When purchasing a house you have two choices, a new home and an existing home. Both have their own benefits and drawbacks. Here are a few points about each of these alternatives you should consider before putting in an offer to buy.
New Homes
New constructed homes generally are held to high quality control measures with up to date construction codes and higher energy efficiency rating than those that present in existing houses. Most builders provide a one year or longer house warranty and attractive financing choices that make purchasing a new home extremely easy. It should be noted that it can be difficult to resell the home for a few years because the builder is continually constructing more new homes in the subdivision.
New home prices can be higher than existing homes based on a variety of reasons. New homes generally have thousands of dollars of upgrades that are built in to the price and marketed as free incentives to purchase. Builders often allow buyers to get into a home with little to no money down or carry back second mortgages if needed to get the buyer in the home. New subdivisions likely have little to no shade due to the lack of established shade trees like you would find in an established neighborhood.
Existing Homes
Existing or often called older homes are generally purchased from other homeowners who are trying to sell. These houses have been lived in by either the homeowner or a renter. These homes may or may not have better construction methods which make having the home inspected very important. The homes utility bills can shed some light on how efficient the home is. You can obtain any renovation history from the current homeowners. Some people like the character that they say older homes have compared to older homes.
Existing homes are mainly located in neighborhoods where there are established school systems and neighbors who look out for one another. The yards have tall trees which provide plenty of shade and help to create that at home feeling. They often are much easier to resell soon after you buy one as the demand for homes in the neighborhood are high.
It all depends on your wants and needs as to whether a new home or an existing home is better for you. You will need to really evaluate your needs and view both options before determining which is right for you.
Hubert Miles is a free lance writer and webmaster for several financial websites. For more information on Money Blog and Financial Blog.