Is there a difference between buying a new home and buying a pre-owned home?

Oh, boy.  Where do I begin?  So many differences are coming to mind.

New is Clean!

First of all, back in 2002 or 2003 when my mom and I started focusing on selling new homes, we attended a new home workshop at the local Board of Realtors office.  There was one concept from the speaker that has stuck with me since that day.  He pointed out the difference between being the first person to live in a house versus buying a house where “someone else’s toenail clippings are in the carpet.”  Yuck! is probably the first reaction you have to that visualization.  I know I did.  Then, I thought, “Who clips their nails on the carpet?!”  I guess it was just a metaphor for not knowing what other people have done to the house.  We won’t dwell on that idea too much and we’ll move on to the idea that new is good…and clean!

Your Style

Isn’t it fun to pick out all of the design features of your new home…and not have to do the work of shopping for it, lugging it home, or installing it?  I have experienced both ways.

The first house my husband and I bought was built in 1972.  We bought it from the original owners with pretty much the original decorative features throughout the house.  In this house, we did all of the work ourselves.  We were young and ambitious.  It makes me tired just thinking of the work we did to that house because we touched every inch of it.  We even repainted the ceiling, which makes for very tired arms.

The next two houses we bought were NEW!  Wonderful.  We were starting our family and it was such piece of mind to know that we could enjoy the kids when they were little and not have to spend our time (and money) fixing random problems with a house.  We got to visit a design center and choose flooring, appliances, fixtures, counter tops, etc.  A lot of what we chose was our style, but was within the builder’s standard options.  Again, we were young and let’s face it, anything NEW was going to be great to us!

Community and Entertainment

The way many American cities are set up today make us drive everywhere we want to go, including getting together with friends.  When you buy in a new home community, you have that “old” feeling of living in a “community.”  Today’s new home communities have many options for getting together with family and neighbors.  Often, there is a clubhouse where planned gatherings help you get to know your neighbors better, or where you can host your own private gatherings.

At the clubhouse area, you can also find a playground, pool, fire pit, dog park, splash park, tennis/pickleball courts, bocce ball, etc.  These are all WONDERFUL activities for entertaining visitors and family.  Imagine – if your friends come to visit, you don’t have to clean your house.  Just meet them at the clubhouse and you get to host your friends in the setting of a resort.  If your grandchildren come to visit, send them down to the clubhouse for instant entertainment.  They might even meet a new friend.

Saving and Investing

When you buy a new construction home with Venice Realty, Inc. you will receive a 2% New Home Rebate.  That is huge!  It only makes sense to buy new with a company like Venice Realty, Inc. that will give you thousands back after you close on a new home.  The most important aspect of getting a rebate, however, is that Venice Realty, Inc. needs to be the one to introduce you to the builder/new home community, by registering you with them.  The builder could also have incentives, such as money back for upgrades or a lender incentive.

Did you think of buying in a new home community as an investment?  Typically, the sales prices of the homes goes up as the community get developed.  The people who are willing to be one of the first to build usually get the best deal.  For one thing, they live with the undeveloped community the longest.  At least, builders work in sections, so the street you build on should be complete fairly soon after your house is completed.  Also, the clubhouse and other community amenities are usually done towards the start of the community’s development.

There are many other reasons new homes are a great choice over pre-owned, like energy efficiency, but I’m going to save that for another day.

How will you spend your thousands of dollars?