New Homes in Commack: Is New Right For You?

If you’ve ever thought about purchasing new construction on Long Island, right now is the time for you to be looking. With the real estate market where it is, it is more affordable than ever to buy new construction. On Long Island, your choices are limited. The amount of vacant real estate available in this once farmland space, isbasicallycompletely developed. Many neighborhoods have instituted regulations on construction, conserving the remaining farmland and open areas.

Nonetheless, new construction is still available and may be perfect for the new homeowner. If you’ve been searching at real estate, and have considered new construction, you should review this:

1. Older homes, while “charming” on the outside, are, in fact, old homes. Over time they age. Many houses in the40 to70-year-old range have become “knock downs”purchased by builders to put up new construction. If you’re buying an older house, it may cost you a lot in the long run with upgrades and repairs.

2. New construction gives you more freedom. Very few people ever locate the “perfect home” of their dreams. Generally, they need to paint, wallpaper, remove carpeting, move walls, renovate bathrooms and kitchens and a list of various tasks that become very expensive. That older houses that looked like a bargain becomes extremely costly once you’ve done the repairs and modifications you want.

3. With new construction, you do not have to live through renovations. Kitchen repairs, expansions and modifications to your house can take months-even years. All the while, you are living in a construction zone.

4. You also have the added costs of doing these renovations, which must be purchased on top of the asking price of the house. Many families have to save for many years to have the available cash for renovations. Others may try to take second mortgages or home-equity loans, but this can prove unsuccessful-especially with more rigid lending requirements.

You may look to borrow an additional $150,000, but your house is not worth an additional $200,000 today. Therefore, you lack the collateral to justify that home equity loan. In contrast, new construction, even if slightly more costly, has the full value in the house already, which is what mortgage companies want to see.

5. When choosing real estate, and assessing existing homes, you have very limited choices. The real estate is “as is”-meaning the lawn is what it is, the plantings are what they are, and the yard is what it is. Usually, with new construction, it is either newly landscaped or in basic form so that you can landscape as you choose (usually, new construction without landscaping is less expensive than landscaped). With new construction, you are buying beautiful new property or freshly graded land that is set for landscaping.

When you’re ready to consider new construction, be sure to keep all of these factors in mind. As you review the expense of the house, consider the real costs beyond the purchase price. Many families discover far better values with the newly built houses vs. a less expensive existing home that needs upgrades. Even if you are handy, a renovations are not free. You also need to come up with the money to pay for those renovations (whereas with new construction, those costs are built into the purchase price and are covered by the mortgage).