What Is The Best Choice; A New Home, Or A Resale Home

You are here:

The last couple of months have seen more blogs than usual being published for your education and entertainment. Today marks the end of another big year in the real estate market across Canada, and a fresh page will begin again tomorrow in our lives.

This fresh page could mean big decisions and choices for you to make in many aspects of your lives, but given we are only good at discussing real estate and letting you to live your lives, we wanted to bring up a topic that’s been discussed before in the past: a new home from scratch, or a property sold to you by another homeowner.

New homes and resale homes both have their pros and cons, so ultimately, you need to decide which pros are the most beneficial to you, and which cons you are the least likely to affect you!

In the case of a new home, the buyer is able to do whatever it wants with their new property; and who doesn’t like a bit of freedom with their personal space, especially when you’re going to stay in it for the long term? What we mean by this freedom is renovating and adding/removing whatever you wish in that home. This means you can change your master bedroom, bathroom, floors, front yard/backyard; the list can go on and on. Better yet, you may also be able to get a warranty from companies that regulate builders and protect your rights.

As fun as the above paragraph sounds, it isn’t all rosy. While you are making these decisions and taking these risks, they can all come at a high cost (taxes), and having to constantly maintain all of the changes. Although properties will be taken care of by the builder, extras house pieces such as patios/decks, fences and landscaping will be your responsibility. In a subdivision, you’ll need to make your own garden and hire a contractor to build any add-ons you want. Also, be ready for years of construction after your move-in date – infrastructure can take a long time to take shape in new developments.

Most new developments are in suburban areas, which can mean a longer commute for some individuals. Make sure you own a good car!

On the other hand, investing in an already built home can come with many advantages, because most things are already in place. These include things such as the landscaping (decks, patios and fences) and also indoor appliances, such as window coverings and finished basements. Another advantage is that a resale home is already present in an established neighbourhood. An important aspect such as the infrastructure and community are already in place, so you just have to make that tiny extra effort to integrate with the people around you who you may eventually call your new friends! On the taxes side, the HST is exempt.

But of course, in life and real estate, everything has a downside. Maintaining an already-built home can incur quite a few costs, as well as being responsible for the features and appliances that are already there that you may have not wanted in the first place; monthly heat and electricity bills (impossible to avoid though!)? If you are not completely satisfied with the home and wanted to change a few things, there is the cost of renovations, which may delay the comfort of settling in quickly.

So which pros do you prefer? Obviously, building your own home gives you the power to choose whatever you want from the get-go, but is also very expensive and can take loads of time. At the end of the day, you will have to make a choice that is a best fit for your long term needs more than the short term. If you have a family with young kids, the community and neighbours will be important, but if you are nearer retirement, priorities may be different!

Good luck and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks. Happy new year!