Ten benefits of buying new

Longniddry Village Showhome

Buying a new home brings numerous benefits compared to a resale property. Some of these are obvious, but other advantages often get forgotten about – or overlooked until a resale property’s flaws are cruelly revealed. Unlocking the door of your next home should be an exciting experience, but it can be dispiriting and frustrating, or occasionally horrifying, depending on what was left behind by the previous occupiers.

These are ten reasons why you should consider a new house over an existing resale property for your first or next property purchase:

  1. Choice

If you’ve ever set up new listing alerts on property portals, you’ll know how rare resale homes are nowadays. On a new-build development, you may have a choice of property styles and plots off-plan, letting you choose a home (and in some cases a garden) that suits your preferences. 

  1. Condition

Resale homes are routinely left with badly marked floors, evidence of botched DIY jobs and suspicious stains. From messy gardens to discoloured carpets, you’re often unprepared for the evidence of past occupation. By contrast, new homes are unblemished by anyone else.

  1. Stability

Your Cruden Homes’ sales advisor will regularly update you on progress and let you know of any changes to the build programme. Private sellers are rarely so proactive, while exchange days may be delayed by collapsing chains, mortgage hiccups and other unforeseen last-minute problems.

  1. Fixed pricing

The Scottish offers-over system is an oddity, encouraging people to bid more than a property may actually be worth. New homes are marketed at fixed prices with transparent upgrade costs; once you place a deposit, nobody is able to gazump your offer or steal ‘your’ plot.

  1. Modernity

Anyone who’s bought a resale property will have tales of integrated appliances not working, boilers leaking and other unwelcome surprises. New homes incorporate the latest energy-efficient appliances, windows and sanitary ware. Everything is new – and under warranty.

  1. Personalisation

If you buy an old house, you inherit its current owner’s décor, flooring and wear and tear. By contrast, a new home can be personalised to your taste. Depending on the build stage, we may be able to customise the build process with a variety of standard and upgrade options, so you can just add furniture and get on with life.

  1. Efficiency

Older properties suffer heat loss through sparsely-insulated attics, ill-fitting doors and single-glazed windows. New homes are built to strict energy standards, so less of your heating costs are wasted warming the air outside. That’s especially welcome given current energy costs.

  1. Inspections

In a resale property, you’re lucky if the sellers have time to whizz around with a vacuum cleaner before they lock up and leave. New homes are thoroughly cleaned and inspected for defects, and any snagging discovered after handover can be swiftly fixed by the on-site team.

  1. Maintenance

Older properties often need modernising, while vital upgrades like re-wiring and re-plumbing may be surprisingly complex and disruptive. New homes are built to the latest standards, using modern components which should last for many years with minimal maintenance and cost.

  1. Camaraderie

Moving into an existing neighbourhood may be slightly unsettling, whereas by definition, new-build estates are full of new residents. Bonds are often formed over dwarf hedges and freshly-laid tarmac, as everyone settles in and collectively builds a new community.

Back to Latest Posts