New Construction Or Existing Home Pros And Cons

New build or existing home? That one choice can change your monthly payment, your weekends, and even how you feel when you pull into the driveway. We talk through the real pros and cons of new construction vs existing homes, using what we’re seeing across the Minnesota Twin Cities real estate market and comparing it to the Sioux Falls market where pricing and build options can look very different.

We dig into why modern new construction floor plans often live better than older layouts, how bigger windows and improved window technology can deliver light without killing energy efficiency, and why newer materials can keep a 10-year-old house looking nearly brand new. We also get honest about the tradeoffs: higher upfront cost, potential construction loan financing, and the biggest one for many buyers, the wait. If you need a home now, a 9 to 12 month build timeline may not fit your life.

Then we flip to existing homes and explain why buyers still chase established neighborhoods with mature trees, closer amenities, and more attainable price points. We cover the downside too: outdated floor plans, more repairs and maintenance, and higher utility bills when insulation and windows are older. You’ll also hear why resale homes often have more competition and how to think about total cost over a 10-year window instead of only the purchase price.

Plus, don’t miss the Legal Minute: a key Minnesota landlord-tenant rule about accepting partial rent payments and how your lease language can affect your ability to pursue an eviction.

If you found this helpful, subscribe for weekly real estate clarity, share it with a friend who’s house hunting, and leave a review. Are you leaning new construction or existing, and what’s the deciding factor for you?

You can always find U. S. Home Talk and connect with the hosts and the community at their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/U.S.HomeTalk/ or at our website, USHomeTalk.com

Transcript

Jason Walgrave 0:31

And welcome back, folks. This is U.S. Home Talk. It is Wednesday. And we are happy to be back. We've got a big show planned for today. Jason Walgrave here with Walgrave Real Estate Group and the Minnesota Real Estate Team at Remax Advantage Plus. We've got the great mortgage magician, Mortgage Mike Overson with Illuminate Home Loans. We've got the great Stu Empire top real estate agent and team, Marcus Walgrave with Hag Realtors. Guys, I feel like I feel like the Wolf Pack is back. I feel like the gang is back. It's pretty funny. So it was pretty good. But uh who's Alan?

Mike Ouverson 1:28

Who's Alan of the Wolfpack? Marcus?

Jason Walgrave 1:31

There's no beard. He needs to get the beard. I'm the beard, you know? He's all clean-shaving right now.

Mike Ouverson 1:36

Well, like in the second one, he shaves his head and keeps the beard. So if Marcus would just grow a beard, I think.

Jason Walgrave 1:41

Grow a beard that's allen like 100 pounds. Gotta grow yourself a big belly.

Mike Ouverson 1:47

Yep. There you go, Marcus.

New Vs Existing Overview

Jason Walgrave 1:50

I can do that. I could do that. I could do that. All right. What are we talking about today, guys? We're talking about new versus old or new versus existing, comparing new construction to uh existing homes. The pros and cons of each, we'll go over uh the list for each one of those. Folks, best way to get a hold of us is our website, ushometalk.com. You can connect with all of our fantastic partners. Connect directly with Mike, Marcus, myself, uh, our insurance master and show producer, Evan Little. You can also find him on ushometalk.com. All of our other fantastic partners are there as well. So all things real estate, anything and everything real estate related, go check us out on our website, ushometalk.com. Um, of course, um you'll see us every Wednesday at noon via Facebook and YouTube. We do appreciate uh whether you're tuning in uh at noon on Wednesdays or later in the week. Um we're getting more and more downloads each week, so we do appreciate uh folks uh tuning in and um checking out what we have to uh what we have to talk about. Usually it's pretty good, I think. Usually.

Mike Ouverson 2:57

Yeah, I'd say so.

Jason Walgrave 2:58

Usually, yeah. Usually more hits than misses. More hits than misses. Got it. Need that bats, so don't we? We need that bats. All right, let's jump into it. Uh we got a text line open. If you want to text in your questions, the text line is 612 2347585. Uh all questions related to real estate. So not just our topic, but uh all things real estate. You can text in your questions. Also, feel free uh to leave uh comments or questions on Facebook and YouTube, however it is that you are streaming the show today. Existing ver what do you guys want to do? You want to do new first or you want to do existing first? What do you think?

Marcus Walgrave 3:41

New spring parade. There we go.

Jason Walgrave 3:43

Come to go. Have you guys had your spring parade, Marcus? No, okay.

Marcus Walgrave 3:47

We just finished ours is over two weekends. Okay, and uh first, usually the first and second weekend in May. Okay. Oh wow, correct.

Jason Walgrave 3:54

So we we finished up ours. We had it four weeks long, and um it was uh a lot of really cool homes, great ideas. Oh, yes, Mike?

Mike Ouverson 4:02

Uh just like to I would I would just like to point out that South Dakota has another thing that they do correct versus Minnesota. Um, I won't get into the other things, right? But it makes sense to me to do it in May because look at the type of weather swings that we had during our parade this year. I mean, we we saw an 80-degree day, we saw snow and literally literally yeah, a blizzard, and then literally we had tornadoes uh two days ago. So why are we doing our spring parade during just this crazy weather swinging time period?

Jason Walgrave 4:35

Yep, I I couldn't agree more. I mean, there there we had to cancel uh the Sunday that we had the big storm. You know, I think there was 14 or 15 inches that rolled through. And um plus I think homes present better in in May, you know, late April and May than they do in February and March, just simply because of the the leaves and the grass and everything's greener, looks nicer. So yes, uh Mr. Overson, we will add that to the list of many things that South Dakota does better than Minnesota.

Marcus Walgrave 5:02

Okay, thank you. We're looking forward to ours. It's it's uh you know starting to shape up and and you even start seeing I know I know it's a little soon for like sod to get delivered, but you know, these new construction homes that are that are getting finished up here in the upcoming weeks or just have gotten done. I mean, a lot of them have sod shipped from down south by like end of June. They'll look like they got yards that have been around for five, six years. And it's just like snap the finger, it's like holy buckets. This is brand new, but it looks like you know it's got a uh mature landscaping and everything. So it's pretty cool.

New Builds And Modern Design

Jason Walgrave 5:36

It it's really cool. Marcus, you got you got that uh those folks behind you that are building that monster of a house. I think it's gotta be what were we guessing? 12,000, 14,000 square feet. I mean, I think it's kind of 12,000. Huge. It is big huge. So a lot, a lot of new construction in Sioux Falls and the Sioux Falls area um as the Twin City. So let's talk about it. New construction, let's talk about the pros. Modern floor plans, uh, open spaces, flex room, larger windows. Um, I tell you what, the the the floor plans, I I feel like in the last five plus years, we are seeing a the trend of gimme the biggest house I can afford. I want square feet, you know, square feet, square feet. That's not really what buyers are looking for anymore. They they want a very thoughtful uh and and usable floor plan. Um I've seen homes with 3,000 square feet that feel bigger than homes that have 4,500 square feet because they're designed better. Uh the other thing that I love in new homes that we're seeing more and more of is more windows. I mean, I'm talking floor-to-ceiling windows, um, especially if you've got a you know you're on acreage or maybe you're on the lake. Um, I love the windows in in these newer homes. Um, and then you get all the tech that goes with it.

Marcus Walgrave 6:56

Shout out to all the window manufacturers as well, right? I mean, we go back 30 years ago and there's maybe one or two premier window makers, uh, and they were significantly more expensive than everybody. But you know, from kind of what I hear in that industry, you know, the tech kind of plateaued about 20 years ago, and then once that plateaus, then the price comes down. Now you're start starting to see like the premier uh window maker, and they're they're selling their product, you know, the the 100 level or entry level uh window, and and it's super affordable, and they're super efficient. So like to your point, Jason, like you can have a wall of windows, and you're not you know really sacrificing too much in terms of energy efficiency.

Maintenance And Utility Savings

Jason Walgrave 7:35

Yeah, you're you're right. You go back 20 years ago and and most windows had you know the wood, uh they're wood, wood windows, and they got the wood sill and the the it's all wood surround. Um a lot of those windows after 15-20 years either require replacement because they weren't maintained properly. Um so the new you know, vinyl uh windows uh and the designs look fantastic, right? I mean, 20 years ago, vinyl windows look kind of cheap and and they weren't they weren't really desirable. Um but the new ones look fantastic, they last longer, they got uh you know their double pane or even triple pane. Uh some of them have the blinds inside or in between the panes, and so um you're right, Marcus. A lot of really great window manufacturers out there doing a good job right now. Talking about new construction pros. Uh we've talked about modern floor plans. Uh the next one on our list, delayed major maintenance costs. Okay, what are we talking about? We're talking about the roof, HVAC, furnace, AC, uh, appliances. Um I met with a um uh a new client yesterday. He's got um, I think it was an 89 built home. Uh nice little split level in in prior lake. I usually can have a pretty good idea on on home values, but you know, just based on pulling up the the information that I have online. Um but my main question was is what what's what's been replaced? Well, he's got a roof that's relatively new, he's got a new furnace, a new AC, new water heater, new water softener. Um appliances are only a couple years old. You know, so he's got the majority of those big dollar items that he's replaced in the last couple years, that that makes a big difference for for buyers, right? But there's a cost to it. Um new construction, I don't know, you really don't have to worry about a whole lot for at least a decade. Uh and then depending on what you put in there, maybe even longer, maybe 15, 20, 25 years on those things. So uh delayed major maintenance costs on new construction, big advantage, big pro.

Mike Ouverson 9:36

I had a guy, so I sold a set of rims that I had in my garage for a couple years that my wife kept on nagging me about. Like it's like it's like they didn't even fit on your truck, right? They didn't fit on my truck I had anymore. They were just in the garage, right? And I like I keep telling her, like, babe, babe, if you if you have something for me to do, all you gotta do is tell me once. You don't have to remind me every six months. I'll get it done, okay?

Marcus Walgrave 9:58

Um six months. That's pretty good. That's pretty easy.

Mike Ouverson 10:03

So anyway, so he pulled up and he was uh he was uh he was in the trades, right? He was a younger kid, he was in the trades, and he pulled up, and we just you know, we got the rim blowed up in this truck and he started talking and found out he was in the trades and stuff. He's like, he's like, you must have just recently built this, huh? And I'm like, well, our house will be 10 years old next week. And he's like, You gotta be kidding me. I'm like, no, we built it 20 April 2016 is when it moved in. And you know, it's like the siding looks like it was put on yesterday, the roof still looks like it was put on yesterday. So all these materials, and that's 10 years old, right? Yeah, I mean, all these materials are so weather resistant nowadays, where you got a 10-year-old house and it looks like literally could have been built yesterday.

Jason Walgrave 10:46

100% agree. Before but before the show this morning, I went out and looked at a uh toured at a house that's coming on the market with an agent out of her office here. A beautiful home, beautiful home. Um, out in Crestview Estates. It's 10 years old. It felt brand new. I mean, it you know, it's a high quality builder, uh, custom home, 10-year-old home. It felt brand new. Everything was was just that nice and and uh kept that well. Um talking about pros, um, Mike, you've talked about this. Uh come your last house compared to your current house. Lower utility bills. Um as a result, uh some you know, some stricter building codes, but uh newer energy efficient products. I'm talking about windows, doors, garage doors, insulation, uh your you know, your high efficiency furnace and AC, uh, high efficiency appliances. And so uh lower utility butt bills, um, one of the big pros with new construction.

Mike Ouverson 11:45

The other thing, too, with it is uh I got a a very uh low, low energy uh master of the thermostat, which is me. That also helps utility bills. Yeah, that does help. I don't let my teenage teenage kids touch that. You know what I mean? It's like the other day, like they would have they would have cranked the AC on because it got up to 80 and it was a little bit warm in the house, right? And like give it a couple hours and the sun goes down, guess what? You can open up a window and we're fine, right? So that's the other thing, too, is I would almost I'm almost getting to the point where I want to put one of those clear plastic boxes over it with a lock on it, so I'm the only one that can touch it. Yeah. That also helps too.

Jason Walgrave 12:26

Jen would really appreciate that, right?

Mike Ouverson 12:28

That's a pro tip right there.

Marcus Walgrave 12:30

She gets a key too, Jason.

Jason Walgrave 12:32

Oh, it's just like a retinal scan or thumbprint to open it so no one else can even find the key. Yeah. That's pretty good.

Mike Ouverson 12:40

Because there was at one point I had uh my daughter down in the basement with the furnace on, and I had my daughter upstairs that turned the air conditioner on and they're both running at the same time.

Marcus Walgrave 12:49

Yes.

Mike Ouverson 12:50

Love it. Makes the guy feel bad.

Jason Walgrave 12:52

I mean, it just cancels each other out, right? So it must have been comfortable.

Mike Ouverson 12:55

Right?

Marcus Walgrave 12:58

Well, air was moving. Well, air was moving.

New Construction Cost And Financing

Jason Walgrave 13:01

All right, folks, talking about the difference between new and existing uh pros of new home construction. Uh last one on our list of pros, uh more up front, personalization, uh builder warranties on materials, workmanship, and structural items. So, yeah, I mean, even if you're not doing a custom built home, um, most of the national builders give you the ability to uh to customize the selections, right? And so maybe they only have you know a dozen floor plans, but you get to pick out uh the color of the cabinets and the floors and the carpet and and all of those things. Um it uh it it make it definitely feels more like your home when you're you're picking it out. You're the only one that's ever lived there and you get to choose all those selections. So um one of the the pros is is just to get to personalize it. Uh all right, let's talk about cons. Uh new construction. Uh we're talking about new versus existing. Uh what are the cons of new construction? Uh higher up front cost. It's gonna cost more. Um it's gonna cost more. But we talk about this often, okay. Yes, it may cost more, but what's the cost over a 10-year period between the new one and the existing one? The existing one, you're gonna have to you have to make these improvements or maintenance items or you know, repair, you know, replace the roof or the furnace or what have you. So if you if we calculate it over that 10-year period, the cost is about the same in a lot of cases, right? And so the question is do you want to live in a new home for the next 10 years? Um it's not gonna cost you much as far as maintenance items go. And that that's one of the cons though, is it does cost a little bit more up front. Uh special financing um such as uh construction loans uh often needed. So I I don't think I mean most builders are gonna provide the the financing uh for you, um, but not all builders, and so that would be an additional cost. Some builders require the client, the buyer, to go out and and get a construction loan uh to build the home. And then when it's done, uh you do uh an an end loan or permanent financing. And so the reality on that folks is that whether you're taking out the construction loan or the builder is, you're paying for it. I mean, I mean it's just you know, it just that you're paying for it one way or the other, right? So those financing costs on construction loans are passed on to the buyer anyway, but it can be a more of an upfront cost on occasions.

Marcus Walgrave 15:23

However, there are some really uh interesting and and and affordable and cool new construction loan products that people like Mike can offer. So I mean, if it is something where you are uh as the consumer needing to take out the loan, you know, reach out to Mike and have that conversation because um you know long rate locks, things of that nature, uh some really, really good products out there for new construction.

Build Timelines And Patience

Jason Walgrave 15:47

Yeah, yeah. Mike, you get you got you and Luminate have some great new construction products. So we do definitely appreciate what you guys have to offer. Newverse existing. We're talking about the cons of new construction, uh longer wait times. Um, I mean, look, we live in a world where we want things now. Uh we have we want immediate um immediate gratification on whatever it is we're we're pursuing. Uh a lot of people don't have the patience to wait. Um sometimes they don't have the patience to wait 30 days, you know, and and a house could take nine to twelve months to build. Uh, some homes take 18 to 24 months. These are gonna be big custom homes, of course. Um, but you're gonna wait. Uh, and that's not always um that's not always an option for some folks. Um and some folks just don't have the patience for it.

Marcus Walgrave 16:32

So I mean it's it's one of our high volume builders in our market, Jason and Mike, came in and and uh gave us a presentation uh earlier in the month, and um you know their entry level home, um he they said it's gonna take about five months.

Jason Walgrave 16:47

Okay.

Marcus Walgrave 16:48

And interesting, right? Because like when I got into the business the first of 2014, I mean they're like four months easy. Easy 90 days, yeah. Yeah, some are doing like 90 days. So so when you hear that, you know, the the entry level home, and we're talking probably, you know, 1150, 1250 square feet for a foundation. So not a big home, not not not a lot of uh material and and and a lot of work, but it's just the nature of the world that we live in in real estate, and uh you need it need a little bit more time.

Amenities And New Neighborhood Feel

Jason Walgrave 17:21

Folks, if you have questions about real estate, be sure to check out our website, ushometalk.com. During the show, we've got a real estate hotline number. Uh you can text in your questions to 612-234-7585. Uh call or text that number anytime. It's a 24-hour real estate hotline number. Uh, you can also ask questions and and uh leave comments on Facebook and YouTube. Um we love to um we'd love to hear your your thoughts on what we're talking about. New versus existing. We're talking about new construction, went through the pros. Now we're going through the cons. Uh two left on the list. Um New construction often uh is further out from amenities. And and so you know, as uh metros fill in, uh there, you know, and those lots fill in, uh sometimes you gotta go out further and further and further, right? And so you're on the you know, outside of the metro or a little bit out. If you're looking for acreage, you're gonna have to go out a little bit further. Um along with that is gonna come uh landscaping. Uh there's there's sparse landscaping on some of these new developments. Uh sometimes a you know national developer builder will come in, they'll buy a big cornfield, bean field, and they'll just start developing and popping up houses. But it's gonna landscaping's gonna be sparse potentially, and so you gotta keep that in mind. Um it'll look great in 10 or 15 years, but sometimes in the beginning it it feels um it feels a little cold. So um pros and cons.

Marcus Walgrave 18:45

Sioux Falls just passed a city ordinance a couple years ago requiring the div the builder to plant uh um uh two trees, one in the boulevard and one in the front yard, before they will uh grant the uh builder for an owner occupancy certificate. So before that that document's required before you can close on it at the title company. So um, you know, the cities are kind of you know realizing like, hey, if we don't kind of force the hand to put a tree in the front of the yard or in the boulevard, it's just not going to happen. And then to your point, you know, it may take 10, 15, 20 years down the road before trees start popping up, and then it feels like a really nice established neighborhood.

Legal Minute For Landlords

Jason Walgrave 19:26

Yeah, I think that's a good ordinance. Um most of the cities that that we've been um selling in in the metro have that. It's two trees in the front, you know, and and I think that um I think I agree. I think it's good. Um trees just make a development in a neighborhood feel better, I think. So I think it's good. All right, before we go on to existing pros and cons, let's jump over and do a legal minute. Um that is, of course, if if um I look at that. Look at that. Bam.

Jeff O'Brien 20:00

This is Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hush Blackwell with a U.S. Home Talk legal minute. For residential landlords in Minnesota, one of the most common mistakes made with a non-paying tenant is accepting part payment of rent prior to an eviction action. Minnesota law is clear that in order to accept partial payment of rent and still be able to pursue an eviction action, the lease must contain a clause which explicitly permits the landlord to do so. If such a clause is not included in the lease, the landlord's acceptance of partial payment constitutes a waiver of the landlord's right to evict the tenant for the month in which part payment is made. However, the landlord can still pursue a civil action against the tenant for a money judgment, regardless of the acceptance of partial payment for any month or months. This is Jeff O'Brien, attorney with Hosh Blackwell with a U.S. Home Talk legal minute.

Jason Walgrave 20:39

Jeff, thank you for that legal minute. That's that was a good one.

Jeff O'Brien 20:43

That was interesting.

Existing Homes Price And Location

Jason Walgrave 20:43

I didn't know that. Super interesting. I I was not aware of that either. So um, all you landlords out there, make sure you've got that clause in your lease. Um thanks, Jeff. We appreciate it. All right, existing new versus existing pros and cons. We went through the new uh pros and cons. Now let's go through the existing pros, lower price options available. I mean, absolutely true. You know, I mean, we're you know, I I I've showed a number of you know$350,000 to$400,000 single family homes in the area in in the last uh couple weeks. There is no new construction at that price. I mean, I mean you gotta go, I mean, you might get a town home, you know, for for that price, new construction. There's no how much was that again, Jason?

Marcus Walgrave 21:27

Sorry?

Jason Walgrave 21:27

Three three fifty to four. Okay. So so I mean, it's you know, I mean, you're probably I don't know that you can get in under five uh on new construction in the metro. If you go way out, you know, way out, you might be able to, but uh hardware.

Mike Ouverson 21:45

Hardware to Minnesota.

Jason Walgrave 21:46

So so lower prices, uh lower prices are are one of the pros.

Mike Ouverson 21:50

So let's talk about that real quick. So, Jason, what would you say single family, right? Three bedroom, two bath, split level, whatever, right? Entry level home, single family in the Minnesota metro. Area, what are those prices starting at?

Jason Walgrave 22:03

I mean, they're gonna around 400. You know, I mean I think you can find find one for 375 that needs work. Um, but you know, something relatively moving easy, it's gonna they're gonna start around 400.

Mike Ouverson 22:15

New construction wise? What do you would you say?

Jason Walgrave 22:17

I don't I don't remember seeing one under five for a long time.

Mike Ouverson 22:20

What about your market?

Jason Walgrave 22:21

Single family home? Yeah.

Mike Ouverson 22:23

I don't know if you can get a single family home new construction, even if it's your base level whatever up here, you have to get out out. You got to get in the country before it gets lower. How about your market, your your market, Marcus?

Marcus Walgrave 22:34

You can get in a brand new new construction home in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota market, two bedrooms, two baths, just under twelve hundred square feet for$354.5 from one of our uh volume builders. And that's that's pretty much. There's probably gonna be maybe three or four other b buyers that can or builders that can offer um a similar product at a similar price.

Jason Walgrave 23:01

How much to finish the basement?

Marcus Walgrave 23:04

Uh they're usually right around like$50 a square foot. So that if that basement had$900 option, you know, another you know$45, so you're fully finished under four.

Jason Walgrave 23:17

Uh that's pretty good.

Marcus Walgrave 23:18

Okay. Okay.

Jason Walgrave 23:19

That's real good.

Marcus Walgrave 23:20

Yeah, so you're 2,000 square feet, four-bedroom, three bath, three-stall garage.

Jason Walgrave 23:26

It's not like in a mobile home park or something, is it?

Marcus Walgrave 23:29

Just making dreams happen here in Seafall, South Dakota, Jason. Don't be hating.

Mike Ouverson 23:36

Uh yeah.

Marcus Walgrave 23:37

I love it.

Mike Ouverson 23:39

Okay. So just so basically just under four up in the metro area here, probably you're probably sitting at five.

unknown 23:44

Yeah.

Marcus Walgrave 23:45

We've talked about that in the past, right? I mean, we we've always felt like uh apples to apples, you're the the twin cities is gonna be ten to fifteen percent more expensive than than the Sioux Falls, the Sioux Empire market.

Jason Walgrave 23:57

Yep. Yeah, that sounds about right. Um talking about pros, uh when you're choosing existing, established neighborhoods and and mature landscaping. So, you know, that that would be uh the opposite of new construction, right? I mean, we um our neighborhood that we live in, I I think that it was developed the beginning of it was developed probably 30 years ago. Um but my goodness, is there some really nice trees and you know, and and mature landscaping throughout, and and I I think there's a lot to to desire with that.

Mike Ouverson 24:34

Um are the homeowners the low immature, you think, in your neighborhood there, Jason?

Jason Walgrave 24:40

Well, I mean, are you talking about me?

Mike Ouverson 24:43

I mean, maybe pain in the butt.

Jason Walgrave 24:46

Pain in the butt. My HOA thinks I'm a pain in the butt sometimes, but that's that's all right. Um, and then uh look, existing homes folks, they're moving ready, you know, and so that you know you can, you know, you can close typically in 30 days. Sometimes you can close in two weeks. You know, if you got cash and a motivated seller and they're willing to move, you can, I mean, you can close in a week, you know. It's a Mike.

Marcus Walgrave 25:07

I mean, how fast can you guys can do it? About three weeks, can't you? Or sooner?

Mike Ouverson 25:10

For what a closing?

Marcus Walgrave 25:12

Yeah.

Mike Ouverson 25:12

I just I just knocked one out. I just knocked one out in nine days. Nine nine calendar days. Yep.

Jason Walgrave 25:23

That's that's impressive.

Mike Ouverson 25:24

Nine calendar days. It was a fallout from another place. We said we could pick it up, right? So we rocked and rolled, and yep, we could start to finish, got clear to close in nine days. But that's not the case, right? That's not typical, right? That's not gonna happen in every single one. It stresses the system, but can we do it?

Jason Walgrave 25:40

It wasn't stressful for you guys. That one was a fun one to do, wasn't it?

Mike Ouverson 25:43

Very relaxing and very relaxing, yeah. I really didn't do a whole lot. I was just I took a lot of naps during that one.

Marcus Walgrave 25:50

Done by 4 30 p.m. every day.

Mike Ouverson 25:53

Yeah, yeah.

Marcus Walgrave 25:54

Weekends off.

Existing Home Downsides And Competition

Jason Walgrave 25:55

All right, talking about uh existing versus new construction, our last pro for existing homes, uh value add on potentials, uh potential with remodels and cosmetic updates. So whether you're talking about finishing a basement, uh, you're talking about remodeling a kitchen or a bathroom, uh adding finished square feet, um, there's there's opportunity uh in um, especially if it's you know if it's dated. You know, we we've worked with so many investors over the years where they they target homes that are tired and have no updates, you know, and they come in and they refresh it and and uh make the you know make it feel really new and nice and modern. And so there's um not just for investors but for for homeowners as well. There's an opportunity uh to build um some equity uh through some uh potential remodels and updates. All right, talk about cons, existing homes versus new uh homes. We're talking about the cons of existing. Number one, outdated floor plans. I see it often. I mean, we see it often. We go in and and look at an existing home, and the buyers are like, man, this is you know, this is got good bones, it's a great neighborhood. The floor plan is terrible. Walls everywhere, you know, and and so uh definitely outdated floor plans. Uh today's you know, modern builds are I think we we're just doing a really good job with with design and and floor plan design of homes. So uh that's one of the cons for existing is is outdated floor plans. Uh more repairs and maintenance. Uh we talked about that as well, you know, depending on how how old the home is and how old um the furnace and AC and roof and windows, and I mean it can add up. You know, there can also be an opportunity there if if you buy it at the right price. Um, but you know, the these costs are you know, generally you gotta pay for those uh cash. You know, and so um you're gonna have more repairs than existing homes and new construction. Next on our list, higher utility bills. Uh if products and materials are less energy efficient. I I'm smiling because um we've all seen homes where the insulation is um newspaper, you know, or or it's that I don't know what that other stuff was in the walls, Marcus, growing up um in our house, but asbestos.

Mike Ouverson 28:12

Yeah, asbestos.

Jason Walgrave 28:15

No big deal. Don't worry about that.

Mike Ouverson 28:18

No big deal.

Jason Walgrave 28:19

Single pane windows. Oh man, those are brutal in the winter, right? They're gonna ice up and fog up, and they're not gonna be energy efficient. Um, so uh higher utility bills are gonna come from a lot of those older homes because the materials just aren't as uh efficient.

Mike Ouverson 28:35

Nice nice lead-based paint. You know, the good stuff, the stuff that used to last.

Jason Walgrave 28:42

Just don't eat the paint chips. Um less personalized, of course, right? Existing homes, you're you're gonna get what you're gonna get. Sure, you can remodel and you can make changes, but initially um you're not gonna be personalizing a whole lot um uh unless you want to do once you own it and move in. Maybe you're gonna do new carpet or you're gonna do those things. But usually existing is um it is what it is. Uh it used to be sellers could offer buyers uh carpet allowances or paint allowances or you know countertop allowances. Um that's not allowed any longer. Buyers, you know, buyers and sellers can't exchange funds for those type items unless you did something type of escrow, which no one wants to do. So um less personalized, and then last on our list, um I think there's I think this is a con. I think there's more competition uh from other buyers in existing. And I think there's a couple reasons for that. One, because you don't have to wait. Uh two, because the prices are more competitive, they're priced a bit lower. Um and and three, there's just more existing than than uh more existing buyers than there are new new construction. A lot of buyers don't realize um that it's just as easy to get in new construction in a lot of cases as it is existing. Um so you're probably gonna have more competition with existing buyers than new construction buyers.

Marcus Walgrave 30:06

Great list. I think so th those those buyers too. I mean, I hear it all the time. Um one of the reasons why they want that existing is just for that mature neighborhood. You know, they're just like we really want to be in a mature neighborhood. And and to your point, usually that mature neighborhood is already near the regional shopping center or the school or the uh community uh rec center or whatever it might be. So they just see this like it there's more of desire with that existing neighborhood, um and that which again creates that that higher demand.

Final Takeaways And Sign Off

Jason Walgrave 30:40

Yep, location, location, location, right? Drive drives up values. Folks, we do appreciate you tuning in this week. Looking forward to seeing you again next week. Um, this has been U.S. Home Talk, Jason Walgrave here with Marcus Walgrave and Mortgage Mike Overson, Evan Little in the background. Um, I want everybody to have a fantastic week. See you next Wednesday.