Old home or new construction home?

[J&N* 68]

My husband and I have been house hunting in Florida for like 2 months now, we've seen plenty of houses that we didn't like,(a lot of short sales and foreclosures) our budget is a little under $200,000 and we almost bought a house but we backed out after the inspection because it needed repairs for $7,000 and up.

Now we are house hunting again, we are really tired and depressed of all the bad houses we've seen, we are considering a new construction home, but my husband said with all upgrades and so on, it might be at the very top of our budget.

Does anyone have any advice considering our situation? Anyone tried to build a new home? Almost all home builders companies have really bad reviews and we are really confused.

[Darnell 8,478]

I vote for 'old home'.

[^_^ 5,021]

Almost all home builders companies have really bad reviews and we are really confused.

Builders change subcontractors often, so the specifics of reviews of one project won't apply to the others. The only thing that does apply across all projects is the methodology by which they choose subcontractors. A builder that picks bottom of the barrel subcontractors for most projects is likely not going to pick a good one for yours. That said, some complaints are normal - look for excessive numbers of them as a warning sign. Also look at the average time between buy and sell at a builders past projects.. that is usually a good indicator. Drive through their old projects and eyeball their homes.

Old homes can be awesome or they can suck a s s. If that's what you want, get a good inspector and just keep looking.

[Ontarkie 13,915]

I'm one for older homes. You just need to be patient and keep looking. Depending on what you are looking for you can often get a lot more for your money in an older home. As for new construction if you don't know a lot about building a house builders can take advantage of you and you end up paying way too much just to find out they cut corners to save time or money. It can be very frustrating doing either. But take your time and check things out.

[justashooter 430]

do a web search on "chinese drywall" and you will see that there is a time frame in florida homebuilding history that you want to avoid like the plague. the homes built in this time frame are likely to contain chinese made drywall that is high in sulfur emission likelihood. the sulfur will convert to sulfuric acid under the right conditions and rot out any metal in the house structure, impairing the structural stability of the house.

florida is like texas is like nevada. lots of ####### homes slapped up there in the last 15 years. better homes were made in the 1970's and 1980's. these "older" homes are among the best of the market in many areas, as they are in desireable areas near major cities, often in gated or well planned communities. in today's market you should get something smallish in a nice planned suburban communitiy for 2 bills.

[Darnell 8,478]

yup - I like 'older' ...

have you been talking to the 'older residents' face to face in these communities? they know all, can tell you about their friends who want to sell but refuse to list it, hating realtors even more than I do. brownies are useful ! can you bake ?

[J&N* 68]

okay, update!

We've moved to Illinois and now looking for a house in Naperville, IL (voted the best place to live by money magazine in 2006), our budget is under average of what most people can afford there but the houses we've looked at are beautiful and upgraded. My father in law (controlling as he is) kept telling us that we shouldn't buy homes built in the 70es and the 80es cause they were all shady and built during bad economy, funny thing is, there are NO brand new homes or even a 10 year old houses in that area, they're either in the 70es or 80es and few in the 90es.

Is he right?? Anywhere too far will be so far from Chicago where my husband works.

[rin and john 71]

okay, update!

We've moved to Illinois and now looking for a house in Naperville, IL (voted the best place to live by money magazine in 2006), our budget is under average of what most people can afford there but the houses we've looked at are beautiful and upgraded. My father in law (controlling as he is) kept telling us that we shouldn't buy homes built in the 70es and the 80es cause they were all shady and built during bad economy, funny thing is, there are NO brand new homes or even a 10 year old houses in that area, they're either in the 70es or 80es and few in the 90es.

Is he right?? Anywhere too far will be so far from Chicago where my husband works.

He is probably right for some areas, but may be way off base in an area such as Naperville. I moved to Memphis and bought a home in a very nice neighborhood that was built in the mid-80s. It is a very well built home. We did use a home inspector prior to closing who commented on the builder as being one of the best in the area during that time. Since that time we have had renovations done and the general contractor made similar comments as to how well the house was built.

I have been on the other end of the spectrum when I had a new home built in Savannah, GA. It was the first house I had built and the builder cut corners whenever he could. Lived their about 11 years and could really notice the poor workmanship over time. The builder basically went out of business about a year after my home was complete as his reputation was #######. I should have done more homework; lesson learned.

My advise, find a respectable home inspector and once you find a home try and find other homes from the same builder, get opinions from others regarding the builder. Check with the better business bureau, etc.

Also, a great website for househunting and checking home values, etc, is www.zillow.com. It was recommended to me by a mortgage rep at my bank. He said they use it all the time as part of their appraisal process.

[Guinness 3]

Have you looked in Lemont, woodridge, lookport , frankfort is really nice,

Many good deals in these areas. Lot of new homes also going below cost

okay, update!

We've moved to Illinois and now looking for a house in Naperville, IL (voted the best place to live by money magazine in 2006), our budget is under average of what most people can afford there but the houses we've looked at are beautiful and upgraded. My father in law (controlling as he is) kept telling us that we shouldn't buy homes built in the 70es and the 80es cause they were all shady and built during bad economy, funny thing is, there are NO brand new homes or even a 10 year old houses in that area, they're either in the 70es or 80es and few in the 90es.

Is he right?? Anywhere too far will be so far from Chicago where my husband works.

[Guinness 3]

I would try Lemont first has train service downtown.

Many good deals now old and new

[웃 910]

okay, update!

We've moved to Illinois and now looking for a house in Naperville, IL (voted the best place to live by money magazine in 2006), our budget is under average of what most people can afford there but the houses we've looked at are beautiful and upgraded. My father in law (controlling as he is) kept telling us that we shouldn't buy homes built in the 70es and the 80es cause they were all shady and built during bad economy, funny thing is, there are NO brand new homes or even a 10 year old houses in that area, they're either in the 70es or 80es and few in the 90es.

Is he right?? Anywhere too far will be so far from Chicago where my husband works.

I'd find a real estate agent, and give him your price parameters. Maybe $170,000 to $220,000.

Each morning you'll get a list of homes in that price range sent to your email.

Go and see the ones you think you might like.

I'd go for brand new

Edited September 15, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[J&N* 68]

I've researched some and I know that Naperville has very strict building codes and houses go through "double" inspection. All new houses I've seen (in Florida at least) were built very poorly because new builders use cheap material and you end up getting a home with no upgrades what so ever and if you add any you end you paying an arm and a leg. Seems like the majority of people do prefer older homes to new ones.

[rlogan 2,036]

You can have an engineer inspect any home you want. Call around and get different quotes on what an inspection would cost. On two hundred grand the payment for an engineer to look at it is well worth the price if you don't know anything about buildings.

[J&N* 68]

I'm definitely getting an inspector, I'm not going to take any chances on our first house. Hopefully houses in Naperville aren't as bad as in central Florida!