Should You Buy a New or Used Home?

Whether or not you should buy a new home or a pre-owned home is a question many home buyers have today. While there are advantages to both, determining your overall needs in a new home is important to help you determine which type of home is best for you.

Advantages of Buying a New Home

When purchasing a brand new home, you get to determine many of the fine details of the home, such as colors, style, woods types, etc. The home is also certain to be clean, instead of moving into a home with stained carpet, damaged appliances, or anything else that is possible with a used home. You can also expect little to no maintenance on a new home in the first few years.

A new home also has warranties that come with it. At Celebrity Homes, we have a 10 year structural warranty on all of our homes. This leaves you stress free about any structural issues as you settle into your new home. There are also warranties on other items like your furnace, AC unit, appliances, and other items, as well. This can save you money and worries in the first few years in a new home.

In a new home, you also get to select the floor plan that best meets your unique needs. Modern homes tend to emphasize flexible space and usage. This allows the homeowner to tailor the living area to their evolving needs over time. In addition, modern homes often have large kitchens with state-of-the-art equipment. These factors are in contrast to many older homes which often had different objectives when they were built.

Homes built today are frequently built with an eye towards being more environmentally friendly too. This is not the case with many homes built in years past. In fact, sometimes the opposite is true. Older homes often have a detrimental effect on the environment. In many cases, this can also create a negative effect on your pocketbook, as well.

Advantages of Buying a Pre-Owned Home

The biggest advantage to buying a new home is price. Not only is the overall price a little cheaper, there are generally not as many add-ons as there are with a new home. There is a bit of a “what you see is what you get” factor with a used home. Of course, this can be a disadvantage, as well!

If you like a home a little broken in, a pre-owned home might be just what you are looking for. Any kinks with electrical issues, appliance snafus, or other problems you might encounter in a new home are already worked out in a used home.

Flexibility is certainly the main advantage with a new home. A slightly lower cost is a benefit of an older home. By determining exactly what your priorities are when you buy a new home and weighing the overall advantages and disadvantages with each type of home, you can determine if a new home or a used home best meets your home buying needs.

Location! Location! Location!

Where do you want your new home to be? While this might seem like an obvious question when looking for a new home, some do not realize just how critical it is. In fact, this one factor should be at the forefront of your mind when you begin to look for a new home.

We are continuing our series of “100 Things You Need to Know When Purchasing a Home.” Today’s discussion of the location of your new home is crucial for most people. If you do not like where your home is, you will not be happy with your new home. Before you begin to look at any home, you should consider where the home is first, and see if it will fit into your needs and wants for a new home.

What Should I Consider?

It is important to select a home that works with your family’s unique lifestyle. This will be different for each person and each stage of their life. For example, young parents might want to select a home close to their child’s daycare center. A young professional might find a home that is close to their work is important to them. A single person might want to consider their social needs when looking for a new home. Whatever your current stage of life is, the location of your home is important to meet your needs.

Where your new home should be is a question only you can answer. A thorough examination of your professional and community responsibilities should be done early in the home hunting process. You should also take into consideration the things you want and need to do for recreation. Make sure you pick a home that fits into your unique lifestyle.

Location Is About More Than You

While your happiness should be paramount when selecting a home in an ideal location for your lifestyle, if you don’t plan to live there for a few decades there are other things to consider, as well. For example, where you buy a home can greatly impact if you will be able to sell that home later. In reality, the average home owner only lives in a home for three years. If you think you might fall into this category, consider the ability to resell your home in a few years when picking the location of your next home.

Where your new next home is located is an important consideration as you home shop today. Make sure the location of your new home meets your current lifestyle needs. You may also want to determine if a location you are considering buying a home in will also have a good resale value in a few years.