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Decision Time For Buying A House - Vintage Or New Construction

By Kate Ford

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 10Nov2008
Word count: 686
Viewed: 277 time(s)

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Here is a common dilemma faced when buying a house.

Is buying a new home a better value than buying an older home? Perhaps you have been wondering the same thing.

By the time you finish reading this, you'll will have learned how easy it is to answer these questions. Let's compare new home buying with buying an older home.

A word of caution, there are many decisions to make when it comes to finding the best home for you and your family. There are questions regarding location, affordability, and space. But when it comes to the question of buying a newer home versus an older home, taste has a lot to do with your decision.

All in all your tastes are neither right nor wrong. You can't put a value on perception and it can't be measured. You develop these preferences through experience over time.

Here is a case in point. A newly built home may appear ideal to one person and to another person less than perfect. You may love the architecture of older homes and somebody else loves the modern conveniences of a new home. Focus on the attributes that suit your preferences.

The bottom line then is this. When choosing between buying an older home or a new home, let your taste rule.

For instance older homes offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages may include neighborhoods that are better established. They may be less likely to change over time. The residents may have lived there a long time and turnover is less likely. An established neighborhood often leads to a stable community environment.

Again some older homes offer architectural and landscaping character that new homes don't provide. Certainly, these qualities are again a matter of taste according to the eye of the beholder. Ask yourself this question, how does this neighborhood make you feel? Many people surprise themselves when they answer this self-imposed question.

Another feature of older homes is that taxes are often lower than a new home. Although taxes are not a matter of taste they are an important consideration. Your real estate agent can easily obtain property tax information regarding any home you want to buy.

Perhaps you love the idea of owning an older home. If you do, you probably won't mind the obvious disadvantage, maintenance.

Overall older homes are going to require more maintenance. Electrical systems are often outdated. Appliances may not have been updated. Plumbing is older. Exterior painting, roofing, and landscaping will require upkeep.

Be sure, when you are going to buy an older home insist your Realtor request a Home Inspection by a qualified and licensed home inspection service before closing. Maintenance issues are not always obvious. Requesting a Home Inspection is worth the peace of mind.

Selecting a new home offers obvious and clear advantages over older homes too. Most new homes are now required to be built according to higher efficiency standards than older homes were. So utility bills could be significantly lower than the utilities of an older residence. But property tax for a new home may likely be higher. This may be a trade off.

Put simply, if you like more modern architecture you will prefer the look of a new home more than an older one. Again taste is the all-important deciding factor here. Do you like the look and feel of a newer home? If so follow your preferences.

One clear advantage that most new homes offer versus older ones is up-to-date heating, air conditioning, electrical, and plumbing systems. In addition, most home builders are likely to provide a warranty on these systems for a specified period of time. If a warranty is not offered or the warranty period is too short you can ask the builder to pay for a better one.

When it comes to older versus newer, taste is the all-important qualifier. The easiest way to decide about buying a house is to get out and compare. Ask a Realtor to recommend neighborhoods for older homes and new homes.

Once you look around you may surprise yourself.

Kate Ford of Get Your Best Mortgage Rate agrees with you about mortgage financing. It's become too complicated. Contact Kate is your opportunity to ask Kate, a mortgage insider, for down to earth answers in real-time. After all, every question is a good question.

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