Some home shoppers know right away if they want to purchase a new construction home or a resale home. Others however are open to both possibilities and may often find themselves in a situation of deciding between these two options as their final choice. There are a multitude of benefits and detriments to both scenarios. However, in focusing on the decision process between the two there are a few key items to keep in mind when it comes to upgrades, features, and finishes.

First, try to compare each home with similar features and finishes as much as possible to arrive at a truly comparative price picture. Many of the newest homes can feature upgraded energy efficiency or luxurious products and materials that carry more value than some older homes possibly under consideration. A number of product material differences throughout the house can add up to a rather large value difference. This may make a more expensive new home actually more worthwhile than a lower priced existing home, or even vice-versa if the resale home is a step above.

However, whether it’s the new construction home or the existing home that has the nicer features, don’t let features unimportant to your specific needs carry too much weight, especially in the cost comparison. For example, if a resale home has a finished pool in the backyard and the new construction does not, this could look like a justification for paying more for the existing home. However, if you don’t want or care for a swimming pool this feature might effectively add no value to you (or even detract in some cases) and make the premium paid for that feature worthless except maybe in the event of a tiebreaker between the two. The bottom line is to add appropriate weighting to all the features present based upon your desires and you’ll arrive at a more clear picture of the comparison.

Purchasing a new construction home can be a very rewarding experience as you’ll have considerable flexibility to mold the style, colors, and options that are important to your lifestyle into the new home. However, sometimes it’s this ability to customize the home that can inadvertently sway your choice when it’s not really justified. What effectively happens in many cases is buyers will add an excessive amount of options to the new construction home because they can easily make those changes, but when comparing the costs between new and resale homes this can dramatically skew the comparison. Building a dream home by adding every option doesn’t help in making the home choice between new and existing. Try instead to add options and features that more closely mimics the resale home to create a good price comparison. If after then you decide on the new home you can still add what you want to the home, but at least by not prematurely making those selections you don’t lose site of the accurate cost analysis.

A helpful hint in picking new construction upgrades or options is to create multiple scenarios, preferably at least three. Make the first upgrade package a bare bones selection. This could be with no upgrades or often using the upgrades that were used in your comparative analysis with the existing home is a good starting point. Second, create a package of upgrades that meets your every demand, wish and desire….effectively build your dream home in terms of features. For some people, especially those with more disposable income or possibly retired and less concerned with resale value of all the options, this could be the final product chosen. However, the third scenario created is often much closer to a practical solution. This package should meet your basic lifestyle demands in terms of features and finishes, but with an eye on practicality and even future resale value.

Another point when comparing resale and new construction features is the likelihood of making future changes. It’s all too often when looking at a resale home (or even new construction) that you’ll here a buyer make the comment about being able to change/remodel something they don’t care for down the road. In most cases those changes don’t even come to fruition. Unless you are committed to making changes immediately and have the cash on hand to pay for it, don’t rely on those “future modifications”.

Deciding between new construction homes and resale homes isn’t always an easy decision, but at least by keeping some of these points in mind you’ll have more information to consider when analyzing features and the relative costs of both.

Buyers looking at multiple homes in an area will likely come across several different types and styles of interior doors. In this two-part article we will try to provide a general overview into the commonly used door types and styles on the market and the pros and cons to each. Always check with your REALTOR© or a contractor for more specific information about the doors in a home you might be interested in.

In part one we’ll focus on the biggest functional difference between doors which originates from the construction method used to create them. While many different door types exist we’ll focus on the three most widely used categories: solid wood doors, solid core doors, and hollow core doors.

Types of Doors

Solid Wood Doors – Because of the expense of solid wood doors these are often the least widely used type of door, especially in today’s market in the greater Tucson area. These doors have some positive benefits of being a true natural material, providing excellent sound dampening, and superior insulating qualities. They are also indicative of attention to detail and have a great look that also holds up well to potential damage.

There are several downsides to solid wood doors though. Foremost is their substantial cost premium over other types of doors available on the market. This precludes their use in most of today’s production homes and therefore you’ll see very few true wood doors on the market. The other major downside to solid wood doors is their weight. A full wood door has a substantial weight surplus when compared with other commonly used door materials and also is more prone to expansion and shrinkage factors with temperature changes.

Solid Core Doors – This type of door is mostly composed of MDF (or similar material) on the interior with a thin layer of veneer wood laminated on the exterior. This gives the appearance of a wood door and much of the structural rigidity as well, without the substantial cost. The primary benefits of this door mirror that of the full wood doors in that it provides effective sound dampening and moderate insulation too.

The negatives of this type of door is its weight and cost when compared with hollow core doors. Many of the mid-level production communities will utilize this type of door, particularly in the last decade or so because it is a nice balance between cost and function. These doors are subject to expansion and contraction as well during temperature and atmospheric changes, so some adjustment may be necessary after insulation.

Hollow Core Doors – The last type of door commonly used is the least expensive and therefore attractive to many home builders and buyers alike as a cost saving measure. Often constructed with a wood frame that is an inch or two wide, they are typically wrapped with hardboard or plywood for the exterior. The even greater difference though is that typically they’re reinforced with corrugated cardboard to add stiffness to the middle section. Due to this construction technique the doors are lighter weight which can be beneficial. They also take stain or paint very well and are much less likely to warp, shrink, or swell than solid doors. Modern hollow core doors are much improved over older generations that were very flimsy and weak.

A few negative characteristics about these doors is they are more prone to damage from improper use, children, or excessive loads. They’re also relatively inefficient in most cases with their sound dampening abilities when compared with solid doors, which can be a major detractor. Repair is often very difficult with this type of door as well. The impression that most people have of this type of door can also be a downside as it’s seen as less desirable in many markets.

In part two of this article series on doors we’ll examine the styles and dimensions commonly found throughout many homes.