have an opportunity to upgrade or modernize an existing home to increase its equity much quicker than you could increase the equity of a newly constructed home.
Residential Resale Cons
Now that we've discussed all of the 'charm' you can experience with a resale, lets talk about the 'not so charming' realities of resale. Resales can be out-dated, so money will have to be set aside in your budget for up-dating. Older homes can have issues with mold, older wiring and plumbing or need a roof replacement soon. A thorough inspection will outline these concerns for you with respect to the home. Dated floor plans and smaller rooms can really turn a buyer off from an older home as well. Often the most valuable part of a resale home is going to be in its location, location, location.
What does it all mean?
Whether you decide to buy new, or existing, you need representation. A mistake we see too often is a prospective buyer decides they want a NEW home, so they go straight to the builder. Remember, the community sales office represents the BUILDER not you the buyer. Home inspections should be completed on a new or existing home as well.
By Jamie Bullock
www.USA-FloridaHomes.net
No comments:
Post a Comment