If you’re thinking about buying a family home, then you have two options. You can either buy a new house or an older one. A new house is a house that’s recently been built and has never been lived in before. An old one has been lived in previously and was built a long time ago.
But, which is better for your family? Read on to find out:
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Old Houses
Chances are you will find way more old houses for sale than new ones. As such, it’s often seen as the norm for people to look at the old houses before the new ones. But, what benefits are there of buying old, and are there any negatives?
Benefits
A big benefit of buying an old home is that they can be a lot cheaper than new ones. It’s the same as with cars. If you want a brand new car, then it will cost a lot of money. Why do that when you can get an older car that looks the same and functions similarly for a lot cheaper? Older houses are still expensive, all houses will cost a lot. But, stack an old build next to a new-build in the same location with the same specifications and the older will always come out cheaper.
Another benefit is that your family has far more choice when it comes to buying old homes. As mentioned, there are so many of them on the market. Depending on where you live, there might only be old homes on the market. Plus, there will be old homes everywhere, in every area within the city/town your family wants to live. This means you can figure out where you want to live location-wise, and there will always be properties there for you. With new homes, this isn’t always the case as they’re not everywhere.
Finally, with an older home, there’s more room for improvements. This means that you can work on the home while your family grow up, and increase its value considerably. By the time your kids are grown up, and everyone has moved out, you can now sell the house for a huge profit. Remember, older homes are cheaper to start with so the profit margins will be bigger. Now, you have lots of money to find a retirement property while saving some in case your kids need help.
Negatives
As well as these positives, there are some serious downsides to buying an old home. Firstly, you buy something that could well have been inhabited by two or three families before you, possibly even more. This means there are sometimes reminders of the previous occupants left behind like scratches in wood or height charts on walls. As well as making you feel uncomfortable, this can also mean you spend more money as you need to eradicate all the old memories.
With an old house, you get something that’s been around for decades and been blasted by all manner of weather conditions, not to mention any additional bother from previous families. Upper floorboards could’ve taken a battering from kids jumping up and down over the years. This means the chances of structural problems occurring are pretty high and they could happen sooner rather than later. Again, this means more money to fork out on repairs.
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New Houses
Now that we’ve seen the pros and cons of an old house, what about buying a new one? Let’s start with the benefits and go from there:
Benefits
The major benefit with new-build homes is that they’re completely fresh for you. There’s no trace of another family living there, which means you’ll have no additional work that needs to be done. When you buy the home, you can pretty much move in right away and not have to worry about carrying out repairs or getting it redecorated. Of course, redecoration might still occur, but it’s less likely as new homes tend to follow modern interior design trends anyway.
Secondly, as they’re new, it means new-build homes are set to last for a very long time. Purchase an old home, and you purchase years of wear and tear along with it. Purchase a new one, and you get something in mint condition that should last for a very long time before any structural problems start to occur.
Next, new homes are full of new and updated technology. A lot of new-builds come with underfloor heating which is proven to be more energy efficient and far better looking than having radiators all around the place. It’s become more and more common to see a new house for sale with built-in solar panels on the roof to provide renewable energy to the home. Then, you have things like Smart technology built into a new house already as well. With all this new technology you have a home that functions incredibly well and can save your family money on energy bills thanks to all the Smart controls and renewable energy features.
Negatives
After reading the benefits, you probably think there’s no downside to buying a new home. However, there are a few negative points that you might want to think about as well. Mainly, new houses tend to be very expensive. They’re built in new housing estates which are often in prime locations. The chances of you finding an affordable one are very slim, not impossible, but harder than finding an affordable older home of a similar size and build.
Furthermore, from a family perspective, what’s one of the key things you look for in the perfect family home? You want a nice neighborhood surrounded by plenty of nice friendly families that form a close community for your kids to grow up in. With new houses, there is yet to be a neighborhood. All the houses are new, no one has lived there before. With older ones, you’ve got residents in the area that have been around for years, and you can tell if a neighborhood is nice or not.
Both options have their pros and cons, but it ultimately comes down to money. If you have the cash to afford a nice new home, then go for it. On the whole, they’re probably the better option for families. But, if you can’t, and have to buy an old home, don’t worry. They’re still perfectly fine!