Pick Your Advantages And Drawbacks

If you're looking to purchase a home, you're facing a choice between resale properties and new construction. Don't think you're comparing apples to apples-there are some distinct differences.

Many home buyers are attracted to new homes because of their hi-tech edge:

• Built-in wiring and cabling for communications technologies
• Smart appliances and other home systems
• Hard-wired smoke detectors with backup batteries
• High-efficiency heating/cooling systems
• Energy efficiency with better and more insulation
• Newly developed construction materials that minimize maintenance chores.

With a new home, everything is free of the wear and tear resale home sometimes suffer. In addition, as a new home is under construction, buyers can have features built-in, customizing their new home to their particular preferences and budget.

On the down side, new homes are often surrounded by continuing neighborhood construction-complete with dust and noise. Vegetation, including shade trees, may be sparse for quite a few years. Support infrastructure, such as schools, roads, public transportation and shopping, may also remain inadequate for quite some time after initial construction.

New homes require an investment in "further development" both inside and out-wall paper, fixtures, shelving, landscaping and other installed items that make a home charming and livable.

Previously owned homes have their attractions too. Well-maintained resales won't show much wear and tear from previous owners, particularly if they've been remodeled over the years. Yet, they will have the kind of character that results when people live in a home and improve it over time.

Resale homes are located in communities with more-mature landscaping. Neighborhood associations and relationships are often well-established. In older areas where resales are found, infrastructure has had time to develop. You can enjoy the peace and quiet of an established community along with the benefits of near-by shopping, good schools and recreational facilities.

Depending on the age of the home, a resale may have unique features not found in any other home-an old-world architectural style, a stained glass window, built-in shelving, a laundry shoot, an outbuilding-features that make the home truly special.

Of course, as homes age, their systems and built-in appliances do tend to wear out. If you're considering a resale home, look for one with new replacements or factor-in the cost of replacing them in a few years.