on August 19, 2026
New construction is appealing for obvious reasons: modern floor plans, new appliances, energy-efficient systems, builder warranties and the ability to customize your home.
But the advertised price isn’t always the price you’ll actually pay.
Resale homes have their own advantages, including established neighborhoods, mature trees, potentially larger lots, immediate availability and fewer unknowns about what the surrounding area will eventually look like.
Jake Inderman is a North Texas Realtor helping buyers relocating to Frisco, Prosper, Celina and surrounding Dallas suburbs compare new construction and resale homes.
Here’s what buyers should understand before choosing between the two.
**Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/yBy1o-lLeag
The decision usually comes down to five things:
| New Construction | Resale Home |
|---|---|
| Brand-new systems | Established neighborhood |
| Modern floor plans | Mature trees and landscaping |
| Builder incentives | More traditional negotiation |
| Customization opportunities | You see exactly what you’re buying |
| Builder warranty | Potentially larger lots |
| Energy efficiency | Established infrastructure |
| Possible construction around you | Typically no ongoing builder construction |
| Base price may increase with upgrades | Purchase price is easier to evaluate upfront |
Neither option is automatically better.
The question is which tradeoffs make the most sense for your budget, timeline and lifestyle.
It’s easy to understand the appeal of buying brand new.
Jake Inderman purchased new construction himself and understands why relocation buyers are drawn toward it.
You walk into a model home and see:
There’s also something appealing about knowing nobody else has lived in the house.
For buyers relocating from another state, builders can also provide a relatively straightforward process.
Choose your floor plan, select your lot, make your design selections, wait for construction and close when the home is finished.
But this is where buyers need to understand the difference between the model home and the base home.
One of the biggest mistakes buyers make is assuming the builder’s advertised starting price represents the home they toured.
It often doesn’t.
Jake has seen model homes containing hundreds of thousands of dollars in upgrades, lot premiums and outdoor improvements while the builder advertises the much lower base price of the floor plan.
For example, you might see:
“Homes starting at $750,000.”
Then walk through a stunning model and assume that’s approximately what $750,000 buys.
But the model could include:
The actual model could cost dramatically more.
Instead of asking:
“What’s the base price?”
Ask:
“What would it cost to build the home I’m standing in on the lot I’m considering?”
That’s a much more useful number.
Jake discusses buyers commonly spending around 15% of the base price on design-center upgrades, although the actual amount can vary substantially depending on the builder and buyer.
On a $400,000 base price, 15% would equal approximately:
$60,000 in upgrades.
That could include:
It’s extremely easy for individual upgrades to seem inexpensive while the total design-center bill grows quickly.
That’s why buyers should establish an all-in construction budget before visiting the design center.
Your floor plan isn’t the only thing that affects the final price.
The lot can cost extra too.
Builders may charge premiums for:
Jake gave examples ranging from several thousand dollars to approximately $15,000 for certain corner lots and around $60,000 for some premium lake-view lots.
Those aren’t universal prices.
Every builder and community is different.
The important takeaway is that your lot selection can materially change the final purchase price.
This is one of the most overlooked disadvantages of buying early in a new community.
The beautiful renderings show:
But that’s what the community is supposed to look like eventually.
Your actual experience during the first few years could include:
Construction beginning early in the morning.
Roofers and framers working nearby.
Nail guns.
Large construction trucks.
Mud.
Dust.
Nails in the road.
Unfinished landscaping.
Empty lots.
Jake has personally experienced many of these issues while living in new construction.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy new.
It means you should understand what phase of development you’re buying into.
That depends entirely on the community.
If you’re buying one of the final homes on a nearly completed street, the disruption may be relatively minor.
If you’re buying during Phase 1 of a community planning another 800 or 1,000 homes, construction could continue for years.
Before buying, ask:
How many homes are planned?
How many have been completed?
How many phases remain?
What’s planned behind my lot?
When are the amenities expected to open?
Where will future construction traffic enter the community?
Those questions can matter almost as much as your floor plan.
Resale homes solve many of those problems.
When you drive into an established neighborhood, you’re seeing the neighborhood as it actually exists.
You don’t need a rendering to imagine what it might become.
Jake highlights several resale advantages, including mature trees, finished infrastructure, established surroundings and fewer unknowns.
You can evaluate:
That’s valuable information.
This is one of those things buyers don’t always appreciate until they compare neighborhoods side by side.
New construction communities typically have small newly planted trees.
That’s unavoidable.
A 20-year-old neighborhood has had 20 years for trees and landscaping to mature.
That can completely change how the neighborhood feels.
If your ideal North Texas neighborhood has large shade trees and established landscaping, resale may be the better path.
Lot size is another important difference.
Many newer North Texas developments offer 40- and 50-foot lots, although 60-, 70-, 80- and even larger homesites are available in certain communities.
Established North Texas neighborhoods can sometimes provide larger lots and more space between homes.
That’s particularly valuable if you want:
Don’t compare only square footage.
A 3,500-square-foot home on a tight lot provides a very different lifestyle than a similarly sized home with a substantial backyard.
One of the strongest arguments for resale is certainty.
When you’re buying into an established neighborhood, you can physically see:
What the street looks like.
How close the houses are.
Where the amenities are.
How mature the trees are.
How traffic flows.
What’s behind your house.
What’s nearby.
Jake emphasizes that established neighborhoods generally provide fewer unknowns than brand-new developments.
For relocation buyers unfamiliar with North Texas, that certainty can be particularly valuable.
Both builders and resale sellers can negotiate.
But they often negotiate differently.
Depending on market conditions and the seller’s situation, buyers may negotiate:
Individual homeowners have personal motivations.
They might need to relocate for work.
They may have already purchased another house.
They might prioritize a particular closing date.
That can create negotiation opportunities.
Builders think differently.
They’re operating a business and often want to protect neighborhood sales prices because those sales become comparable properties for future inventory.
As Jake explains, builders may therefore be more willing to offer value through:
rather than making a dramatic reduction to the home’s recorded sales price.
This is one area where new construction can win.
Depending on the builder and market, incentives can potentially save buyers significant money.
But don’t evaluate an incentive based on the headline number alone.
For example:
$30,000 toward closing costs sounds great.
But another builder with a lower home price and no incentive could still provide the better deal.
Compare the total financial package.
That includes:
Purchase price + upgrades + lot premium + closing costs + financing + taxes + HOA + MUD/PID assessments.
Builder financing incentives are often tied to using the builder’s preferred lender.
That doesn’t automatically make the preferred lender good or bad.
It means you should compare.
Ask for:
Then compare that package against an outside lender.
A lower advertised interest rate isn’t necessarily the cheapest loan.
One advantage of buying new construction is the builder warranty.
Jake discusses the common 1-2-10 style warranty structure found with many builders:
1 year: broader workmanship/items
2 years: certain mechanical or systems coverage
10 years: certain structural coverage
Exact warranty terms vary by builder and contract.
Buyers should review the actual written warranty rather than assuming every builder provides identical coverage.
Modern building standards can also make new construction more energy efficient.
Depending on the builder and home, newer construction may include:
That doesn’t guarantee a specific utility bill.
House size, thermostat settings, insulation, orientation and equipment efficiency all matter.
But buyers comparing a new home with a substantially older property should consider potential operating costs in addition to the purchase price.
A brand-new home is still built by people.
Mistakes happen.
That’s why Jake Inderman recommends buyers consider independent inspections even on new construction.
Depending on the construction stage, that could include inspections during the build and again before closing.
New doesn’t mean perfect.
And the builder’s final walkthrough shouldn’t automatically replace your own due diligence.
According to Jake, new construction is particularly compelling for buyers who prioritize:
Modern layouts
Current finishes
Energy efficiency
Customization
New appliances and systems
Builder warranty
Move-in-ready condition
If you hate renovating and want a house designed around how people live today, new construction may be worth paying for.
It’s also appealing if you have enough time to wait for a home to be built.
Resale may be better if you prioritize:
Established neighborhoods
Mature trees
Larger lots
Known surroundings
Immediate availability
Neighborhood character
Less construction
Timeline can be a major factor.
A new-construction floor plan you love may not be available for another four months.
A resale home could potentially close within 30–60 days depending on the transaction.
If you’re relocating for a job and need housing quickly, that difference matters.
Here’s one of the most important considerations in Jake’s entire comparison.
Suppose you buy during Phase 1 of a large master-planned community.
You plan to own the home for only three to five years.
When you decide to sell, the builder may still be constructing hundreds of new homes nearby.
Now you’re competing against the builder.
And the builder could be offering buyers:
You’re trying to sell your three-year-old home against that.
That’s not an impossible situation.
But it’s a risk buyers should understand before purchasing.
Buying early can have advantages.
You may get:
But there’s uncertainty.
If you know you’ll probably move again in three years, buying in a community expected to build for another decade deserves additional scrutiny.
Ask how many future homes are planned.
Your exit strategy matters.
Frisco is an interesting market because buyers can find both.
Newer areas provide modern construction and proximity to major development.
Established Frisco neighborhoods can offer mature landscaping, known surroundings and excellent access to the city’s existing shopping and employment.
Because Frisco is farther along in its development than Celina, buyers who prioritize established neighborhoods may find considerably more resale options here.
Prosper offers a mixture of established luxury communities and significant new development.
Buyers can compare newer communities with neighborhoods that already have:
The right choice often comes down to whether you prioritize customizing a brand-new home or avoiding the uncertainty of an unfinished neighborhood.
Celina has one of the largest pipelines of new construction in North Texas.
That gives buyers an enormous amount of choice.
You can compare:
But it also makes the resale issue discussed earlier especially important.
If you purchase early in a massive Celina development and sell within a few years, you could still be competing with brand-new builder inventory.
The biggest mistake isn’t choosing new construction.
And it isn’t choosing resale.
It’s deciding what type of home you want before determining what lifestyle you need.
A model home can make buyers fall in love with a kitchen.
But the kitchen doesn’t change:
Your commute.
Your school assignment.
Your tax rate.
Your HOA.
Your neighborhood location.
Your future resale competition.
Start with the location and community.
Then choose the house.
Before signing a builder contract, Jake Inderman recommends understanding questions such as:
The answers can materially change whether a new home is actually the better deal.
For resale homes, investigate:
A resale home can have a lower purchase price but require substantial repairs after closing.
Again, compare the total cost, not simply the listing price.
There’s no universal answer.
New construction can look more expensive until builder incentives and reduced near-term maintenance are considered.
Resale can look cheaper until you discover the home needs:
$20,000 HVAC replacement
$15,000 roof
Flooring
Paint
Kitchen updates
Bathroom renovations
On the other hand, a resale property may already include tens of thousands of dollars in landscaping, window treatments, appliances, outdoor living and upgrades that would cost extra in a new build.
The correct comparison is:
What will each home cost me to own and make the way I want it?
Not necessarily. New construction generally offers newer systems, modern layouts, customization and warranties, while resale homes can offer mature neighborhoods, larger lots, immediate availability and fewer unknowns.
Jake discusses approximately 15% of the base price as a common amount buyers may spend on design selections, although the actual amount varies substantially by buyer and builder.
A lot premium is an additional amount a builder charges for certain homesites, such as oversized, corner, greenbelt or water-view lots. Premiums can range substantially depending on the community and property.
Yes. Jake has seen negotiations involving closing costs, discounts, upgrades and interest-rate buydowns. Builders may sometimes prefer incentives rather than reducing the recorded sales price.
Potential disadvantages include upgrade costs, lot premiums, construction noise, unfinished amenities, young landscaping and the possibility of competing against future builder inventory when you sell.
Resale homes can provide established neighborhoods, mature landscaping, larger lots, known surroundings and faster availability.
Not necessarily. However, buyers planning to sell within a few years should consider whether the builder could still be selling new homes when they’re ready to list their property.
There’s no universal winner.
Choose new construction if you prioritize modern layouts, customization, newer systems, energy efficiency and builder warranties—and you’re comfortable with the possibility of living around construction.
Choose resale if you prioritize established neighborhoods, mature landscaping, larger lots, known surroundings and potentially faster move-in timelines.
Most importantly, don’t become so focused on the house that you ignore the neighborhood.
The best floor plan in the wrong location is still the wrong home.
Jake Inderman is a North Texas Realtor helping buyers relocating to Frisco, Prosper, Celina and surrounding communities compare new construction vs resale homes before making a purchase.
Whether you’re 9 days or 9 months away from moving, Jake can help you compare:
The goal isn’t to convince you that new construction or resale is always better.
It’s to determine which one makes the most sense for your situation.
Jake Inderman | North Texas Realtor
Call/Text: 469-343-2008
Email: jake.inderman@gmail.com