How to choose between a new building and a secondary building if you are going to buy a home

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Buying a home in general is not easy. There are a lot of nuances to consider. And one of the questions that the future owner of real estate stumbles upon - a new building or a secondary property? Each of the options has its fans, but none of them can be said: this one is definitely better. It all depends on your needs and desires.

Let's analyze the main criteria by which it is worth comparing secondary housing and apartments in new buildings to make it easier to make a choice.

Ease of transaction

There are a lot of little things to keep in mind when buying from the secondary market. For example, make sure that the apartment is not pledged, the seller is adequate, his spouse is not against the sale of real estate, and so on. If all documents are not carefully checked, there is a risk that the transaction will be invalidated in a few years. The apartment will have to be vacated and sued to get the money back. Therefore, the purchase requires care and often the help of a lawyer or realtor.

In addition, when acquiring an object in an old housing stock, you often have to participate in a chain of transactions. Your seller also buys an apartment, as does his seller - and so on. Sometimes these chains are quite long. And if one link drops out, everyone is left without a deal.

The main danger when buying a new building is the risk of running into a scammer. There is even a special term for their victims - defrauded equity holders. An unscrupulous company used to be able to sell apartments several times or completely unfinished an object. And buyers were deprived of money.

The situation was regulated by law. Investors' funds are now sent to escrow accounts. When the house is ready, the money is transferred to the developer. If this does not happen, the funds are returned to the buyer.

That is, in general, it has become safer to buy an apartment in a new building. Real estate has no history, so you only need to check the developer's conscientiousness. And the new housing is also on direct sale and is being sold without any chains.

Mortgage conditions

It's worth starting with the fact that getting a mortgage for an apartment in an old housing stock can be problematic at all. The most difficult thing is to get a loan for housing in houses built before the 60s of the XX century. And among them there are both strong "stalinkas" and pre-revolutionary buildings with overhaul, which do not lose their attractiveness.

Banks in general are more willing to give mortgages for housing in new buildings. Such transactions are easier to execute. Above, we have already figured out what nuances you can face when buying a second home. This means that the manager needs to ask the client and put in a folder a bunch of references. With new buildings, everything is more transparent. And transferring money to a legal entity's account is easier than bothering with safe payments for individuals so that everyone is happy.

The difference will often be seen in interest rates for new buildings and old housing stock. Sometimes it is significant, sometimes it is not. For example, Alfa-Bank offers loans at 7, 89% for new housing and 8, 29% - for secondary, and Otkritie - 8, 8% and 8, 9%, respectively.

Rate for new buildings from Alfa-Bank

Rate for secondary housing from Alfa-Bank

The rate for new buildings from "Otkrytie"

Rate for secondary housing from Otkritie

Differences become noticeable if the buyer can apply for preferential terms or state support programs. For example, banks, in partnership with developers, often lower loan rates for buying a home in a particular neighborhood. The preferential mortgage program, which they decided to extend until July 1, 2022, applies only to new apartments, as well as a loan at 6% for families with children.

All this can tilt the scales in the direction of the new building.

Layout

On average, modern layouts look more thoughtful than older houses. Usually we are talking about at least a functional corridor and a large kitchen. And in multi-room apartments you can find two bathrooms.

For the buildings of the Soviet period, tiny kitchens, walk-through rooms are more characteristic, which is not always convenient. There is nothing to say about pre-revolutionary houses - layouts there can be the most intricate. When huge manor apartments were turned into small ones, they were often cut in a very strange way.

The redevelopment is controlled by the state. There are many rules and restrictions for them. That is why it is worth buying an apartment, the walls of which suit you for the most part. And not everyone is ready to look for diamonds in the old fund, if you can buy a new standard apartment and get a more or less sane layout.

This is the time to remember the important things. Developers sometimes offer so-called open-plan apartments, that is, premises without internal walls. This is served as an option for your convenience. Like, put them anywhere. But most often there are partitions in the project. And they will have to be erected exactly where they are applied, otherwise it will be a violation of the law. The developer saves money on the construction of walls, leaving the issue at the mercy of those who buy housing. Keep this in mind if you are looking for a free layout.

Finishing

In new buildings, buyers are offered mainly two types of finishes: rough, when a minimum of work is done, and final turnkey. The first option is good because the buyer does not overpay for repairs that are not done to his taste. But it will take time and money to put the apartment in order. Fine finishing assumes that you can move in and live right away. At the same time, the quality of materials and work remains on the developer's conscience. And it is rare to expect that it will be high. But at least you will be greeted with new plumbing, working sockets and switches, and so on.

Resale in this sense implies a wide variety of options. Here the buyer can expect:

• rough finishing: the owners started renovations, but decided to sell the apartment;
• stylish high-quality renovation;
• a fresh finish - a screen, which was whipped up for sale in order to hide the flaws of the apartment, and which will not last long;
• prehistoric renovation, but the apartment is in good, tidy condition;
• decay and devastation, flowing pipes, plumbing with a centimeter layer of dirt and holes in the floor;
• "Elite" but tasteless renovation, for which the owners want an awful lot of money.

If all this is summed up, then in fact there are two options: when urgent repairs are needed and when they are not needed. The advantage of the second case is that you can move into the apartment right away and not spend money on renting housing while you put your own in order. This is especially great for mortgages. If there is an amount on the account that will be enough both for the purchase of housing and for its renovation, the finishing does not have such a grandiose value.

Moving term

The date of arrival is influenced not only by the need for repairs. Apartments in new buildings begin to be sold when the house itself is virtually nonexistent. So sometimes you have to rent a house for years while waiting for the keys from the developer. Nothing has changed with the secondary housing: if the finish is present, you can call in immediately.

Noisy renovations

Imagine an average new building. People bought apartments at different stages of the construction of the house, and the keys were given to the tenants at about the same time. And they all start to make repairs. Accordingly, you should be prepared for the noise that will last for several years.

For new buildings, regional "laws on silence" usually even set their own conditions. For example, in Moscow it is forbidden to repair something loudly from 19 to 9 o'clock and from 13 to 15, as well as on Sundays and non-working holidays. But in new buildings during the first one and a half years, repairs can be done from 7 to 23 hours without a break and weekends.

Even buying an apartment in a house with a fine finish does not insure against noise. It's just that the repairs will be even more stretched in time, because the neighbors will start them at different periods. In the old housing stock, of course, no one is insured against other people's repairs either. But it is unlikely that they will do it all at once. And usually in such houses there are still fewer apartments.

As for other noises, a lot depends on the quality of sound insulation. And it can be terrible in both old and new homes.

Communication quality

In new homes, communications are definitely new. In old ones - how lucky. The networks are periodically changed, so that pipes and batteries that have just been installed can be found in the secondary too. Usually, everything is visible with the naked eye even when viewing ads for the sale of apartments.

But with the wiring, surprises are possible. In the old housing stock, there is a risk of facing an acute shortage of sockets - before they were simply not needed in such an amount. The dilapidated wiring is also fire hazardous. And often in old apartments there is not enough electrical power for all modern appliances. Increasing it is a whole adventure. This can be important if you like to turn on the vacuum cleaner, microwave and heater at the same time.

District

For obvious reasons, new buildings are mainly erected where there are free areas - closer to the outskirts. In the center, new houses are also sometimes built, but they are sold at cosmic cost. So those who do not have a lot of money, but want to live in the center, there is only a secondary housing. In residential areas, you can already choose between new buildings and old stock.

Infrastructure

If a lonely new building has grown up in an old area, there will be no infrastructure problems. There are kindergartens, schools, clinics, shops and everything you need for life. If there are several new buildings in the old district, it is already more difficult: existing facilities may not be able to cope with the increased number of people.

In new areas with infrastructure, everything will be unhappy. Usually, developers show parks, clinics, and everything, everything, everything on the models. Of course, sooner or later the new area will inevitably become habitable. But you need to be prepared for the fact that part of what was promised exists only in the project, and everything else will not appear soon. For example, another child may go to school without waiting for kindergarten.

Contingent

Usually fans of new buildings deny the secondary property because of the bad neighborhood. Supposedly there will be grumpy pensioners, drunkards and other problem residents. And new buildings are visited by people who have money to buy an apartment, which means that everything will be all right.

It seems that this thought is not entirely true:

• The presence of money does not characterize a person at all. The opportunity to purchase a home is not connected with upbringing, cleanliness and tact.
• Apartments in new buildings are often bought for rent. If there are many single rooms and studios in the house, loud students or 50 illegal migrants can settle there.
• The new economy-class houses have apartments that belong to social housing: the city distributes them to those in need. And these are, for example, people from a dilapidated secondary housing. They can turn out to be both pleasant neighbors and not very good ones.
• Everything is relative. Sometimes a quiet binge behind the wall is more enjoyable than a family with three loud kids.
• In the secondary housing, you can immediately get to know your future neighbors. In a new building, this will not always be a pleasant surprise.

So a lot depends on the specific home and your personal needs.