Buying and selling in a new home community can come with some obstacles. In order to get the best deal and make the right financial decision for you and your family you will need to consider a few things. The first is whether you should focus on a new construction home or a resale home, meaning one that already had at least one owner before selling. A resale in a new home community is different in some ways than a resale in an established neighborhood. In Snowden Bridge, resales are the same models as the new construction options, so it can be easier to compare them.

Timing

When you decide to choose a home from a new home builder you will need to think about a completely different timeline than if you were to buy a resale. When you are buying a house from an owner you will typically be able to get approved and time the closing with either the end of your lease, or the sale of your current home. That will allow you to simply move from one home to the other. If you decide to build a home though, if you can be approved for a loan while continuing to pay your current mortgage then you can do the same thing, but if you have to sell your home in order to qualify for another loan, then you will have to find somewhere to stay in between the sale of your home and the closing of your new house. That means you will end up moving twice.

In a resale home you can make the closing contingent on selling your current home, but new home builders won’t start the construction process until you have cleared the contingency. That protects them from being stuck with a home if your current house doesn’t sell and you can’t close on the new build. But it adds a step for you unfortunately. Sometimes you can find a quick close new build which is when the builder starts a home on spec, meaning it wasn’t ordered by someone so anyone can put an offer in anytime before it is completed. If there is one that hasn’t sold yet you can time it to coincide with your closing.

Pricing

In most cases, a resale home is going to be valued lower than the same model that is a brand new build, which translates into cost savings for you. Even if the resale has upgrade options compared to newly built homes they will generally be priced lower in order to compete since most buyers will value “new” higher than something previously owned and used. It is also generally more expensive to add upgrades from the builder than it is to do them after closing as that is where the builder makes a lot of their profit. Some things are easier to do during the building process such as hardwood floors, but other upgrades like patios and outdoor kitchens are less expensive to do later. You can find resale homes that have added features like that but find that they are still competing with new homes so they price them more competitively. For instance, in 2017 new builds in Snowden Bridge single family homes averaged $361,617 on the MLS sold data while resales averaged $332,678 – a difference of almost $30,000!

Future Sales

Buying in a new home community like Snowden Bridge you will also need to think about when you will need to sell your home. If you intend to stay in the house for 10-20 years you may not have any issues, but if you plan to upsize in 3-4 years or there is a potential to be relocated for work you could have an issue selling your home. If there are still new homes being built your home will be competing against those new options, which could lower your sales price point or extend the timing, or both! If you have added a lot of upgrades putting your home in the highest price bracket this can be an even bigger issue as the buyer pool will be smaller for your home. It’s important to consider these factors in case something happens that might change your plans as well.

You should discuss your long term housing and financial plans with your agent when deciding between building a new home or buying a resale. They can help you look at pricing trends in Snowden Bridge or other communities you are interested in the area.