I think almost anyone would agree that building and buying a new construction home is a major milestone in a person's life. It could prove to be a very exhilarating, exciting, and rewarding experience, as well as being an overwhelmingly stressful and exhaustive one. How many prospective homebuyers do you believe are actually interested in purchasing a new construction home versus buying one that's already in existence? According to the 2020 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report of the National Association of Realtors, only 13% of homebuyers preferred buying a new construction home compared to the 87% who purchased an existing home from a previous homeowner. (Michele Lerner, Buying a New Constuction Home vs. Existing Home, 2021) Keeping in mind I cited survey results from more than two years ago and those percentages are an approximation, I deemed it to be noteworthy all the same.
Well contrary to the preferences of the majority of homebuyers from a 2020 survey, we're going to discuss new construction homes. Besides, the title of this article is 'New Construction Homes' not 'Old Existing Homes'. To discuss anything else but, new construction homes, would be weird. Sometimes being weird is awesome! However, not in this case. There are several different types of new construction homes. Among these are the most familiar types to the general public which are production homes or tract homes, custom homes (fully-custom; semi-custom), and spec homes.
Production Homes/Tract Homes
Production homes or tract homes account for a large percentage of the homes that make up suburban and sometimes rural areas of communities. These are the types of developments where all of the houses look very similar to one another. They're all nestled together lining a collection of cul-de-sacs. Production homes were formerly known as tract homes, named after the tract of land they were built upon purchased by the homes' builder. They were then divided up into individual lots. The prospective homebuyers would then choose which individual lot best suited their budget.
Custom Homes
Custom Homes are just that. It's a lot that is completely customized to the preferecne of that particular homebuyer. This is defined as a fully-customized home. The home is built completely from scratch to the specifications of the homebuyer. All the way down to the trim. With a semi-custom home the homebuyer will have a say in the layout and stylings of the home more so than they would in the production of the home itself. Semi-custom homes are a combination of fully-custom homes and production homes.
Spec Homes
Spec Homes are built by the builder who has chosen everything from the floor plans of the home to the landscaping and finishes. They are completely newly constructed, move-in ready, builder-built homes just waiting to be purchased and inhabited by any prospective homebuyer in the market. The homebuyer has absolutely no-say in the production of the home whatsoever. The homebuyer must have a 'hands-off' approach to their home buying pursuits. The plus side to this option is that the homebuyer will be the first to ever live in the brand new home.
Now that you have had a brief overview of new construction homes and the different types of them, if you were to consider buying a new construction home, which one do you think you might be interested in purchasing? Please feel free to name your pick in the comment section below if you should feel so inclined!
