Why do people like new houses? (floor plans, granite, foundations, furnace)

[eschaton]

I'm not sure I put this in the right place, but anyway...

I can't understand why there seems to be a strong preference in parts of the U.S. for a new house.

New houses generally do have two positives for them. They are much larger than older houses (if you like the whole big house thing, and because they are brand-spanking new, in theory they'll be less likely to have mechanical or repair issues right away.

However, balanced against this, there are the following drawbacks:

1. New construction tends to be furthest from the core urban areas where most people work, meaning long commute times.
2. Houses are built much more cheaply today than in the past. Forget about materials like plaster, brick, wood trim work, built-in cabinetry, etc. They are basically frame boxes with siding on the outside, drywall on the inside. Thus while an old brick Victorian is going strong after 150 years, many of these babies have major structural issues within a decade or less.
3. Related to the above, modern housing, unless really high end, displays no "character" - it looks the same nearly everywhere nationwide.
4. New construction tends to be in neighborhoods where all of the houses look the same.

For me personally, the drawbacks of a new home are just not worth it. Our house is from the 1890s, and I love that we are taking the time to restore it properly. I understand different people have different ideas however, and I'd like to hear them.

[BirdieBelle]

That's nice for you.

However, you are dealing in too many generalities. Rethink your post when you find yourself writing "tends to be," "most people," "seems to be," etc.

As a disclaimer, my house is 33 years old. But I have lived in much older and brand new.

The #1 answer to your question is that not everyone likes the same thing.

The #2 answer is that lifestyles/priorities shift. The way we live must shift as well. Floorplans that worked in 1890 may not work in 2012. Safety has improved to the point that kitchens don't have to be a separate building from the house as they did in antebellum homes.

People with babies have different needs from people with teens. Single people live differently than families.
My mom had a bad childhood in an old, historic home. You couldn't pay her to live in anything BUT brand new now.

My best friend HATES dark wood. She prefers a modern aesthetic that can be customized in a new home.

Also, not everyone wants to be close to the urban core. Some jobs are not in the urban core.

Not all old building materials are better. Plaster?? Really? How about asbestos?

Not all new houses are all siding on the exterior. Not all new houses are cheaply built.

Not all new houses look "the same."

Budget plays into it bigtime.

My dream house is a Craftsman bungalow. There are not many of those where I live, and life led us to our current house. Sometimes "life" dictates where you live.

We all have wish lists that must be adjusted according to the realities of our different lives.

[akck]

Why do people like that new car smell?

[Ohiogirl81]

Some people think that if they buy a new house that the drywall screws will never pop out, the furnace will never quit working, the faucet will never spurt water sideways, and the water heater will never leak.

[hueyeats]

Having worked with new homes... during housing peak, hence have waited this long before the house purchase & NEVER will buy what I used to work with (new homes).

Note: New homes that the "self" built (FIL built 3 plus homes, and each home took him 1-2 years) is very different scenario from the mass fast-built "production" homes (for max profits, to make money)... Agree w. Wmsn4life... that you also do pay for what you get...

I have rented in a 7+ yr ol' SFH in a subd much like some of the new homes built by the housing industry I work with, living in that home for 5 years... in comparison... I can honestly say... a much "lesser quality" compared to the 50+ yr old house I purchase in 2011 in the end.

That 7 yr ol' new build has...
Drywall on the inside. Cheapest faucets, fixtures that is all builder's grade & clear plastic handles (yah... the less than $20 kind of faucets or that $49 commode... fiberglass tub & walls etc.)... kitchen cabinets is maple (non-solid wood doors) stained cherry (so it look like cherry), most basic stainless look appliance set (that will probably woo many un-informed, unknowing female buyers who wanted that "modern kitchen"...).
New windows & all... so-called "energy efficient".
Basic central air that don't work very well (explain later in the next paragraph)...

The problems I've experienced from that 7 yr ol' new build....
-Wind noises (the locale I am in is always encountering fronts, thus windy) can be heard from the super thin walls (another builder's grade I suppose) from our bedroom at night even keeping us up. Probably from the builder's grade siding too.
-Crumbling front steps hollowed out from the inside from poorly laid cement foundations.. probably by "cheap" inexperienced, unqualified laborers... and ours is not the ONLY house it happens to. Basically that whole community is experiencing that same effects & all the home owners have to "surface-patch" accordingly per the HOA.
-Electric bill (central air evidence why it is sub-par) is 2X as much as what we have to pay now... why??? Thin walls, poorly insulated home, and that sub-par... ineffective central AC unit.

But we rented (and LL wanted us to purchase the home from her)... and a good thing we rented only... at least we are not stuck with this "future money pit" in the making.

---

Today, after hurricane Irene and Lee... that we lived for a year in this 50+ yr ol' home twice as big as that rented place.
Our electric bill is half what it was.
Why???
Better built!!!

-Walls = plaster (labor intensive, hard to do & have to be properly trained)... thick & properly insulated & done up by old world "craftsman" (the original builder, also the plaster worker is highly known in the area... in his 90s today, our neighbour knows him). = "Air-tight", NO wind noise, not even Irene.
-Old tanker Carrier central AC... very very efficient still. HVAC work... properly done (by the "innovators"... first or second generation original brain people behind the industry; why? Think why microsoft or even apple, why do they rehire the older people who work the industry during the 70s?).
-Radiant heat that heat the structure, not heat pump to heat air (not a good conductor)... end results in the "electric bills" says it all.
-Fixtures, good ones (Kohler set, swanstone tub surround, Anderson windows & sliding doors, 16 Gauge SS sinks, Woodmode kitchen etc.).. put in by the "HO" who intend to have the best for himself, not by a builder with intent to sell in a month or 2 so who cares if it is second rate & may fall apart after the warranty goes???
-New roof, original sidings & even plenty of expensive & exotic plants for the landscape... extras.

Best of all... this place is no money pit.

And you think....
Sometimes why people who actually work the industry... ever wonder to themselves...

How can "quality" come from builder who can promised a new home built within 2-3 months... at the same time trying to profit his/her own pockets in that short time frame??? Even with the so-called warranty. And then also why??? Do they form organizations like HADD - Home Owners Against Deficient Dwellings | so HO (buyers) can be protected... when many old homes more than likely don't even need organizations like that for protection.

An "Ah-hah" moment maybe???

Why that 50 yr ol' home or that 100 yr ol' home is still standing tall today??? While some 5 yr ol' or 10 yr ol' homes is already crumbling???
Yah... its the built and that luck I guess (if you are lucky, you bought an ol' home very well taken care of or that bad luck, that new home filled with defective drywalls etc.)...

P.S. I have seen the inside of many homes during my time (1/2 amt as much as many inspector & real estate agents even do probably but still quite a bit o' homes) when not in the market to buy... am also familiar with the locales (hence why location for homes is that important per my observation, industry background research)... many McMansions even... have those cheap clear plastic faucets, stained maple to look like cherry hollow wood cabinets that buyers have paid premium for.

[hueyeats]

Think...
The good ol' Amish-build way man.... so older (work ethics) is not necessary bad in compared to the new (max profits ways; unless you are that person building that home for yourself of course; and hired some good Amish craftsman for the job).

[missik999]

For the same reasons people buy new cars instead of used.

When you have a home built you can plan it to be just the way you want it. You can have a huge kitchen with lots of work space, a pantry the size of a walk-in closet, a side-load four car garage, or anything else you want. You don't have to compromise and say, "Well I like the kitchen better in that home and the master bedroom better in the other home."

New homes have warranties, so you get the piece of mind that you won't have unexpected expenses from repairs.

With a new home you know that no one has ever smoked in it, that the floor isn't rotten underneath the new carpet that was put in before the home went on the market, etc.

Utilities are often cheaper in new homes as well.

My first home was an older home, and it had asbestos, terrible plumbing that needed to be replaced, leaky windows, plaster walls that were expensive to repair, an old furnace, faulty wiring, etc.

I am single and not mechanically inclined. It is very expensive to have work done on a home. For me, it was a false economy to purchase an older home that needed work.

[hueyeats]

Originally Posted by missik999

For the same reasons people buy new cars instead of used.
....

Good point.
BUT... for these new homes seekers... they also forget...
As more homes is being built & developed... their "new homes" today also becomes that "secondhand used car tomorrow" with that same price tags that goes hand in hand with that.

Worse off... many of these new homes are also compared apples to apples (features to features)... same parceled lots many times.... those future buyers like themselves will be paying more for that "new homes" while these no-longer new homes will take its place & be devalued (hence underwater) as the new built takes over.

At least for the "historic homes"... they retain value now because like antiques, their uniqueness through land itself even (much unlike parceled land).. they will be much rarer than the mass produced all look alike cookie cutter homes new built today (truth that cannot be denied... look at the old craftman carved quality marble/granite that wood work which today's money & inflation will be ultra expensive to reproduced... hence that "value" in buying these antiques with the craft already done NOT pay for upgrades that is never same as old world quality).

Note: Land is not being produced anymore... and even if that old home crumbles (easy fix)... just build a new structure in its place and voila! You have that new house. But if your land sits above a cliff & is washed away by the sea... no more land = no more land to build upon (especially the parceled 1/3 acre ones). So the question ultimately is... "how's the land / location" NOT even "how's the new house or even house".

[Momma_bear]

I do not agree that homes built in the 1960/70s were built better than they are built today. Back then there were cookie cutter, quickly built subdivisions just as there are today. I grew up in one of those homes and it was not well built. It probably gives the appearance of being well built because over the past 40 years all the things that were wrong were fixed.

My parents old home (built 1968) had drywall not plaster. Plaster is a PITA. Whenever my father had to do any work in the house I can remember him cursing that the studs were not where they were supposed to be. All of the septic tanks in the neighborhood sucked. Every single family had major repairs or had to have the septic systems replaced. Of course they are all in good repair now because they have all been repaired/replaced. The houses had no HVAC problems because there was no central air in cheaply built houses of that era. The crappy oil burners have also all been replaced over the past 40 years. They were crap. People replaced them with better than the builder had put in.

The windows in those houses were crappy. They have all been replaced with better over the past 40 years. The builders didn't put in good windows 40 years ago. They have been replaced by the homeowners over the years.

The reason people like new houses is that the floor plans of today are more practical than the floor plans of years ago. Floor plans from the 1970s crammed a whole bunch of tiny rooms into a small space. The floor plans also had fewer bathrooms and smaller closets than contemporary homes. Homes in the 1970s had less space for vehicles than contemporary homes and outdoor living spaces were not always well integrated with the indoor space. When I was a kid my parents kitchen was on the 2nd floor of the house (it was a split level) and the patio was downstairs. It wasn't safe to grill on the wood deck so we had to carry everything we needed to barbeque up and down the steps. The Bi Level had a similar floor plan.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

However, you are dealing in too many generalities. Rethink your post when you find yourself writing "tends to be," "most people," "seems to be," etc.

I was looking for opinions rather than just starting a discussion.

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Not all old building materials are better. Plaster?? Really? How about asbestos?

I'd hardly call use of asbestos to be a "classic" material. Although it was used in a limited extent since the 1860s, the mass usage in everything is more a mid 20th century thing.

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Not all new houses are all siding on the exterior. Not all new houses are cheaply built.

In most of the country outside of the U.S., you cannot afford to have a house clad with brick on all four sides unless you are wealthy/custom building it yourself.

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Not all new houses look "the same."

Developer-built houses do all follow a very limited palette however, unless they are forced to do otherwise by local zoning.

Originally Posted by hueyeats

Having worked with new homes... during housing peak, hence have waited this long before the house purchase & NEVER will buy what I used to work with (new homes).

Thanks for the story, this is exactly what I meant about newer homes often not being as reliable as claimed. Like it or not, a house more than 50 years old has stood the test of time, and unless it's been owned by impoverished people for the last few decades, someone else has worked out a lot of the major kinks. Plus the idea of "overbuilding for the customer" didn't even enter into it - expectations were many people would live in their house until they died, so the idea of cutting costs so there would be planned obsolesce after a warranty would seem crazy.

Originally Posted by missik999

For the same reasons people buy new cars instead of used.

A bad comparison. Cars, unless they have particular appeal as a classic car, go down in value every year after they are made, because sooner or later you either need a total overhaul or to junk it.

Houses don't have an expiration date. I live in a city with many houses still standing from the 1890s, and a significant number from as far back as the 1850s. Properly restored, they serve contemporary needs as well as any modern house. A bit of pointing and painting every 5-10 years is about all they need.

Originally Posted by missik999

When you have a home built you can plan it to be just the way you want it. You can have a huge kitchen with lots of work space, a pantry the size of a walk-in closet, a side-load four car garage, or anything else you want. You don't have to compromise and say, "Well I like the kitchen better in that home and the master bedroom better in the other home."

Few people have custom-built houses - it's more often the case that they move into a pre-designed "builder's special"

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

I do not agree that homes built in the 1960/70s were built better than they are built today. Back then there were cookie cutter, quickly built subdivisions just as there are today. I grew up in one of those homes and it was not well built. It probably gives the appearance of being well built because over the past 40 years all the things that were wrong were fixed.

When I talk about "old houses" I'm talking about pre-WW2 designs for the most part - essentially everything Craftsmen-style and prior. I'm aware that Mid-Century Modern is now trendy, but IMHO housing quality and style took a major step downward starting in the 1950s, and I know a lot of houses from that age have major issues (asbestos in everything, aluminum wiring, etc), that you don't see with either newer or older housing.