Buying a new home can be one of the most exciting events in our lives, and it can also be one of the most nerve wracking! There are many things to consider when buying a new home. How many bedrooms, square footage, storage space, garage or no garage, yard or patio, old or new?! There is no right or wrong answer to this debate; it is all a matter of personal preference. The first things to consider are characteristics that are important to the individual. So before you get all bent out of shape and decide to put off buying until next year, here is some food for thought to help you decide what’s important to you.
After deciding the basic needs of your home purchase it is time to look at the characteristics and style of a home that you are looking for. If you are looking for a home with craftsman style detail, old hardwood floors, fireplaces, crown molding etc, resale is probably the avenue for you. Older homes in older neighborhoods also offer a certain individuality and uniqueness that newer construction lacks. If you are the handy do it yourself type, you should also consider resale home because of the opportunity of putting "sweat equity" into the home by doing some of the re-modeling and upgrades yourself. The disadvantages of buying older resale that you may want to consider are older insulation, the windows and doors may be drafty, and the appliances may not be as efficient as newer appliances. On the contrary, new construction will deliver all of the bells and whistles of modern technology along with that "new home smell". The layouts of newer construction also tend to be more geared towards today’s lifestyles where we like to combine living and dining space and have the master bedroom a little farther away from other living quarters. If these things are more important to you than big old fireplaces and hundred year old hardwoods you should consider new construction. The downside of a lot but not all of new construction tends to be smaller lots and homes that look almost identical.
There are so many questions to ask yourself when purchasing a property. Hopefully asking some of the above questions will help you get a better feel for exactly what you are looking for in your next purchase!
Kathryn Jeffreys, BlueCoast agent