New Vs Used

New SKOGMAN Home

Used Home

Availability / Choice

When you build new, you choose the look, the layout, and the feel. Less competition, more choices on floor plans. Move-in ready homes mean no wait or work to be done.

Harder to find an existing home (less inventory). More competition to get your offer accepted. Less flexibility in choosing size, style, etc.

Safety / Advanced Materials

With modern building codes and eco-friendly materials, a new home is less likely to cause health or safety concerns. Newly built homes include modern fire retardants in carpeting and insulation. And smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are often hard-wired into new homes.

Used homes may contain harmful substances such as lead paint, asbestos, mold, etc. This can mean the difference between contentment and a valid concern for your family’s safety. Home may also have old wiring, pipes, insulation that aren’t to code.

All New Everything

Brand new home is clean, with no major issues; includes cool new technology, and sophisticated wiring for high-speed electronics and communication equipment.

A used home might have major problems you don’t initially notice; is likely lacking tech-integrated amenities.

Modern Design / Architecture

Current designs reflect the way you live today. Open floor plans, flexible living spaces, etc.

Used homes typically lack open spaces. Older homes may have odd or inconvenient layouts.

Warranties / Replacement Costs

With a new house everything is new, including the furnace, water heater, air conditioning unit, kitchen appliances and roof, doors, windows and more. And these components come with a warranty. Plus, Skogman offers the 10 year warranty on all homes.

When you buy a used house, you get what’s already there, including old systems, structures, appliances, etc. May require a significant financial investment, in addition to the purchase price, for renovations or repairs.

There may or may not be warranties, and if there are, they probably have significant limitations. Don’t forget ongoing maintenance.

Energy Efficiency

A newly constructed home is always the “greener” option. New homes offer better indoor air quality, reducing symptoms from those who have asthma or allergies. Green features may reduce utility costs and/or provide tax incentives.

You can retrofit many elements of an existing house to improve its energy efficiency, but it’s costly. Even then, you may not be able to achieve the level of efficiency that is now routine with a newly constructed home.

Personal Connection

Designing and building your own home is very satisfying. Nothing beats the unique emotional connection you have with a new home that you have created to fit your family’s lifestyle.

While you can make some choices, a used home has already been designed and built for someone else. The best you can do is adapt it for your family.

Affordability / Value

You can finance options/upgrades into mortgage; possibly easier to get financing. Plus, a new home has lower maintenance and operating costs, will retain its value longer, and may have a much higher resale value than an older home.

Financing could be tricky if including renovations; could be more expensive than buying new. In the long-run, even a five-year-old home will be more desirable — given all the new features — than an older home at resale.