Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

Is this a no brainer? There is new construction in the town we are looking at that is priced similarly to the existing homes. Or is the new construction price I see on MLS and Zillow a base price and "everything" is extra?

Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

A friend of mine just bought new construction. They looked at a house priced in the mid 300's. When they viewed the model they picked upgrades, etc and the house they thought they were paying mid 300's for is now mid 500's. To me that is crazy.

We thought about new construction for about 30 seconds but I was too concerned about the cost spiraling out of control.

I think they usually list the price for the base model and work up for the upgrades. The only exception I think would be if you are buying the model that they want to get rid of. Then you would be able to negotiate. But generally new construction has little room for negotiation. If you know that you can keep your upgrades to a minimum or they are willing to negotiate price on the upgrades then go for it.

Another reason we decided not to do new construction is that I was concerned about changes. Like if I planned out my kitchen and it was all built and a year down the road I realized the mistakes I made and knew I would have to live with the kitchen the way it was because I just built it. In the end our house kitchen is big but needs to be updated. I want to wait a few years because I want to be in the house and really know what I hate/want before doing a massive remodel.

Message edited 7/14/2013 8:53:20 AM.

Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

My DH does not like new construction. Says the materials are often not as good as existing (like they use pressboard/flakeboard in certain places instead of sheetrock, and PEX plumbing instead of copper). Also, an older house has already settled so you have a pretty good idea of how it will be. New construction (and extensions, 2nd floor add ons, etc) will still settle and you'll have to deal with the cracks and whatnot (hopefully minor). All that most likely would have happened with existing already.

Re: Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

I think it depends on the builder. We were looking for very specific characteristics of a house when we were looking. We wanted a 2 story foyer, open floor plan. We knew we needed a home that was no older than 10 years old.
We ended up finding a new construction home where the builder is actually retired and to keep himself busy he would build 1 house a year or until the current house sold. He was at the house EVERYDAY (I drove past it from my old house). He was very particular in the material he used and the house is almost over engineered structurally.
The settling does stink, but you are still dealing with regardless, now a little more than later.

I think if you research the builder it may not be a bad thing. I wish I could have picked out certain things but I couldn't because by the time we saw the house, the cabinets were already ordered, otherwise I had a great experience.

Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

I would also check the taxes on new vs old. I am SS Nassau and I see taxes on new construction that look much higher than older homes that are priced similarly.

Re: Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

TAXES. Don't trust want MLS says, when a new construction is SOLD is when the town determines the true taxes. We looked at new construction, in Nassau and if they broke ground, it was listed betweem 8-10k, but when we called the tax assessor, it was always estimated to be over 15K.

Re: Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

Re: Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

Re: Pros and Cons to New Construction vs. Existing Home

We bought new construction. Upgrades probably added close to 100k and they are nothing crazy. While it is nice to pick your tiles, cabinets, flooring, etc. there are so many huge expenses that come after you purchase. Our house came with 2 sets of temporary stairs off the back of the house to the back yard, so we needed to put on a deck. Beside grass there is zero landscaping, which costs a fortune. Also our house came with standard builders white paint. We needed to paint the entire house. These are just a few things to consider.

I do love my house and love that it is new but in hindsight I wish we looked at some houses maybe a few years old where the landscaping was in, deck, finished basement, etc.