If you’ve ever thought about buying new construction on Long Island, then now is the time for you to be looking. With the real estate market where it is, it is more affordable than ever for you to purchase new construction. On Long Island, your choices are limited. The amount of free real estate available in this once farmland area, is virtually completely developed. Many communities have placed restrictions on construction, preserving the remaining farmland and open areas.
However, new construction is still available and may be ideal for the new homeowner. If you’ve been looking for real estate, you can consider this:
1. Older homes, while “unique” on the outside, are, in fact, old housess. Over time they age. Many houses in the 50 to 75-year-old range have become “knock downs” bought by builders to put up new construction. If you’re purchasing an older home, it can cost you more in the long run with maintenance and improvements.
2. New construction gives you more flexibility. Very few people ever find the “perfect home” of their dreams. Generally, they need to paint, tile, remove carpeting, re-locate walls, renovate bathrooms and kitchens and a list of other tasks that become increasingly expensive. That older house that looked like a bargain becomes very expensive once you’ve done the repairs and modifications you need.
3. With new construction, you do not have to live through remodeling. Kitchen renovations, expansions and modifications to your home may take months-even years. All the while, you are living in a hazard zone. 4. You also have the added expense of doing these renovations, which must be paid on top of the purchase price of the home. Many families have to save for many years to have the available cash renovations. Others can try to take second mortgages or home-equity loans, but this may prove unsuccessful-especially with more stringent lending requirements. You can look to borrow an additional $200,000, but your home is not worth an additional $200,000 today. Therefore, you lack the collateral to justify the home equity loan. In contrast, new construction, even if slightly more expensive, has the full value in the home already, which is what mortgage companies want to see. 5. When selecting real estate, and checking existing houses, you have very little choices. The real estate is “as is”-meaning the lawn is what it is, the plantings are what they are, and the yarn is what it is. Generally, with new construction, it is either newly landscaped or in raw form so that you can landscape as you want (generally, unlandscaped new construction is less expensive than landscaped). With new construction, you are getting gorgeous new property or freshly graded land that is ready for landscaping.
When you’re ready to consider new construction, be sure to keep all of these factors in mind. As you examine the cost of the home, consider the actual costs beyond the purchase price. Many families find far better values with the newly built home versus a less expensive existing house that needs work. Even if you are handy, improvements are not free. You also need to come up with the cash to pay for those improvements (whereas with new construction, those improvements are built into the purchase price and are covered by the mortgage).