A common misconception:

• Most buyers believe that owning a new home is going to cost a lot more than a resale. Depending on the location and the market conditions, mostly the time of the year, this is not true.

• Look at the cost of ownership and what it would cost to replace a roof with 5-10 years remaining life versus buying a new home with the roof rated for 30 years.

• What about that furnace and air conditioner. A well-maintained furnace lasts about 20 to 25 years while the well-maintained AC condenser, 18 years. This says nothing about efficiency and energy savings. The most expensive thing you will maintain on any home is the roof, followed by the replacement of your HVAC. Let me help you understand dollars.

• Think about how much you will have to spend to replace the carpeting and just painting and decorating, what will it take to get rid of those pink sinks? What about the outdated countertops?

All homes appreciate at the same rate: Not so.

• Appreciation is a function of demand. It is always easier to sell a 10-year-old home than a 20-year-old home. Most buyers want the current style, design, and decorating. The buyer will not need to spend as much after the sale to do buyer required updates. 

• For example, how difficult it is to sell a home with honey oak trim or a home with the wall running between the kitchen and the family room. Styles will continue to change, but 10-years from now, the closer your home is to the current style, the more buyers you will have for the property. More buyers equal a better appreciation rate.

The best return and highest satisfaction is a custom-built home:

• Builders price homes they bring on the market as spec homes and custom-build at the same square foot price. They have a base price. Builders know that if they don’t have market desirable features in their homes for the light and plumbing fixtures, floor coverings, countertops, and cabinets, etc.,  their spec home will sit on the market while their competitors sell. You will find the allowances for these items are quite generous and included in the base price. If you choose more expensive features, it’s your choice, not a necessity.

• What you chose at no extra costs are your colors, fixtures, cabinets, countertops, floor coverings, and everything that will personalize your new home to your taste versus a home built tp the broad market. A builder can’t take a chance on putting colors in a house the broad market will not accept. But they may not be colors, etc. that you would have chosen give a chance. That builder may not spend an extra $0.65 afoot for an 8-pound carpet pad. The builder’s objective is achieving the lowest price possible. More expensive features will make the builder’s spec home too expensive and not competitive with other builder’s offerings.

The spec homes you’re looking at can cost the same as a custom-built:

• The builders' prices for subcontractors are locked usually for one year. You have control over what you spend for upgrades. Stay inside of the allowances, and you will still have a lot of choices rather than settle for what some decorator thought the average buyer would want. No buyer is average.

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