Newly built homes are fun to plan and have many advantages…
fewer hassles, higher efficiency, and increased customization are just a few.
Let’s face it, there is something special about new. A new car, a new bicycle, new carpeting or draperies, new computer, new remodel… the list goes on. This is the number one reason given by people when asked why they purchased a new construction home over an older home!
The truth is there are many benefits to buying new. Here are just a few more:
New building codes have mandated increasingly higher energy efficiency standards then homes built just 10 years ago. From attic and wall insulation to windows and doors, new homes are typically far superior. Newly constructed homes use energy more efficiently in two ways: First, they tend to have a tighter-sealed building envelope that helps prevent conditioned air—cool air in the summer, warm air in the winter—from escaping. Features that create this envelope do include higher-efficiency insulation, doors, and windows. Gone are the days of the single pane window from 20 years ago … now you are starting to see triple- and quadruple-pane windows. These are windows that are designed to really minimize the transfer of heat either from warm to cold or vice versa, and they of course will help the building envelope.
New constructed homes often include green systems and appliances like high efficiency stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters, furnaces, or air conditioning units that homes built years ago might not. The conditioning equipment of a home is usually considered to be one of the larger energy consumption devices, but certainly those kitchen appliances matter. Existing homeowners can always retrofit their property or buy higher efficiency appliances, but doing so requires a significant expense.