While the pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives, there’s certainly no denying that it has been impactful on the real estate market as well! As a real estate group in the Northland area, our team at The Small Team has witnessed this first-hand. Likewise, for anyone local to the Kansas City area, it’s also no surprise that the Northland has been growing rapidly over recent years. Whether that be Kansas City, Parkville, Liberty, Kearney or any other city north of the river, new neighborhoods have seemingly been popping up all over town.
For anyone new to our blog, we would like to welcome you to The Small Team. We are a SMALL group of real estate professionals in the Northland with BIG success stories! Since day one, our mission has always stayed the same. We take pride in truly valuing our customers and effectively assisting them in finding a home that perfectly aligns with their goals. Having said that, the purpose of our website blog is to provide helpful tips that’ll make this a reality. Whether that be through educational resources on real estate best practices or simply informing you on new communities popping up around Kansas City, we want to help simplify the home buying journey!
With this in mind, today we will be taking an inside look at a popular debate around the real estate industry and that is “New Construction vs. Resale.” We’ll discuss some of the benefits behind each and hopefully help you decide which option makes the most sense for you! Without further ado, let’s hop right in and talk some real estate.
Customization
Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest advantages to new construction is the ability to customize many of the house’s features. While your home builder will certainly provide some advice along the way, the ability to essentially design from a blank canvas is something many house hunters absolutely love. Whether that be choosing paint colors, cabinetry, appliances or anything else, customization is certainly one of the major perks behind new construction. Not to mention, you also have the flexibility to pick a floor plan that perfectly matches your ideal layout. As a hint, you will notice that many home builders have their floor plans listed on their website for you to browse through. Whether it be for a two-story, 1.5-story, ranch, reverse or any other style, this is yet another added form of customization available and something you can do some research on even if you are in the early stages!
On the flip side, as you might guess, you are inevitably going to be a little limited in terms of customization with a resale home. While that’s definitely not to say you won’t find your dream home, we just wanted to say any stylistic changes or layout changes may need to come after the home has been purchased. Before moving on to the next point though, it can’t be understated how living in a growing market like Kansas City and the Northland, in particular, is beneficial for all homebuyers. What I mean by this is even if you’re not in the market for a new construction home, there’s certainly no shortage of resale homes always popping up. These are available at various price points and with different styles, so we’re sure you’ll be able to find something you love!
Repair Costs
Another advantage behind new construction homes is the fact that you should have lower maintenance costs in the first few years. After all, everything in the house is brand new, right? With that being said, you should have little to worry about in terms of matters like the furnace, water heater, plumbing issues, roofing or any other capital improvements. While there is always the possibility of something malfunctioning earlier than expected, most reliable Kansas City home builders also have warranties in-place to make sure the homeowner is covered.
When it comes to resale homes, a lot of this point is up to the homebuyer and their real estate agent. You’ll want to make sure a thorough inspection is completed beforehand and that you do your own due diligence to ensure you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. As real estate agents, we always encourage our clients to ask questions. If you’re ever concerned something may be off, we’re here to help!
Price Point
No matter what state the real estate market may be in, listing price is always going to be what the majority of prospective buyers look at first. As you would likely guess, resale homes are going to come at a cheaper price tag. In the majority of cases, you should be able to purchase a bigger resale home for the same price as a smaller new construction home. If this is something that interests you, it could also present the opportunity to free up some of your budget to make various other future improvements to a resale property as well.
Timing
On our next point, I would like to preface this as saying that you can buy a new construction at many different phases in the actual building process. You can purchase it before construction has even commenced as a build job, when it’s still under construction as a spec home or even once the spec home is fully completed. As such, the degree of customization available is going to vary depending on the phase. If you buy it earlier in the process, there is going to be some wait time for the home to actually get built, go through final walkthroughs and then you’ll be able to move in.
Meanwhile, the timetable for moving into resale homes is typically much shorter, granted that’s assuming no hiccups occur along the way. Once your offer has been accepted, it usually doesn’t take long before you’re actually able to move in. With that being said, if you are in a bit of a time crunch, there’s reason to say a resale home might make the most sense for you!
Warranty
Before we wrap up this blog, I wanted to take a minute to reiterate one of the points that was briefly mentioned above. Just as is the case with most bigger purchases, new construction homes also come with a warranty in case anything out of the ordinary occurs. Think of things like the water heater having some troubles or various other touch-ups as examples. While these are obvious rare occurrences for quality home builders, it is just another line of insurance for the buyer. In what can be a stressful process, a home warranty is certainly capable of alleviating some of that stress!
Allow The Small Team to Help Simplify the Home Buying Process
Here at The Small Team, we understand the homebuying process can seem a little overwhelming at times! Particularly, in the midst of a global pandemic where the market looks and feels a little bit different, it’s definitely worth it to work with real estate professionals who know how to navigate around the changing market. Furthermore, with your friends at The Small Team, you have a team of real estate experts that have experience in both the new construction and resale markets.
In terms of new construction, we’re proud to be the agents for one of the newest communities in the Northland, Prairie Field. Located in the highly sought after Liberty School District, this brand new subdivision really is the perfect blend of rural simplicity and convenience. It has quick and easy access to plenty of shopping and restaurants. Don’t hesitate to give us a call to learn at (816) 407-5224 to learn more about building in Prairie Field.
Interested in seeing some of our current listings on the market? Click HERE for a complete overview of listings. Feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions. We look forward to helping you with all of your real estate needs!