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Old 01-13-2017, 08:23 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,702 posts, read 79,379,373 times
Reputation: 39420

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Quote:
Originally Posted by BluegrassGuy View Post
Cat5 (Ethernet) is NOT outdated by any means! Wired connections are ALWAYS much faster and far more reliable and secure than wireless. Especially over greater distances. I bought a house built in 1983 last year, and I wired Ethernet connections to each room, even several to a room where I use multiple devices. I have both wired and wireless in the house. The cable modem and router are in the basement, and my bedroom is on the opposite corner of the house. Wireless simply wouldn't be an option for that distance, to get a reliable signal for the devices.
In practical use it is. We have CAT 5 to every room and even out in the carriage house office. Some rooms have multiple terminals to plug into CAT V. We have two computers plugged into the CAT 5. Two out of 15 plus computers, smart TVs etc., and both of them are in the same room. Everything else runs on wireless and no one is complaining. Our wireless works everywhere on our property and up to about 1/4 mile away. Since we recently activated the security on it and stopped the neighbor kids from using it, we rarely have any lag or delay. I spent hundreds of dollars on CAT V wire and many hours running the lines and putting in the terminals. Now I have two terminals plugged in in one room and about 22 lines/terminals that I installed that have never been used. Everyone is welcome to plug into the CAT V system, but no one wants to. In most cases they do not want their devices tied to a single location. In other instances the device ended up being used in a different location than was intended when I put in the CAT V (i.e. we change furniture placement) and we do not want cable running all over the place. It just is not worth it. There is not enough of a difference to deal with the cable.

Sure if you are an engineer or a graphics designer or something, work at home, and need massive bandwidth and speed, it might still be worthwhile. One of my sons is a gamer and built a high powered computer, so he plugs in since he mostly plays internet games and speed is critical. Otherwise, we have no need for greater speed our cable provider does not give us all that fast a connection on a reliable basis anyway (we pay for higher speed, mostly for my Son's benefit, but we rarely actually get it).
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Old 01-13-2017, 08:28 AM
 
Location: Saint John, IN
11,583 posts, read 6,671,680 times
Reputation: 14786
We just purchased our 3rd home in the last 14 years. All have been new construction. It is really your preference and budget. I have listed the pro's and con's below as we almost purchased an existing home over our last new build, but the prices in our area for new builds were the same for existing so to us it made more sense to buy new. New construction can be costly and the "extra's can add up quickly. My advice is also buy what you can afford! There are a lot of things you will need to do with new construction...window treatments, appliances, patio, etc. New construction usually comes with a one year builder warranty on everything and a 10 year structural warranty. All builders are different, so do your homework there. Others here have stated that new builds now a days are built with crappy materials. That's not always the case. It really depends on the builder. All of my homes have been built with quality materials.

Pro's to newer:

You can pick location and lot
You can pick floor plan, style and upgrades
no one has ever lived in it
everything is new, roof, appliances, carpet, mechanicals, etc.
you can make it your own-clean slate
New build subdivisions usually have a lot of younger families with kids

Pro's to older:

Established neighborhood
Patio or deck might be already be put in
Mature tree's
You can see who your neighbors will be.
Basement might already be finished

Last edited by CGab; 01-13-2017 at 09:11 AM..
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Old 01-13-2017, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,437 posts, read 15,347,491 times
Reputation: 18959
Builder warranties you can use to wipe your behind. Good luck trying to get a builder to accept responsibility after the 18 months "no questions asked" period. The one year builder warranty is also largely a waste of time because the problems that cost you the most money often happen after one year. Both our HVAC systems and our water heater died in under eight years. Just google and you'll find legions of unhappy customers trying to get the warranty companies and/or builders to honor the 10 year warranty. I'm just throwing this out there in case people think the builder warranties are a positive when it comes to new construction.
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Old 01-13-2017, 10:44 AM
 
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
10,932 posts, read 11,662,820 times
Reputation: 13169
In one of my former lives, my wife and I hunted and hunted and eventually decided to use an independent general contractor to design and build our new home on an open lot in a new development. It actually cost less than many of the homes we considered buying. Look into it.
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Old 01-13-2017, 10:47 AM
 
Location: Ohio
2,310 posts, read 6,791,974 times
Reputation: 1949
When I bought mine, the house was 7 yrs old. It is solidly built. I wish the builder put in better looking showers in the bathroom instead of the basic looking plastic surround tub and stall. Also the sliding glass door feels cold in the winter so maybe it could've been not the best model. Other than that, I can't complain.

In comparison, my cousin rented a new construction and everyone I visit, I'm amazed how bouncy her floors are. I can feel the whole house shake if someone walks. The LL sold it to someone after they ended the lease. I guess there's a buyer for everything, esp new construction.
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Old 01-13-2017, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
5,618 posts, read 5,884,318 times
Reputation: 4875
Around here, 10-15 year old houses are still pretty new. Seems like all the houses built from 1990 on are similar in design and quality. I'd pay more attention to each individual house instead of just lumping them together. They likely aren't that different (compared to say, a 40 year old house)
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Old 01-13-2017, 12:11 PM
 
Location: Hudson, OH
681 posts, read 2,349,900 times
Reputation: 1012
Quote:
Originally Posted by ss20ts View Post
Bottom line, you can't afford new construction. A new house is ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS out of your budget. We're not talking 5 grand....
This. I won't even bother nitpicking justifications on a brand new home when it's $100,000 out of budget.
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:22 PM
 
Location: Floribama
18,929 posts, read 43,254,623 times
Reputation: 18727
Quote:
Originally Posted by Go Blue 99 View Post
Thanks for the info all, lots of good insight in here.

Tomorrow we are going to see two different 2007 houses (same subdivision), so looking forward to checking those out. On paper, they have good floor plan, size, and pricing. And in a very nice location. They may not feel new, but I'll remind my wife we can do some refacing (master bathroom for example) before we move in.
I wouldn't think a house that's barely ten years old would need refacing already.
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:45 PM
 
Location: Texas
4,842 posts, read 3,607,303 times
Reputation: 15339
We bought a 12 year old home last year. Total renovation.

If I had to do it over, I would buy a new home.

Period.
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:53 PM
 
2,994 posts, read 5,554,266 times
Reputation: 4690
I've been in the trades since the late 90s and based on what i've seen and worked on i would take a home built in the 90s. Back then we still had true americans that were involved in the trades who truly cared about craftsmanship. When i framed houses nobody on my crew was an illegal immigrant. Lots of construction companies these days use illegals that don't care about quality craftsmanship and often don't have the skills or training to do it anyway.

If you go with new construction get a custom home built not a tract home built and slapped together by illegals.
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