New Construction vs Resale in Coastal Delaware

If you're thinking about retiring to Coastal Delaware and you're trying to decide between new construction or resale, this is the video that you're going to want to watch because I am going to break down the differences in new construction and resale homes in Coastal Delaware. Because let's be honest, this is not about whether you want a new kitchen or an established community. This is all about how your move or retirement to Delaware goes, whether that be their stress level, the maintenance, the overall cost, the move, your budget, your resale potential, and honestly, overall, how you want your move to feel when moving to Delaware. And I think this is where a lot of buyers get tripped up, especially buyers that are moving from out of state, because new construction often feels like the easiest path. And in most cases, it is, but it really depends on your situation. And listen, resale is also a great option, especially if you are in a situation where you have already sold your house and you would like to get into the new one immediately. So let's get into it. Let's talk about overall maintenance, budget, timeline, HOA, the overall community feel. I want to go through all of it. So let's start off with budget. In most cases, new construction starts off with what they call a base pricing. In all cases, the base price is not actually what you were going to pay. I've never seen it. Even if you went with standard options, everything, unfortunately, you're just not going to pay that base price. There is going to be something, whether it be that you want to upgrade carpet padding, or you would like to pick a different lot where there's a lot premium that a lot of times does not get talked about. So when you see that base price and it says starting at, just know that you are going to add on to that. Now in resale, that is completely different. When you see that price that it is listed for, that is the actual price that it is listed for. Now, where there are some cases, especially during the COVID years where there were multiple offers and you were having But we are right now currently in 2026 in a more balanced market, which means we are seeing homes sell for under that list price, or we're seeing homes sell for that list price with maybe some seller concessions or seller assistance in closing costs. Now in new construction, there are what is called quick delivery homes or spec homes. These are homes that new construction builders have built. They have already picked out the options. You do not get to pick out anything. They have already built the home, or they're in the process of building that home, and they currently do not have a buyer. In some cases, or really in most cases, you can get a better deal with these quick delivery homes or spec homes because the builder is trying to get the home off of their books, which means that they're willing to give you a deal. But the only con to is that you don't get to choose what lot you have. You do not get to choose any of your options, so cabinet colors, flooring colors, carpets, sometimes even the layout. So if the salesperson decided that they wanted to add a loft or a fireplace or didn't want to add those things, that is not something that you can change. But these homes have never been lived in, which means you would get a new construction home sometimes for a better deal than you would if you were to pick all those other options. So if you are interested in new construction but maybe don't want to pay those prices, if you look at a quick delivery home, you may be able to find a little bit more bang for your buck. Now let's talk about your timeline. This is where it could be stressful or could go really smooth. In new construction, the typical build time right now is around five to six months, more so six months than five months. What is required in most cases, depending on the builder, is you need a deposit at contract, whether that be 3%, 5%, or 10%. I am seeing more and more builders wanting that 10% at contract, and it's 10% of the sale price. So in most cases, it's anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000. Now, if you do not have $50,000 or $60,000 in a bank account that you can pull out to put down that deposit, you may need to pull that out of your current home. If you are someone that has equity in your current home and you do not want to go down the path of having to find temporary housing, I do recommend that you try out a home equity line of credit. That is, you would pull the equity out of your home. It is a second lien on your property, which means it does need to be paid off at closing. You would then use that money to start the contract and start the building of your new construction home. Then you have five months or six months to then sell your home. You could then close on your home that you're currently living in and purchase your new construction home. This helps with not having to essentially move twice. Now, if you are saying, hey, Jen, the numbers do not make sense, I'm going to need to sell my current home in order to put the down payment or the deposit needed for the contract. Then we do need to talk about some temporary housing, whether that be that you have an Airbnb, I have a discount for an extended stay at Homes 2 in Lewis and Fenwick, or you can stay with family members or you get a month-to-month lease with an apartment. In that case, you are most likely moving twice because you're going to have to put yourself in storage or a pod and then be able to purchase your new construction home five, six months down the road. Now, with a resale home, we are seeing more and more home sale contingencies. This all depends on the seller, on whether or not they are going to accept your offer with a home sale contingency, which means that you need to sell your current home in order to purchase this home. With the market the way that it is going, in some cases, sellers do not want to deal with a home sale contingency, and they will tell you that when you put the offer in. Is that more stressful? Yes. Oftentimes, it is more stressful just because you are under the wire on getting your home under contract and making sure that you can fulfill that contingency for purchasing that resale home. If that person then purchases another home and they're contingent, it creates a domino effect. It's not always such a smooth process when you have the domino effect of home sale contingencies because if one buyer's contract falls through or the financing doesn't go through, it then creates a ripple effect for the rest of them. Okay, so let's talk about maintenance. Maintenance in a resale home, it really depends on how old the home is. A lot of times, the warranty that the seller had when they purchased the home is no longer valid, which means that you have an older HVAC system, you maybe have an older roof, you maybe have older windows, everything that comes with having maintenance on a home, which is why more people gravitate towards new construction. Because new construction, everything is new. You don't really typically have to worry too much about maintenance in the first five years. You can just go and come as you please, and especially if lawn maintenance is included in your HOA, you really don't have a lot of maintenance. But with resale homes, you do need to factor in that maintenance when it comes to your budget as well. All right, so let's talk about the layout of homes. Delaware builders have realized that Delaware is a retirement destination, which means the layouts are much different than they were, say, five, 10 years ago. We are seeing more and more new construction, have the primary bedroom on the main floor, have wider hallways just in case you were to ever need a wheelchair. We're also seeing multi-generational homes again, where there is actually separate entrances for an apartment, which would be an in-law suite, or if you have an older child that is living with you, maybe they have the in-law suite with a little kitchenette area. We don't see that very often with resale homes, meaning that a lot of the homes back that are 10, 15 years ago, they were not built with the notion of aging in place. So hallways are smaller, doorways are smaller, the primary bedroom is on the second floor, there's a lot of stairs in the home, and it's just overall not ideal for someone that is wanting to age in place. So this is another thing to consider when you're thinking about new construction versus resale homes. Now, if you were someone that would like a resale home because the community is more established, then yes, I say this very often, I get the number one complaint I get is that Delaware does not have a lot of trees, and I agree with you. The reason being is that Delaware is a lot of farmland, so there were no trees to begin with, which means that the builders are trying to add in the trees, but they take years and years to grow to actually look mature enough. So if you are looking for a more established community, I would say that resale is probably right up your alley because that's where you're going to find a more established community. Now listen, new construction and resale homes both have trade-offs. So if you are someone that wants to pay exactly what the list price is, then I would say resale probably is the way to go. If you are someone that maybe wants everything new, you don't want to deal with maintenance, you have dealt with your home for so long and you're sick of doing all the maintenance, you want to buy new, not have to worry about it, want to enjoy your golden years, then new construction may be the option for you. But just know that you're going to pay a little bit more for new construction than you would for resale homes. And if it's important to you to have an established community, resale all the way because unfortunately new construction, you're just not going to get that in the first couple of years of the community. Both are great options. It really depends on your lifestyle and overall what you are looking for. There are plenty of new construction communities in Sussex County right now and they are building and building. But there also are plenty of resale communities that have been around for years that are also perfect. And if you are thinking you would like to be closer to Lewis, that might be your opportunity to get into closer to Lewis as opposed to all of the new construction that is starting to build on the outskirts of Lewis as Lewis has started to fill up. So there are many different opportunities. If you are interested in comparing all of the different towns in coastal Delaware, I have a guide down below in the description where it walks you through the difference between Lewis and Milton and Bridgeville and Allendale and all of the different towns that are in coastal Delaware. And that is below down in the description. I really hope that this video helped. If it did, be sure to give me a thumbs up. Be sure to subscribe to the channel. I will see you in the next one. Hey, thank you so much for making it this far into the video. If you are interested in more Delaware retirement content, check out this video right here. 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