Why do people hate new builds?

[Anonymous]

I'm a convert. I used to hate new builds but ended up buying one. I don't think it's cookie-cutter - has top quality finishes and is an absolute dream to live in. We also didn't have to go further out of the city for it, but did push ourselves financially. The only thing I don't absolutely adore is the outside - it's nice, but not amazing. But the inside is amazing. There's a big difference in new builds. If you get good quality finishes and a great plot of land/aspect, it can have just as much charm as an old place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp- well is sounds to me that you are doing good construction. There is definitely good construction out there. Certainly you could open up an old home and find a shit show of old wiring and turn of the century newspapers as insulation.
My point is that it really does come down to taste.
I could have bought a huge, new house a little further out. Commuting isn't an issue for us. I prefer something that's been around and seen some stuff.
If I had had over a million I would have looked to renovate closer in, not find new construction close in.
It's ok to prefer new things, but many people don't like the soullessness of new homes.

+1. But some people will just never concede this, and keep insisting that you are just envious of their McMansion. These discussions always follow the same trajectory.

[Anonymous]

Some of the posters above state that new construction is cheaply built. I hear this a lot. But on what do they base this?

The new construction I have seen is well-built. Just because it is not brick on the outside does not mean is it cheaply built.

[Anonymous]

my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp- well is sounds to me that you are doing good construction. There is definitely good construction out there. Certainly you could open up an old home and find a shit show of old wiring and turn of the century newspapers as insulation.
My point is that it really does come down to taste.
I could have bought a huge, new house a little further out. Commuting isn't an issue for us. I prefer something that's been around and seen some stuff.
If I had had over a million I would have looked to renovate closer in, not find new construction close in.
It's ok to prefer new things, but many people don't like the soullessness of new homes.

I have even seen the barebone low cost new builds and they are vastly Superior because mandatory modern building codes. I would argue the bones are much better than 90% of the old construction including the cheap new homes. The only thing that really differentiates the cheap vs expensive new homes are the finishing which are interchangeable.

You seem very knowledgeable. Are you a contractor? Where are the older homes that you tend to be working on?
I can only speak from my very limited experience. My older arlington home is so solid and sturdy in a way none of the homes we lived in growing up were. To be fair most of those homes were built in the early 80's.
My girlfriend had what seemed to be a beautiful new home out in Annapolis- it seems to be plagued with problems... But that could just be coincidence and coloring my perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of the posters above state that new construction is cheaply built. I hear this a lot. But on what do they base this?

The new construction I have seen is well-built. Just because it is not brick on the outside does not mean is it cheaply built.

People are stupid to think that all cinder block buildings are going to be the best needs for residential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never seen one that isn't ugly. That is not to say I don't think there can be nice ones, but I think that requires a special kind of architect and client. They are all cheap looking and give me headaches.

There's this: http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2012-11-16/1116_mcmansion_630x420.jpg

And then there's this: http://www.miamitenniscamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/modernist-architecture.jpg

I'd rather live in my 650 sq ft condo forever than the first one.

Exactly,my neighbor 3 houses down has the first one in mauve. And the second one is the same old twist on post mid-century modern we have seen before. Same old same old. The second house is also in Miami. Is this nor DCUM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always love this debate on DCUM, from people in a city with no fashion sense who look like cookie cutter office dwellers in neutral uniforms, bad haircuts, and no makeup. But yet you are all arbiters of architectural "taste" and "aesthetics.". Give me a break.

+1. Fix your bad comb-over and stop showing up at Starbucks in your awful biking shorts, and then you can tell me about what looks good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

Brick is still around but commands a premium
http://www.district-properties.com/35250preview_6521+Dryden+Dr_Mclean,_VA_.html


http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/22101/VA/MCLEAN/6713-WEAVER-AVENUE/3yd-MRIS-FX8539556.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

i hate those rows and rows of colonial boxes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

Brick is still around but commands a premium
http://www.district-properties.com/35250preview_6521+Dryden+Dr_Mclean,_VA_.html


http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/22101/VA/MCLEAN/6713-WEAVER-AVENUE/3yd-MRIS-FX8539556.html

wow those houses are ugly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
People are stupid to think that all cinder block buildings are going to be the best needs for residential.

Hey, it's Incoherent Cabinets Complaint woman! Oatcakes! Clownfish mucilage!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

Brick is still around but commands a premium
http://www.district-properties.com/35250preview_6521+Dryden+Dr_Mclean,_VA_.html


http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/22101/VA/MCLEAN/6713-WEAVER-AVENUE/3yd-MRIS-FX8539556.html

wow those houses are ugly

I love how there's a tiny rambler as the next door neighbor in both pictures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my ONLY problem with new construction is the design. Why are Craftsman the only style and why no more brick colonials? Even when price is less of an object ($1.5MM and up)?

Brick is still around but commands a premium
http://www.district-properties.com/35250preview_6521+Dryden+Dr_Mclean,_VA_.html


http://www.kw.com/homes-for-sale/22101/VA/MCLEAN/6713-WEAVER-AVENUE/3yd-MRIS-FX8539556.html

wow those houses are ugly

I love how there's a tiny rambler as the next door neighbor in both pictures.

Probably the people who complain about new construction and call them ugly.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a problem with new homes in general. I've seen some that I'd love to buy. In fact, our last home was new construction.

My problem is with (regardless of age, but tends to be newer homes):
- poor aesthetic (windows off scale, yuck siding, big box, all garage up front, etc.)
- doesn't fit in neighborhood
- doesn't fit in lot

And it doesn't bother me if someone else has this because it doesn't affect me, but I prefer smaller, well-thought-out floor plans for my family. 3000 would be the largest I'd go and I'd be fine with less.