Used home vs New home

arelyn

We are considering to buy a house in few months time outside the Dublin metropolis but yet the prices of new homes are still too high for us. We will love to buy a new house but we are not totally ruling out a second hand (used) house.
What are the unexpected pitfalls in buying a used house

Looly8726

arelyn wrote: »

We are considering to buy a house in few months time outside the Dublin metropolis but yet the prices of new homes are still too high for us. We will love to buy a new house but we are not totally ruling out a second hand (used) house.
What are the unexpected pitfalls in buying a used house

I would say the main pitfall may be that used houses will need some work to modernize them generally and sometimes the layouts aren’t as attractive as new houses. Maybe the lower BER but that wouldn’t bother me too much.
I can’t think of any other to be honest. Unless you’re thinking of buying a really old house, that would be a different kettle of fish.
Buying a used house, you get a nicer price, you have the opportunity to make it your own over time, you’re moving into an established community, they usually have better parking and gardens too.

the_syco

arelyn wrote: »

What are the unexpected pitfalls in buying a used house

That you may not like the reason that they're selling; but you may only find out what it is a few weeks after buying the house (such as the neighbours).

Mrs OBumble

the_syco wrote: »

That you may not like the reason that they're selling; but you may only find out what it is a few weeks after buying the house (such as the neighbours).

There's as much risk of dodgy neighbours in new houses as existing ones, though. Maybe even more, given that new estates now must have X% social housing.

Dolbhad

Looly8726 wrote: »

I would say the main pitfall may be that used houses will need some work to modernize them generally and sometimes the layouts aren’t as attractive as new houses. Maybe the lower BER but that wouldn’t bother me too much.
I can’t think of any other to be honest. Unless you’re thinking of buying a really old house, that would be a different kettle of fish.
Buying a used house, you get a nicer price, you have the opportunity to make it your own over time, you’re moving into an established community, they usually have better parking and gardens too.

I agree but make sure you get a good engineer or surveyor to do the survey of house. Get recommendations. Maybe have a plumber or electrician out to look if engineer says you should. Get drains testing carried out if it’s older house. It’s buyer beware so just make sure of work had to be done you know what it will cost. Call to the area at different times and see what it’s like. Chat to neighbours and see what they say. Also call into local guard station if your unfamiliar with area and see if they can give you any insight to an area.

Ray Palmer

I have noticed a recent trend near me where new builds are a lot more expensive than older houses in the area. Talking about 30%+ more. Yes the new houses have better layout and BER ratings but you could easily buy one of the older houses and spend 20% on the property to get the same to your exact desires.
One of the weirdest ones is houses being built across from the Artane Boys Band practice hall. Not only do you have to deal with the noise from the school but the band practice daily and March in their carpark during the summer. For 675k I would want some peace and quite

Wesser

' used' houses tend to be inbetter locations ie more central.... as the city spreads outwards....although obviously this os a massive generalisation..... and also.... except for a blip durung the celtic tiger... tend to be built of a better quality ie 1920s to 1980s... also have more character.....i personally would not desire a new house .... it seems to be an american thing to want a new house

vintagecosmos

Keep in mind with new the cost of getting it to the standard you want I e. Carpets, curtains, blinds, alarm system, landscaping, painting etc.

Dolbhad

Wesser wrote: »

' used' houses tend to be inbetter locations ie more central.... as the city spreads outwards....although obviously this os a massive generalisation..... and also.... except for a blip durung the celtic tiger... tend to be built of a better quality ie 1920s to 1980s... also have more character.....i personally would not desire a new house .... it seems to be an american thing to want a new house

Yes I wouldn’t touch anything built in the boom. I’d stop at 2001.

Abba987

Dolbhad wrote: »

Yes I wouldn’t touch anything built in the boom. I’d stop at 2001.

Give me a second hand house any day.

fjon

Dolbhad wrote: »

Yes I wouldn’t touch anything built in the boom. I’d stop at 2001.

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine the standards went up a bit post 2009 or so?

c.p.w.g.w

fjon wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine the standards went up a bit post 2009 or so?

Thing with older houses, if there is a problem they are normally apparent after 20 years at least.

I know of many houses built during the boom and after that are currently unsellable due to numerous reasons. A couple of estates I know are full of homes sinking... literally

Qrt

fjon wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine the standards went up a bit post 2009 or so?

My house (well, the ma’s) was built in 2005/2006 and it’s actually really well built. It surprises me all the time.

dubrov

New houses in new estates generally have:

Positives:
Air to water Heat Pumps / Solar Panels
Better Air Quality due to MHRV
Better insulation
Under floor heating
Better layout
No need to replace appliances/electrics/plumbing and all the other finishes.
More of a family feel as most people will move in around the same age

Negatives
Small gardens
Less public green space
Management Fees
Generally worse proximity to schools/amenities
Too many cars for too few spaces
Cost

omerin

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

There's as much risk of dodgy neighbours in new houses as existing ones, though. Maybe even more, given that new estates now must have X% social housing.

What a vile, ignorant generalisation.

beauf

Dolbhad wrote: »

Yes I wouldn’t touch anything built in the boom. I’d stop at 2001.

It really depends if the builder was decent or not.

Mad_maxx

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

There's as much risk of dodgy neighbours in new houses as existing ones, though. Maybe even more, given that new estates now must have X% social housing.

Absolutely, I'd buy a used house in an established estate quicker

Mad_maxx

omerin wrote: »

What a vile, ignorant generalisation.

No, a reality based one

BarryD2

Dolbhad wrote: »

I agree but make sure you get a good engineer or surveyor to do the survey of house.

Pah! We got a survey of our second hand house prior to purchase and to be honest, it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Said nothing that wasn't plain to be seen and carried caveats about parts of the structure that were covered up etc.

s7ryf3925pivug

We got a homebuyers report.

Some of the things it missed, that we discovered in last few months:

Non-compliant gas tank and piping. Leaking tank, pipes and flue.
Gaps between ridges and tiles of the garage. Leaking.
Extensive mould on a cold bridge behind a fitted wardrobe in main bedroom.
Septic system pump failed.
Missing gap at gables in attic insulation, creating ventilation issues.
Non compliant wood fireplace around stove, which is a fire hazard.

One thing he did spot was that the doors mainly didnt close tightly. He recommended these were rehung.... All I needed to do was to move the metal bit on the frame a bit on all of them. Which took a couple of hours and the only material expense was an ice lolly stick which I used as a shim in one place.

You can have issues with new homes too though.

Personally I would choose a house that was built in the last decade because it will be better insulated and more airtight, which would make it heat pump ready. This might be important as we move away from fossil fuels... Our 1970s bungalow would be very expensive to modernise enough for such a system.

dubrov

Averie Millions Leadership wrote: »

We got a homebuyers report.

Personally I would choose a house that was built in the last decade because it will be better insulated and more airtight, which would make it heat pump ready.

There is no doubt that a new house is the winner but would you pay a 30% premium for the privilege?

4ensic15

the three most important factors in a house are:-
1. Location
2. Location.
3. Location.

Once you get those right, whther the house is oldor new is secondary.

s7ryf3925pivug

dubrov wrote: »

There is no doubt that a new house is the winner but would you pay a 30% premium for the privilege?

For sure. It would be preferable from a financial perspective, as well as a practical/hassle one in our case. It would cost more than 30% to modernise as much as we'd like. The issues I outlined have been a huge hassle to sort out and expensive too.

Also the place has only started to feel like it's ours recently. The quirks, junk and dirt from the previous owners all contributed to a sense of it still being their space. This place came with a lot more junk, dirt and quirks than most, but I think it would be a factor with any older dwelling to some extent.

The one good thing with it being an old house is that it has a mature, very nice garden.

Dolbhad

Averie Millions Leadership wrote: »

For sure. It would be preferable from a financial perspective, as well as a practical/hassle one in our case. It would cost more than 30% to modernise as much as we'd like. The issues I outlined have been a huge hassle to sort out and expensive too.

Also the place has only started to feel like it's ours recently. The quirks, junk and dirt from the previous owners all contributed to a sense of it still being their space. This place came with a lot more junk, dirt and quirks than most, but I think it would be a factor to some extent.

The one good thing with it being an old house is that it has a mature, very nice garden.

Do you wish you had bought a new build though?

s7ryf3925pivug

Dolbhad wrote: »

Do you wish you had bought a new build though?

I think post 2009 houses would be fine also as building regulations kicked in again after seeing some of the carry on from boom years but I don’t seen many of those for sale as the people in them aren’t there that long to move on.

Yes most surveys are “visual” inspection but I do think paying extra for drains testing, electrician etc
Is worth it. But suppose houses do have life spans themselves before you have to reinvest with them and do inherit other peoples problems. Just new build estates look horrible to me. It’s all grey and concrete with no personality as every house looks exactly the same. And I’m too impossible to wait years for a mature feel.

A house since 2009 would be fine. I would have preferred that but we took the best option in the area, at a good price, and nothing better has come on the market since. The garden is lovely. We don't live in an estate.

Thorough inspections would definitely be worth it. In our case even with the issues it was still the best option in the location we wanted.

What a lot of people do around here is to buy a house like ours, demolish it and build a large new house. Retrospectively I can definitely see the appeal to that, though it would be an awful lot of hassle, and paying rent and a mortgage concurrently for an indefinite period would not be ideal.

Mrs OBumble

omerin wrote: »

What a vile, ignorant generalisation.

My observation is that

• 80% of people in social housing are fine citizens who I'd be happy to live next to.
• 95% of people who pay for their own houses are people I've be happy to live next to (they may not be fine citizens, but at least they keep up the pretence)

Do the math: Which scenario gives a higher probability of getting a troublesome neighbour in the estate?

Ray Palmer

4ensic15 wrote: »

the three most important factors in a house are:-
1. Location
2. Location.
3. Location.

Once you get those right, whther the house is oldor new is secondary.

As I pointed out new houses near me are selling for a lot more than the older houses. So it isn't all about location apparently, to the extent a new house in a bad location within the area close by is selling for 40% more. So some people think a new build has a huge benefit over an older one.

Ush1

Ray Palmer wrote: »

As I pointed out new houses near me are selling for a lot more than the older houses. So it isn't all about location apparently, to the extent a new house in a bad location within the area close by is selling for 40% more. So some people think a new build has a huge benefit over an older one.

Probably a premium due to the HTB scheme.

markpb

Ray Palmer wrote: »

As I pointed out new houses near me are selling for a lot more than the older houses.

New houses tend to be significantly bigger than older houses. A standard 3 bed built in an estate in the last five years will probably be around 1,500 sq ft. The same house built in an estate in the 80s and 90s will be about 900 sq ft. The gardens are typically the reverse.

beauf

markpb wrote: »

New houses tend to be significantly bigger than older houses. A standard 3 bed built in an estate in the last five years will probably be around 1,500 sq ft. The same house built in an estate in the 80s and 90s will be about 900 sq ft. The gardens are typically the reverse.

Also as someone said the layout is generally better, with open plan living wider doors etc, wider bathroom, due to accessibility legislation. Which is why people tend to restructure an old house to modernise the layout. Bedrooms can be smaller in 80~90s houses also. Houses older than that tend to be bigger.

Which makes you think about the current ideas of building tiny apartments and communal living to ease the crisis.

Ray Palmer

markpb wrote: »

Ray Palmer wrote: »

As I pointed out new houses near me are selling for a lot more than the older houses.

New houses tend to be significantly bigger than older houses. A standard 3 bed built in an estate in the last five years will probably be around 1,500 sq ft. The same house built in an estate in the 80s and 90s will be about 900 sq ft. The gardens are typically the reverse.

They aren't that much bigger or superior to justify the prices in my opinion. Obviously some think it is worth it. Changing the old houses to be open plan isn't that expensive. Upgrading the insulation isn't either. Could easily buy an older house and bring it to the same spec for a lot less than the premium of a new build.
The point remains some people are willing to pay more for a new build and location certainly isn't the only criteria.