5 New Home Buying Tips from Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods Top Realtor

Angie Baird is a realtor with Stellar Realty and Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods Top Realtor of the Year for 2021. She has been in the real estate industry for six years. She says her favorite part of realty is helping a family through the entire buying process. Here are some of her tips.

5 Things Realtors Tell Buyers When Buying New:

1) New everything!
Baird says walking a family through costs from start to finish is important. Also, teaching them the benefit of buying new.  “Everything in the home is new, they have very little costs going in and they don’t have to worry about using their emergency fund any time soon,” said Baird. 

2) Lower closing costs.
When it comes to closing costs, buying new significantly lowers your insurance premium as well as your escrow. And if you compare the monthly mortgage payment for a new home versus a used home, you will see a lower cost.

3) Lower utility costs.
A new home will also help lower utility costs. Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods guarantees heating and cooling usage on most Ideal homes for the first two years you own your new home, typically seeing your heating and cooling usage on most Ideal homes under $100 because of our Energy-Star efficiency rating. This is a much lower expense compared to a home built in the ’70s through ’90s.

4) Easy to buy without competition.
Prior to the pandemic, one in every ten homes purchased was new. Once the housing market began to grow, more and more people began to start home searches. Now third of every home purchased is a new build. A decreased amount of used inventory led buyers to consider purchasing new homes. This prevented competition and the stress of bidding wars, thus allowing buyers to provide earnest money knowing they had secured a home.

5) Inspections are easier.
And finally, inspections cost less on new homes. There is not a need for termite inspections. The home builder does a soil treatment prior to the home being built. Nonetheless, Baird said she still encourages all homebuyers to do an inspection to prevent future questions after moving into the home.

You can schedule a tour of one of our new homes now by clicking here!