subject: Is It Better To Buy A New Home? [print this page] If you're thinking about buying a home, you have a lot of decisions ahead of you. Among these are the many decisions about what kind of home you should buy. One of the first choices you should make is whether to look at resale homes, new homes or both. It may seem like that's a decision that can wait until later down the road, but you should consider it early because it will make a difference in how you look at houses. If you're looking for a resale, you should work with a Realtor. However, these services are unnecessary if you buy a new home from the builder. If your Realtor takes you to the new home sales office and you buy a home there, the Realtor will get a commission from the builder. If the builder can save that expense, there will be more room to negotiate with you on price and concessions. Some builders won't work with Realtors, in which case your Realtor won't even show you those homes. Of course you can do both at the same time. Have the Realtor show you resales while you look at model homes on your own.
The home, the property and the neighborhood will be different between a new home and a resale. Even the buying process if vastly different in the two scenarios. Which way should you go? Let's look at some of the key differences.
They say that there are three important factors in real estate: location, location and location. Some communities are completely built out already. If no one is building homes in the area you want to live, then resale is your only option. Often new homes are being built in outlying areas. For example, downtown San Diego new homes are hard to find, but there are plenty of new homes in Chula Vista, Carlsbad and San Marcos. Depending on where the centers of employment are, this can mean a longer drive - at least in the short run. As the outlying areas get built up, employment centers grow there too. Take a look at where you want to live, find out where new homes are being built, and decide if those locations would work for you.
Property taxes can be higher in new neighborhoods if they're in a new city or a new area of a city. This is because the cost of building roads, parks and other community amenities is incorporated into the property taxes for the first several years. You can find out the tax rate in a new home community by asking the sales office. Resale homes usually state the tax rate in the MLS listing. Sometimes this higher property tax rate can be avoided if a new home community is built in an area with existing infrastructure.
Be sure to consider all of your choices in buying a home for your family. If you are uncertain about whether you should buy a new home or a resale, look at some of each until you determine which is the better option for you.
