Pros and Cons of Buying New Construction

Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying a New Home

Are you thinking about buying a new home? The decision to take the route of buying new construction property can be an exciting one. You can have the home fit your specifications exactly, but there are potential problems as well.

Whether you are getting a construction loan yourself to build your dream home or working with a builder, it is essential to understand the pros and cons. If you'll be doing your own financing it will be imperative to understand how new construction loans work. You'll get a top to bottom guide by reading the detailed resource at Maximum Real Estate Exposure.

Let's review the pros and cons of buying new home construction properties.

First, let's look at the pros of buying new construction.

Brand New Equals Fewer Issues

Living in a brand new home that no one has lived in before, means that everything is going to be clean and fresh. You won't have to worry about any surprises the former owner might have left, and you'll be sure that everything is really clean. All of the major systems in the house including the kitchen appliances will be new and to your specifications. It is extremely rare that you will find the kinds of problems you'll find in an older home as well.

Typically, in order to get a use and occupancy agreement, a builder will need to have passed various inspections from city or town officials. Building codes are much more stringent today than they were in years past. Obviously, a significant benefit if you are buying a new home.

Customizing a New Home

Buying new construction should allow you to make customizations to the details of your home. This is going to be better and closer to your ideal home than a property someone else had lived in could ever be.

There are a lot of things that can be customized to meet your requirements. Select the color of the exterior, choose your kitchen layout, and the appliances you want. You could even go as far as choosing where you want light fittings and electrical outlets positioned.

The floor plan can be custom-tailored to your exact living needs.

Save Energy With a New Home

Newer homes should be more energy efficient when compared to properties built to the standards of the past. Buying new construction properties offers homes with better insulation, more efficient heating, and cooling, as well as appliances that are cheaper to run. New construction today is greener than it has ever been.

You can help this further by choosing more energy-efficient options for your home. You could specify things like LED lighting, smart thermostats, and more efficient flushing toilets if your contractor doesn't already offer them.

Fewer Maintenance Issues

With a new home, the likelihood that you will have to spend on repairs will be reduced. It isn't impossible that there could be problems with a new build, but you are less likely to run into issues. Your contractor may include a warranty or give you the option to purchase one. This further removes the stress of buying a new home and should make sure you don't have to worry about maintenance for the first few years of owning the property.

There are some downsides to buying new construction, however, let's look at the cons.

The Builder Might Not Be The Best

All building contractors are different, with different standards and experience. If you choose badly, your new home could be more of a nightmare than a dream.

You might be tempted to use a less expensive builder, but if they don't have a good track record, you could be in for trouble. You should instead, look for a contractor with a good reputation and many happy customers. Make sure that they produce quality homes on a reliable basis. Check what previous customers think of them and search for complaints.

There are numerous questions to ask a builder before ever committing to building a new home with them. Read one of the best new construction guides you'll find based on years of experience.

Your Options Could Be Limited

Customization may be more limited than you might have imagined. The builder might limit you to certain changes, or only a few color choices for the interior or exterior. This might be because the plans limit you, or the builder has only factored in certain options. If you want anything different, you will have to make the changes after closing.

The lack of customization is especially true when you are dealing with a large national builder. Some of these franchises have strict guidelines and limited customizations available to buyers.

Making an Upgrade Can Be Costly

The initial price you are given by the developer is only the standard price, if you want anything above the minimum, you will have to pay more. Making sure the property is everything you want can start to get very expensive. Perhaps you would like wooden flooring when the standard offering is carpeting. If the kitchen isn't quite as good as you want, the extra costs to upgrade appliances or countertops will add up.

Many buyers have no idea that upgrading to what they really want can be significantly more expensive than the base price. When buying new construction it is super easy to find yourself with an "extras bill" running upwards of tens of thousands of dollars and more!

Discounts Are Usually Limited

When you are purchasing direct from builders, there isn't normally any room for negotiating discounts. There will be a standard price for the home with upgrade costs added on top. The builders are unlikely to want to negotiate their price down. Of course, this isn't the case when you are buying a pre-owned home where the market value and other factors allow for negotiations.

When it is a strong seller's market, builders rarely ever discount their pricing.

Final Thoughts on The Upsides and Downsides of Buying a New Home

When looking at the pros and cons of buying new home constructions, the benefits do outweigh the negatives, though it will depend on your particular situation. It is important to know as much as you can about the process and make sure your builder is going to be reliable before you commit.

It can be beneficial to have someone more experienced to help make sure you get the home you want. Having a real estate agent act on your behalf in discussions with the builder's sales team can make things run more smoothly.

Hopefully, you have found the advice about the advantages and disadvantages of buying a new home to be helpful.

Other Useful Active Rain Real Estate Articles

Get more handy real estate guidance in these previously published articles at Active Rain.

• Benefits of an FHA mortgage - when buying a home one of the most popular financing choices is an FHA loan. In the article, you'll see why so many first-time homebuyers choose to go with an FHA mortgage as their financing of choice.
• Downsides with renting to own - are you considering a rent to own arrangement? Before jumping into this type of real estate contract it's vital to know the downsides. See what you should know about leasing to own.

 

Bill Gassett is a thirty-two year veteran to the real estate industry. He enjoys providing helpful information to buyers, sellers and fellow real estate agents to make sound decisions. His work has been featured on RIS Media, National Association of Realtors, Inman News, Placester, RESAAS, Credit Sesame and others.