If you’re searching for a home in Austin right now, I just checked our local MLS, and there are about 7400 homes for sale. And that’s in the Greater Austin area, including the surrounding towns. Now, out of that, about 2800 of those homes are new construction, either to be built or in the process of being built. Now, that’s over a third of the homes in Austin that are new construction, but the number is actually quite a bit higher because a lot of the builders don’t put all of their inventory on the market. If you go into any sales center, you’ll find that there are way more homes to choose from, and you can even pick your own lot and build something completely from scratch. We find that about 50% of our buyers choose to go with new construction and the other 50% choose to go resell. There are pros and cons of building new and so I’m going to break them down in this video, so you can see if it’s the right choice for you.
I’m gonna start with the cons first. So here are some reasons you may not want to go the new construction route. The first is the overall cost. In general new construction, homes are going to be more expensive than resells in the same area, people are always going to pay more for what’s in style, the latest colors, and the latest flooring, as opposed to something that’s maybe two or three years old. So if you go the new route with the builder, you typically pay a little bit more than what you might get for a resale in the same area.
The second reason you may not want to go with new is the timeframe it takes to build the home. And also unknown delays. Back in 2021, we had some clients that were delayed six months to nine months on their finished estimated time because of supply chain issues. Now most builders have things under control. But if you’re building from scratch, it could be eight months to a year or so to until you see that final home.
If you need to shorten your timeline, you can sometimes buy a home that’s already halfway under construction. And then you maybe only have to wait three or four months to get the final product somewhat related to that is the fear of the unknown. If you’re buying a home from scratch, you don’t exactly have a finished house to look at. So it takes some vision and really understanding and communicating well with the builder looking at the models and other homes in the area so that you feel confident knowing that your home is going to be just as good and something that you’re happy with. The neighborhoods sometimes could also have a fear of uncertainty because you don’t know what the whole neighborhood will look like if you’re one of the first homes going in. Some of our clients prefer to see new construction communities where they’ve already finished out a couple of phases, because then they kind of know how the insurance is going to look what the community centers are gonna look at look like, and so on. So they feel a little bit safer buying into that community.
A fourth con can be the lack of character or a cookie cutter style of the neighborhood. Some clients absolutely hate when they drive into a neighborhood, and it is almost as if all the homes look the same. Maybe the paint colors are a little bit different, but it’s a turn off for them if they prefer something a little more eclectic or unique. You may not find that in a new construction community.
The final reason you may not want to buy new is location. You’re not going to find tons of new construction opportunities in the heart of Austin because the city has already been built out. So you’re gonna have to go further to the outskirts of town and some of the surrounding towns like Kyle Buda Dripping Springs of Northland or Liberty Hill, Georgetown Hutto. That’s where a lot of the growth is happening. It’s outside of the city. So if you have a job that forces you to commute downtown every day, that drive may not be worth it or manageable for you, and so you may want to find a resale that’s a little bit closer to town.
Alright, now let’s dive into some of the pros of new construction. The first is that you get to customize the entire thing, so you can pick your floor plan you can pick the color schemes that you want, your backsplash, and your flooring. Everything can be done to your style and taste, which you may not be able to do with a resale home.
The second is energy efficiency compared to an older home, newer homes are going to have the latest technology, the latest appliances, new insulation, new windows, which can save you a lot of money on your monthly utility bills.
The third thing is knowing that you have a brand new home that comes with a warranty. So if you do not want to jump into a fixer-upper and have to pay for a bunch of updates or repairs, new construction is a safe way to go because everything is going to be covered by the builder for the first year or two. Everything is fresh so your appliances and everything should last you quite a few years.
The fourth thing is having a modern design that is created for the way people want to live now. You can feel it sometimes when you walk into an older home that the rooms are closed off, the closets aren’t big enough. Then maybe there’s no garage or other things that we’ve become accustomed to having. So a modern home is going to give you what most people are looking for in a home today.
The last thing is you can bargain or bid on the new construction homes by asking for builder incentives. They may not come down a ton on the pricing, but you can ask for closing costs to be covered or other incentives that make the home a little more affordable for you so you can get what you want when you go shopping.
So how do you know whether new construction is right for you? Think about these three big questions:
One is what is your overall budget? Can you comfortably afford to get a brand new home in a neighborhood that you love?
Two, what is your commute time going to be like if you need to be closer to the city living way outside the city in a suburb may or may not be the right choice?
Three, what is your timeline if you need to move immediately, then building from scratch is definitely not an option might only be able to get a resale home or a new construction home that’s already finished.
When we work with new clients, we always want to make sure that you explore all options that are available in the market so we can help you sort through your situation to see if new or resell is the right move for you.
