Everyone who is in the home buying market at one time or another is faced with the choice of building a new home or buying an existing home. Many times people go with a used home because it has blinds, fencing, a mature yard, and in some cases a finished basement. However, the alternative to those items is that they have to live with what someone else chose. They also have no knowledge of how well the job was done nor where to start if something needed to be repaired. If they knew that the cost for new blinds, a fence, and sod is many times a lot less than the repairs, remodeling and/or replacements that need to be made to an older home, they may have chosen differently.
So you don’t make the same mistake, here is a list of reasons why to buy a new home vs. a used.
COST
- Remodeling: The cost of an average total home remodel is $87,000 in the Salt Lake City area [Houzz Real Cost Finder]. Depending on what remodel changes you make to your home, you may or may not increase the value of your home [HGTV]. With a new home, you don’t have to take on that large cost and don’t have to live with the dust or mess remodeling causes.
- Warranties: Most new homes come with a 1-year builder’s warranty as well as manufacturer’s warranties that come with products such as the shingles, appliances, A/C and furnace. You don’t get that with used homes.
- Utilities: When you buy an old home you are buying the old water heater, furnace, A/C, and ductwork that may leak into the attic. With a new home, everything is new and more energy efficient which translates into monthly cost savings on your utility bills.
TIME
- Opportunity cost: Remodeling or sprucing up a used home takes a lot of time. If you are hiring out the labor you will need to get cost estimates and may need to take off work to wait for subcontractors. If you plan on doing it yourself, you will have to purchase the supplies, learn how to do the job, and then perform it yourself (in some cases more than once).
- Pricing: With a new home the pricing and construction is already done for you (and is under warranty). The prices on supplies and professional labor will be much lower since Liberty Homes and most production builders buy in bulk and receive better pricing.
INDUSTRY IMPROVEMENTS
- Building codes: New homes are built with the current building codes (sometimes above them), which means you get a safer and more efficient home. Whereas older homes are not built up to these codes and some may contain lead paint or very little insulation.
- Better materials: Just like in any other industry, the quality of materials used has improved over the years. The materials used are superior, the building processes are smoother, the energy efficiency is higher, and the architectural design is smarter than homes built even 5 years ago.
NEWNESS FACTOR
- Your home is your way: There is nothing like owning something that is brand new and customized to your liking. When you buy used, you have to take the time and resources to change it the way you want it.
- New is new: With a new home you don’t have old sewer lines that can collapse, HVAC units that are less efficient, a leaking roof that needs repairing, and in most cases, you don’t have poor ductwork or insulation decreasing your efficiency.
RESALE
- Value: When you buy a new home you will be selling a 5-year-old home. If you buy a used home that is 5-10 years old you are selling a 15-20 year old home, making it more likely to make improvements in order to put it on the market. On top of that, resale values are typically higher the newer the home is.
