Buying a New Home and Land Package

 

If you’re in the market for a new home, you should know you have three options:

1. Buy an Existing Home.
2. Build Your Own Home.
3. Buy a New Home and Land Package.

If you’ve always wanted to own something brand new; something that has never been used before; something fresh and up to date; and the cost of building a totally custom home is beyond you, buying a new home and land package may be your perfect solution.

What should you consider when you start searching for the perfect package?  One of the most important issues here is the same as it is for any home purchase – location.

Professional real estate agents will tell you location is everything when it comes to home buying and selling.  New home and land packages are offered in newer residential developments, usually located on the fringes of urban or metropolitan areas.  While some of the same location concerns apply to all such developments – schools, shopping, and entertainment – one concern should rank above all others – distance from the urban core.  Generally speaking, the closer the development is to the major centers of employment the better,

Commute time has become a quality of life issue for many who live in urban/metropolitan areas the world over.  People are getting tired of commuting two and three hours a day.  This might not affect you directly now, but it does impact the resale value of your home if it is in a location on the extreme edges of the metro area.  

In many urban areas around the world, a new real estate phenomenon is emerging: teardowns.  Simply put, wealthier people living on the fringe of urban areas are buying older homes in communities closer to the core and tearing down the homes to rebuild on the same spot.  This can be an expensive solution to the problem of the long commute, but in the United States in particular, it was a growing trend until the recent collapse of the housing market there.

Another very important consideration when buying a new home and land package is the reputation of the developer.  Real estate development is a profit making venture and indiscriminate cost cutting in the face of rising materials prices can lead to inferior construction.  Believe it or not, some developers actually place developments in areas without sufficient geological and environmental studies, also leading to some surprising results.  Homes in the development sink more than normal and water drainage, to the surprise and shock of the homebuyers, becomes a major problem.

Before you buy a home in a development area, you need to get the names of some of the other projects the developer has completed in the last five to ten years and visit those areas.  Hopefully, you can talk to some of the homeowners there and learn if they have had any issues with walls cracking or other settling problems.

Finally, if you are on a tight budget, be careful when considering “options” to your purchase.  Upgrading countertops, appliances, certain fixtures, and flooring materials can quickly add up to a price that is much higher than you are prepared to pay.  Some developers deliberately advertise “stripped down” prices as an attraction to unsuspecting buyers.  When evaluating one new home against another, make sure your comparison price includes all the options you want.  Good luck with your new home!