Buying A New Versus Resale San Antonio Home

Here’s the sananantoniohomequest.com Realty Solutions Team’s evaluation of the pros and cons of buying a new versus a resale San Antonio home.

First, keep this in mind. The appeal of a new home is so great that, over the 19+ years we’ve represented home buyers, 80% have bought a newly constructed home. It’s easy to see why.

■Each year, the builders seem to have more and more enticing features built into their products.

■The homes are new and unspoiled. They don’t have the expected wear and tear found in every resale home, no matter its age.

■The builders’ lending programs are very competitive and the builders ofter offer additional incentives to encourage the buyer to use their affiliate lenders. That’s particularly true toward the end of the year.

■Texas law requires the builder to warrant the home’s structure for 10 years.

■The appliances are warranted by the manufacturers in accordance with their standard warranty programs. The home’s other components & systems are usually warranted for a minimum of 1 year and sometimes up to 3 years.

■In terms of settlement costs, they can be reduced by using a builder’s cash incentive, if one is offered.

What about a resale home?

■Resale homes over 10 years of age come without a warranty, however we encourage the buyer to negotiate for a seller paid 1 year home protection plan. Usually the seller will agree to buy the plan in order to sweeten the deal and help seal the sale.

■Resale homes usually come with owner installed features that new homes don’t have - things like upgraded blinds, curtain rods, garage shelving, etc. If you are short on the money needed to improve a new home, then a resale home might work out better.

■If you need help with a resale home’s settlement costs, we can negotiate for seller to contribute to your closing costs. Sometimes it works, sometimes not; and, your lenders might limit the seller’s contribution to approximately 3% of the sales price.

In summary, when balancing the pros and cons of buying new vs. resale, there are many factors to consider and many opinions to be heard and evaluated. You usually won’t have a feel of the way you’ll go until you’ve personally seen a few resale and new homes, listened to some sales pitches, and driven around some new vs. established resale home neighborhoods.

The preceding advice is commonsensical, but, when comparing resale to new construction homes, some pros and cons aren’t always evident. We have your back on these issues and will let you know when you might not be seeing a consideration that’s important.

We’re Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors® at Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. If you have questions, need San Antonio realty or mortgage loan advice or assistance, or just want to chat a bit about the wonderful Alamo City, please call us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, or E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com. Our SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team is always ready to help you with your home buying or selling needs.

Call us for our advice about buying a new versus resale San Antonio Home