VIDEO DIALOGUE:
It’s not uncommon to question whether you want to buy an existing home versus a brand new build, so it’s important to know the benefits and concerns for both.
Some benefits of new construction are that if you opt for a custom built home, you can pick your floor plan and paint colors. They come with new appliances, maybe even the smart kind that can connect to your bluetooth and have speakers built in.
Maintenance on a new home will be less expensive in the first few years of home ownership. But customization may not be an option if you don’t have time to wait – generally it can take 5 to 6 months to finalize a build, so unless you have that kind of time to look, you’re likely going to be picking off the shelf, not from the catalog.
Existing homes can come with some of these same benefits. You can get the best of both worlds in a quality renovation, or restoration if you love that old home feel. Not to mention you can close within a month of your offer, depending on your lender.
Some other benefits to existing homes can include the location. Whereas new construction is commutes might be longer because they’re in areas that are still developing, an existing home is already part of a built community.
Those tall and skinnies we have in Nashville tend to be built in the middle of a neighborhood, but you do typically end up with less lot size because in order to do this, developers have to share, or divide a single lot into multiples.
Also landscaping in a new home build can be a challenge. Typically it’s a cleared lot that’s built on, so you end up with a house that you get to totally customize even the way the trees grow around you. But in an existing home you can find mature trees, a more lush and developed lot – if that’s what you’re into.
These are all personal choices. New construction has that new car feel with straight off the shelf appliances and new grass even, but existing homes have history, stories.
Like I said in the beginning, most peoplealready know what they want, but if you’re trying to decide, you need someone to talk to, I’m here. I’m happy to mull it over and show you what’s out there. Reach out to me anytime, and good luck on your home search.
