Looking to Buy? Pros and Cons of New Construction

So you’ve decided it’s time to buy yourself a new home.

Now you’ve got to decide what age of home you’d like to focus your search on.

Brand new construction? Something from the early 2000s? A house from the 70-90s? Or an even older home, maybe a historic one?

There are Pro’s and Con’s to each type of home noted above. Reasons you should buy a new construction home and reasons you shouldn’t. Reasons to buy a charming 1950s home and reasons to stay away.  Over the next several blogs, I’m going to run through some of those pros and cons with you. Not to persuade you that on older home is better than a newer home or vice versa. But instead to make sure you aren’t deciding while wearing blinders and ignoring the age related ‘cons’ that come with your home of choice.

To start, we will begin with new builds!

NEW CONSTRUCTION

PROS:

Affordable to maintain. Since everything is brand new (electrical, roof, plumbing, HVAC, etc.), the likelihood that you’ll be forking over your hard-earned cash on repairs is low, at least for the first several years in the home.
Storage space. It’s 2026 and people have a lot of ‘stuff’, therefore we need space to store it all. I think homebuilders have done a nice job recognizing this and providing ample storage and closet space in their homes – especially when compared to old homes that were built back when people owned 5 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans.

No property tax for at least the first year in the home. Since property taxes in Iowa are paid in arrears, your new construction home won’t be assessed property taxes for at least 12 months after your purchase. Meaning property taxes won’t be a part of your monthly payments when you initially get into the home, saving you hundreds a month.

Near ‘perfect’ homes. Even when buying a brand-new home, we encourage all homebuyers to have a home inspection. In our experience, builders are willing to correct any flaws found during the inspection. And yes, there will be flaws – homes are man-made after all. This certainly isn’t the case for older or re-sale homes, where the seller is very unlikely to make all the corrections.

Builder warranties. Home builders offer ‘builder warranties’ to their buyers. Typically, these warranties are good for 1 year but sometimes a builder will offer a 2-year warranty. These warranties give additional protection to your home and ensure the builder will correct issues that arise in your first year of homeownership, assuming the issues aren’t a result of your wear and tear.

Customizable. If you’re willing to spend the money, you can build yourself the home of your dreams. OR if you get in early enough to the construction of a ‘spec’ home (a new home built without a specific buyer already identified), you may be able to decide on certain finishes and fixtures.

CONS:

Cookie Cutter floor plans. Unless you’re building a 100% custom home, new construction floor plans can be a bit repetitive and look exactly like many other homes on the block.

Small backyards. Building a home today is expensive, one-way builders save some money is by shrinking yard space and fitting more homes into a development. It is extremely common to find single family homes on lots that are around 1/5th of an acre (or smaller).

Lack of mature landscaping. Many new construction developments start off as raw, mostly barren land, which means there aren’t any trees! If you’re someone who loves shade trees and the figurative warmth that big trees provide, living in a new construction neighborhood might not do it for you.

Expensive. New construction homes are more expensive than similar sized, older homes. If you’re looking to get the best bang for your buck in regard to overall square footage, you’re better off looking at older, re-sale homes.

Construction sites. Depending on how early you get into a new housing development, you could be living in a construction zone for quite some time. Construction debris in your yard can be annoying!

Lack of surrounding commercial development. Often, residential development comes to an area long before any commercial development. Meaning grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, gyms, and other amenities can be a bit of a drive from your home.

I’ll tackle the Pros and Cons of homes built in the 2000s in my next blog post. Go check it out!

-Tyler Springer