The Move-Up Buyer: What do new homes offer this growing buyer segment
October 21, 2011
Truly move-in ready
The time is right to buy new construction home.
Whether you’re a move-up buyer, downsizing buyer, or a renter buying for the first time, understand this about today’s home buying environment: There may never have been a better moment in history than now to buy a new home.
Factors include the ability to land the most modern features, gain the most environmentally friendly and efficient operational features and enjoy the comfort of knowing big-ticket items from roof to furnace won’t soon need to be replaced, says Diana Ivas, broker associate with RE/MAX Elite in Hinsdale.
Among the biggest aesthetic benefits of new homes are higher ceilings, Ivas says. Most have 9- or 10-foot ceilings and many others boast cathedral or vaulted ceilings. “They give you much more of a feeling of opulence, and in many cases the windows are taller as a result of the higher ceilings,” she says. “That provides more natural light, one of the first things people look for.”
Finishes are also likely to be more up to date. For instance, the oak floors of old have given way to Brazilian cherry and walnut floors. Highly-sought wide plank and hand-scraped floors are also more likely to be found in new homes. Glossy white ceramic tile was big in the 1990s, but today dates a home. New homes often feature natural stone, tumbled marble and terra cotta, Ivas says.
“And here’s a biggie,” she adds. “A resale house from the 1980s might have brass fixtures, but today people prefer brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze.”
Newer homes also tend to make better use of space, and nowhere is that more evident than in today’s more livable basements, stresses Doug Reynolds, president of Northfield’s Reynolds Architecture, which in addition to being an architectural firm is also a home builder. The basements of new homes, like the upper levels, are often invested with higher 9- or 10-foot ceilings, and they tend to feature larger windows and more expansive concrete window sills, he says.
These features help ensure the once dark and dingy lower level now can be turned into a home theater, gym and in some cases indoor driving ranges.
Outside, new houses are using more stone than brick on the exteriors, and many are serving up “a more East Coast, even Nantucket feel,” Ivas says.
“So you’re not only getting the interior features, but you’re also getting the very latest look and style in new homes” on the outside, she says.
New mechanicals
Of even more importance to many buyers in these stressful economic times is the knowledge that in purchasing a new home, they are also garnering greater operational efficiencies and corresponding cost savings. “If you’re buying an older home, you’re buying obsolete technology,” says Dave Faganel, sales manager of Batavia-based Faganel Builders LLC, a semi-custom builder in suburban Chicago. “It will cost you more to operate, and cost you more on utilities, which are only going to go up in price . . . The newer houses just perform so much better. We’re creating a differential between new and older houses.”
In addition to performing better, new homes also offer peace of mind that comes with knowing replacement costs can be deferred for a decade or more. For instance, homes currently being built by Faganel Builders come with 10-year warranties on furnaces, air conditioning and windows. It doesn’t make sense to buy new if you‘re planning on living in a home two or three years, Faganel says, quickly adding, “But if you’re going to be in a home for years and years, it does.
“It just becomes a better value from the standpoint of energy usage, and not having to change out such things as appliances and furnaces.”
Dick Greenwood, Northbrook-based director of builder marketing for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, is another expert who cites operational and energy efficiencies as top reasons to buy new. “In the last two or three years, the building industry has revamped everything,” he says. “For instance, all the insulation manufacturers have come out with new insulation.
“Now foam is sprayed between joists and wall studs, and creates a much more energy efficient home than you could get with old fiberglass batt insulation.”
New home buyers also have to worry less about such issues as water damage in their basements, according to Reynolds. “Sump pumps, the bane of everyone’s existence, are less likely to fail,” he says.
“And you’re likely to have a better drainage system in a new home. When we build a home, we’ll have both interior drain tile under the home, and exterior drain tile outside the home. Some older homes don’t have drain tile at all. We’ll also put in multiple sump pits so if there’s an obstruction, the water has multiple ways of flow away from the home. Generally speaking, new homes have more money invested in protecting the home from a dewatering point of view.”
Whether moving up or downsizing into a new home, you can’t expect that abode to be perfect forever, Ivas says. But new homes are nonetheless good values. “They’re exciting to move into,” she adds. “You’ll be the first person to decorate it. You’ll be the first person to make that house a home.”
October 21, 2011
Truly move-in ready
The time is right to buy new construction home.
Whether you’re a move-up buyer, downsizing buyer, or a renter buying for the first time, understand this about today’s home buying environment: There may never have been a better moment in history than now to buy a new home.
Factors include the ability to land the most modern features, gain the most environmentally friendly and efficient operational features and enjoy the comfort of knowing big-ticket items from roof to furnace won’t soon need to be replaced, says Diana Ivas, broker associate with RE/MAX Elite in Hinsdale.
Among the biggest aesthetic benefits of new homes are higher ceilings, Ivas says. Most have 9- or 10-foot ceilings and many others boast cathedral or vaulted ceilings. “They give you much more of a feeling of opulence, and in many cases the windows are taller as a result of the higher ceilings,” she says. “That provides more natural light, one of the first things people look for.”
Finishes are also likely to be more up to date. For instance, the oak floors of old have given way to Brazilian cherry and walnut floors. Highly-sought wide plank and hand-scraped floors are also more likely to be found in new homes. Glossy white ceramic tile was big in the 1990s, but today dates a home. New homes often feature natural stone, tumbled marble and terra cotta, Ivas says.
“And here’s a biggie,” she adds. “A resale house from the 1980s might have brass fixtures, but today people prefer brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze.”
Newer homes also tend to make better use of space, and nowhere is that more evident than in today’s more livable basements, stresses Doug Reynolds, president of Northfield’s Reynolds Architecture, which in addition to being an architectural firm is also a home builder. The basements of new homes, like the upper levels, are often invested with higher 9- or 10-foot ceilings, and they tend to feature larger windows and more expansive concrete window sills, he says.
These features help ensure the once dark and dingy lower level now can be turned into a home theater, gym and in some cases indoor driving ranges.
Outside, new houses are using more stone than brick on the exteriors, and many are serving up “a more East Coast, even Nantucket feel,” Ivas says.
“So you’re not only getting the interior features, but you’re also getting the very latest look and style in new homes” on the outside, she says.
New mechanicals
Of even more importance to many buyers in these stressful economic times is the knowledge that in purchasing a new home, they are also garnering greater operational efficiencies and corresponding cost savings. “If you’re buying an older home, you’re buying obsolete technology,” says Dave Faganel, sales manager of Batavia-based Faganel Builders LLC, a semi-custom builder in suburban Chicago. “It will cost you more to operate, and cost you more on utilities, which are only going to go up in price . . . The newer houses just perform so much better. We’re creating a differential between new and older houses.”
In addition to performing better, new homes also offer peace of mind that comes with knowing replacement costs can be deferred for a decade or more. For instance, homes currently being built by Faganel Builders come with 10-year warranties on furnaces, air conditioning and windows. It doesn’t make sense to buy new if you‘re planning on living in a home two or three years, Faganel says, quickly adding, “But if you’re going to be in a home for years and years, it does.
“It just becomes a better value from the standpoint of energy usage, and not having to change out such things as appliances and furnaces.”
Dick Greenwood, Northbrook-based director of builder marketing for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, is another expert who cites operational and energy efficiencies as top reasons to buy new. “In the last two or three years, the building industry has revamped everything,” he says. “For instance, all the insulation manufacturers have come out with new insulation.
“Now foam is sprayed between joists and wall studs, and creates a much more energy efficient home than you could get with old fiberglass batt insulation.”
New home buyers also have to worry less about such issues as water damage in their basements, according to Reynolds. “Sump pumps, the bane of everyone’s existence, are less likely to fail,” he says.
“And you’re likely to have a better drainage system in a new home. When we build a home, we’ll have both interior drain tile under the home, and exterior drain tile outside the home. Some older homes don’t have drain tile at all. We’ll also put in multiple sump pits so if there’s an obstruction, the water has multiple ways of flow away from the home. Generally speaking, new homes have more money invested in protecting the home from a dewatering point of view.”
Whether moving up or downsizing into a new home, you can’t expect that abode to be perfect forever, Ivas says. But new homes are nonetheless good values. “They’re exciting to move into,” she adds. “You’ll be the first person to decorate it. You’ll be the first person to make that house a home.”
