The View From Inside: The Many Benefits Of Buying A New Home

Even experienced homeowners realize buying a home takes a lot of forethought and research, especially when it comes to choosing whether to buy new or resale. There are many advantages to buying a newly built home, especially during the pre-construction phase when you often benefit from the best price and selection of designs and lots. Of course, this assumes your current lifestyle will allow you to remain living in your existing home while a new home is constructed; a period that could be from six to more than 18 months, depending on when you buy.Contrast this with a resale purchase, which would typically close anytime from 30 to 90 days. However, unless the resale home you purchase is 100 per cent to your liking, once settled in, you may find you are making plans to undertake repairs, replace older items like windows, doors and appliances, or embark on a complete renovation. Over time, it can cost more to maintain an older home compared to a new home.New builds also have the great benefit of coverage with Tarion Warranty Corporation, which is currently being revised to provide even more protection. Under this program, homes will be covered for significant repairs for at least seven years. This valuable peace-ofmind is not offered when buying older, existing homes.Of course, you want what is both beautiful and practical for your family. New home designs reflect the way families live today with both flexible, open-concept areas as well as private spaces which may include an office or a library, rooms that are ideal for today’s work-from-home culture.We hear time and again from our purchasers how much they value being able to choose the features and finishes for their home, which is a wonderful expression of their personal style, without the mess and inconvenience of a renovation. With guidance from a builders’ design consultant during a private appointment, hundreds of items are available to transform a house into a home. Also keep in mind that today’s standard features, such as 9- and 10-foot ceiling heights, are luxurious compared to what was offered decades ago. When you buy new, you know your home will be solidly built to the most stringent and up-to-date standards of Ontario Building Code. In fact, many builders set the bar much higher than code. Homes built now are also considerably more energy efficient, with higher levels of insulation, better quality windows and exterior doors, superior draft protection, water-saving plumbing fixtures, and many more construction practices that reduce energy use. Indoor air quality is often higher in a new home, which is healthier for everyone, especially those with allergies.A mature neighbourhood setting is often cited as a reason to choose a resale home. With a little research, buyers are discovering that many new homebuilders are offering infill collections such as Geranium’s Allegro in downtown Aurora and Edgewood, coming soon to Pickering. This was not the case 10 years ago and is partially a result of constraints on land available for residential development in Southern Ontario. These infill communities provide a wonderful lifestyle in a new home on a mature treed lot in an already established neighbourhood with amenities at your door.There’s a magical feeling when you are the very first person to live in a new home. You’re starting a fresh lifestyle painting on a clean palette in a home that will endure for many years.Stephanie Lane is sales and marketing manager for Geranium. Celebrating 40 years in business, Geranium has created master-planned communities including more than 8,000 homes in Ontario. GeraniumHomes.com