Finding your dream house is not as simple as a wish upon a star. Rather, finding your house is a journey: with many interwoven facets and assets to consider before making your final decision. Things such as mortgage rates, interest rates, schools, buses, cities, neighbors, and so much more are just the beginnings of a winding list that can seriously narrow down your home hunt. However, one of the most important concepts to cover is what kind of market you are looking into. Existing houses are houses that have been previously lived in and are therefore up for resale. New houses are built typically around the time they are made and feature their new host as their first host. Both of these options house their fair share of pros and cons, so let’s examine a few before making the final call:
Cost benefits
It should come as no surprise that something that is technically for “resale” is cheaper than something brand new. However, the amount of difference between the two can be shocking. New houses, and especially new houses in new communities are at their peak selling price. Everything is new, freshly built, and assumedly top of the line making the asking price jump. Comparatively, a resale house has already been lived in, and thus has some of the attributes of being previously lived in. It is however
important to note that this is not a constant. Some new communities are going for incredibly cheap prices, and other existing homes have been upgraded enough to come close or even exceed their initial pricing. Cost is one of the most important aspects to consider, but it is also the one that fluctuates the most. Be sure to do proper research on both of the homes of interest before assuming one will always outsell the other.
Community
When buying a resale house, you will be more familiar with what to expect. All the layout is available for you to see during the tour, and all your future neighbors are just a doorbell away. Buying in an established community means you have the luxury of knowing exactly what you are getting. Both in terms of the house, and all its surrounding assets. During the tour, be sure to note any appliances that are staying as well as the general structure of the house and whether you like the layout. It is also a good idea to gauge the area in which you are buying. Since it is not a new community, you will be able to see how life works around you from the first impression. Things such as lawn maintenance, zoning issues, fencing, and neighbors all come prepackaged, as well as any first notes about things you will want to upgrade in the future.
In new developments, it is more up in the air of what the finished product will be. While you will have the newest build and therefore the most up to date structuring, it is a little harder to gauge how all these moving parts will fit together. For example, you may know your own background dimensions but your neighbor’s backyard could be on higher ground and therefore spill over during the rainy season to cause some serious damage. Here, it is harder to understand what effect the community will have on the individual. However, buying into a new community means you have the privilege of starting out on a fresh foot with people who are in the same boat as you. Everybody here will be new to the neighborhood, and therefore experience the same learning curve and community betterment at closer speeds than a community of resellers.
Upgrades
For the most part, new homes are associated with having the most modern stylings. They are often found to be heavily influenced by the newest developments in build, layout, and further furbishing. Typical modern architectural developments include: additional bathrooms, spacious closest, and bigger kitchens although sometimes this forfeits the space for a dining room. This by now means transcends all new developments, it is however something important to consider and ask about if you are in the process of buying a new home and have serious preferences to layouts. The traditional styling, while an influence, will not be featured as heavily as a house made in the time period it is meant to reflect.
Older homes are typically byproducts of the specific homeowner’s upgrades. They are also known to follow the more traditional styling of homes which include a spacious living and dining room. However, with an existing home even if the layout is already predetermined, there is always the opportunity for independent upgrades later on. Sometimes it is actually monetarily beneficial to buy a ‘fixer upper’, but that is only if you are willing to put in the time and money it takes to get your new home up to your ideal standards. If you are looking for a home that is perfect upon move in date, it may be in your interest to buy a new construction item rather than an existing building.
Location
Although this is not an exclusive constant, generally speaking new communities are built further from the idealized ‘central’ suburbia. In theory, all of the prime space closer to the cities have already been developed, so new communities tend to stray farther from the school or area of interest. It is also important to note that while your house may be finished with construction and ready to move in, the rest of the neighborhood might not be. This means you could be potentially living in a construction zone for a year or so until the dust finally settles. And if it is a part of a larger extension community, then even longer. Here, you have to be ready to wait it out if you are settled on a new house. In comparison, an existing house will have already gone through all these stages and the surrounding area will remain more or less the same from move in date to the succeeding months.