Is A Newly Built Home Right For You?

Or a previously owned home that may need fix-ups, paint jobs, and walls moved around to create the types of open spaces that make sense today?

These are baseline questions that confront many home shoppers early in the process. Your own answers are likely to depend on your lifestyle preferences, financing needs and the priorities you put on features.

There are a number of reasons you might prefer a resale house. You may have your eye on a specific neighborhood, where newly constructed houses are rare or not available unless you buy an existing home, tear it down, and build a new home on the lot. Or you may be a do-it-yourselfer the opportunity to take an old house and transform it, even if that takes considerable time and money.

So it’s understandable that some buyers prefer an existing house in an older neighborhood. But have you seriously considered the potential advantages of buying new? Here’s an overview of some of the important considerations for new homes:

Energy Consumption/Green Building
If you care about “green” — whether that means the money you spend on energy bills every month or your concern about the environment — a newly constructed home is the better option. Homes built today must meet far tougher national code standards for energy efficiency than just a few years back. In addition, new homes typically offer better air filtration which increases indoor air quality, reducing symptoms from those who have asthma or allergies.

Replacement Costs
By definition, with a new house everything is new, including costly components — such as the furnace, water heater, air conditioning unit, kitchen appliances and roof, doors, windows and more. In a new home, most of these components come with a warranty, sometimes for up to 10 years. With a resale house, the equipment and structural features you buy have been in use for a while and may be close to needing replacement. There may or may not be warranties, but if there are they probably have significant limitations.

Consider some of these typical capital improvements that may be part of the true cost to you over the early years of the purchase of an existing house:

• Heating and Air Conditioning: The typical furnace has a 20-year life expectancy; the typical central air system 15 years. Replacing them could cost you $4,100 for an air conditioning unit and $3,675 and up for the furnace, depending on the system you choose. Prices according to Remodeling Calculator.

• Flooring/Carpeting/Tile/Hardwood Floor refinish: You’re virtually guaranteed to replace
some carpeting in a resale home and you may need to upgrade other flooring or
finishes. Costs can run anywhere from a few thousand dollars to well over $15,000,
depending on your choices.

• Roof: The average shingled roof lasts about 25 years. Replacement costs can be
anywhere from $5,000 up.

• Exterior Painting. With a new house, you get to select the color. With an existing
house, there’s a good possibility you’ll want to repaint. Typical cost: $5,000 and up.

• Interior Painting: Again, with a new house, you choose the wall colors of the rooms as
part of the package. With an existing house, you’re probably going to want to repaint
some of the interior. Even if you do it yourself, it will cost money and time.

• Kitchen Remodel: Think anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000.

• Master Bath Remodel: $15,000 and up.

Safety Features (Especially from Fires)
Newly built homes come with modern fire retardants in materials such as carpeting and
insulation, unlike most existing houses. Builders also hard-wire smoke and carbon
monoxide detectors into their homes, making it unnecessary for new owners to install
less-dependable battery-powered detectors. Many builders also back up their hard-
wired detectors with battery power to handle electrical outages.

Resale Value
You may plan to live in your next home many years, but at some point, most people sell
a given home for any of a myriad of reasons — moving to a bigger home to
accommodate a growing family, moving down to smaller digs when children are gone,
moving across town or across the country for another job, etc. While the home you sell
will (by definition) no longer be new, a five-year-old home will often be more desirable
— given all the features above — than a 25-year-old home at resale.

The decision to buy a newly built or used home is ultimately best made by each home
buyer. Now you know the questions to ask, and the relative costs involved, in order to
make the best decision for you.

Source: New Home Source