The “Not-So-Obvious” Benefits of Buying a Newly Built Home

By: Craig D. Antonelli, President of Antonelli Construction, LLC and

Chairman of the Rochester Homebuilders Association

Prospective home buyers have the choice of two types of houses on the market: Resale or New.

Home buyers planning to buy a newly built house, town house or condominium often cite energy-efficiency, open layout, warranties, and the ability to select appliances, flooring, paint colors and other design elements as factors driving their choice.

But builders say that buyers can be drawn to a new house for reasons that aren’t so obvious.  Below are a few more benefits of a newly built home that you may not see in the sales brochure.

Building a Community Together

A brand-new community is one of the built-in benefits of many new homes. When families move in to a subdivision at the same time, often lasting bonds of friendship and neighborliness are formed right away. Nobody is the “new kid on the block,” and some home builders host community block parties in new developments to help owners meet and connect. They also have something immediately in common, they all experienced having a new home built. Popular amenities like sidewalks, open spaces, pools, and walking trails offer additional opportunities for interaction among neighbors of all ages.   Often new communities are comprised of home owners in the same stage of life, such as young families or active retirees, so neighbors can get to know each other through carpools, PTA meetings, tennis matches or golf games.

Ease of Entertaining

Throwing a party in an older home can be a challenge because smaller, distinct rooms make it difficult to entertain guests in one large space.  Builders are responding to today’s home buyer preferences with layouts featuring more open spaces and rooms that flow into each other more easily, like the popular great room.  While you are in the kitchen preparing dinner, you can still interact with guests enjoying conversation in the great room without feeling closed off. The feeling of spaciousness in today’s new-home layouts often is enhanced by the higher ceilings and the larger windows that allow for more natural light than you would find in an older home.

Start with a Clean Slate

For some buyers, parking the car in a sparkling-clean garage or being the first to cook a dinner in a brand-new kitchen is part of the appeal of new construction.  In addition, you won’t have to spend time remodeling bathrooms, and stripping dated wallpaper or repainting to suit your own sense of style. You can easily create your own home décor from the get-go!

The advantage of being the first owner of a home extends to the outdoors. Instead of inheriting inconveniently or precariously placed trees, or having to tear up overgrown shrubs, you can design and plant the lawn and garden the way you want.  You can also better control how you utilize your back yard space with decks, pools and patio styles and locations.

Hidden Structural Wiring

Homes built in the 1960’s and earlier were wired much differently than houses today.  Builders had no way of anticipating the invention and utilization of high-definition televisions, surround sound systems, central vacuums, DVRs and computers that we enjoy today—and the very different electrical requirements they would introduce.  New homes can accommodate advanced technologies like structured wiring and cabling, security systems and sophisticated lighting plans.  Each can be tailored to meet the individual home owner’s needs and all wires can be hidden up front without remodeling the home.

Anyone who has ever lived in an older home can also attest to the fact that there are never enough electrical outlets inside or out.  In addition, these outlets may be two pronged non-grounded outlets or the circuit breakers/fuses are always “popping” because the new electrical requirements are over-taxing the system. New home builders install dedicated circuits as a plan for an increased number and type of electronics and appliances used by today’s families, so you can safely operate a computer, home office equipment, wine cooler, hair dryer or Christmas lights.

The bottom line is this: There is a multitude of good obvious reasons to buy a newly built home, but the “not-so-obvious” reasons are usually the most compelling.  Each new homebuyer has their own list of reasons why to build new, but each buyer would tell you the best “not-so-obvious” reasons won’t occur to them until after they have enjoyed the home and community for the first time.   Now is a good time to buy a new home.

For more information on why now is a good time to buy, contact The Rochester Home Builders Association at www.rochesterhomebuilders.com

DemocratandChronicle.com /realestate