Should You Buy New Construction or an Older Home in Henderson?
If you’re buying a home in Henderson, one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is whether to go with brand-new construction or an older resale home. New construction gives you the newest finishes and builder incentives, but older homes can offer established neighborhoods, mature landscaping, and sometimes more flexibility. So, which one actually makes more sense for you?
NEW CONSTRUCTION — WHAT YOU’RE GETTING
One of the biggest advantages of new construction is obvious, you’re getting everything new. New appliances, energy-efficient windows, newer HVAC systems and smart-home features. The floor plans tend to reflect how people live today. You’re more likely to find big kitchen islands, great open rooms, larger primary showers and more modern appeal and look.
Builders will often sweeten the deal, too: incentives such as closing cost credits in the $10,000–$30,000 range on homes priced between roughly $400,000 and $800,000, working out to about a 2%–6% effective discount. Another big plus is the interest rate buydowns through the builder’s in-house lender especially on standing inventory homes they want sold quickly. I have buyers in contract right now on a new home with KB Homes in Inspirada. They are getting 5% interest rate and all of the closing costs paid plus a credit at the design center. That is hard to beat!
In Henderson, we still have quite a few places where buyers can purchase new construction. Inspirida is still a very active master-planned community with multiple builders and different price points.
Cadence and Lake Las Vegas also have new home construction and availability and of course higher-end new construction and custom homes in places like MacDonald Highlands and Ascaya.
With a new home, the models are beautiful and you may also be able to select your own upgrades like flooring, cabinets, countertops and other finishes.
But here is my insider warning: do not fall in love with the model home and assume that is what the base price buys you. Buying a home is very emotional and the models are designed to make you fall in love. They may have upgraded flooring, upgraded cabinets, additional lighting, built-ins, landscaping, a finished backyard and sometimes structural options that add a significant amount to the price. Then there can be a lot premium. A larger lot or view lot can cost substantially more. The Blue Heron homes in Southern Highlands lot premiums can be $250,000.
When purchasing new, look at the entire deal not just the incentive. The base price advertised online is rarely the price you’ll actually pay. Las Vegas valley new-build construction currently has a median sale price of about $525,000 vs the resale median sale price of $475,000 that is $50,000 which is almost 11% higher so that 6% incentive is definitely incorporated into the purchase price.
And there’s one Henderson-specific cost that almost never makes it onto a flyer: special improvement districts, or SID/LID assessments, which an additional fee on the home in additional to the HOA fee usually paid over 15 years that help master planned communities with the initial finance the parks, walking trails and community amenities.
BUYER REPRESENTATION — AN IMPORTANT INSIDER TIP
And if you’re thinking about new construction, this is something I really want buyers to know: bring your realtor with you the first time you visit the builder.
A lot of buyers think, “We’re just going to look at the models today,” and then they’ll call me later if they decide they like something. But builders have their own policies about Realtor registration, and that first visit can matter. I always tell my clients, even if you’re not ready to buy and we’re just going to have fun looking at models, let me go with you.
The salesperson in the model home can be terrific, and I work with builder representatives all the time but they represent the builder. My job is to represent you.
I’m looking at things differently. I’m asking: What is the lot premium? What exactly is included at this price? What are the HOA costs? What will be built behind this home? Are there incentives on another inventory home?
And the nice thing is that having your own representation doesn’t mean you can’t work directly with the builder’s salesperson. We work together. They’re helping us with the builder and the construction process, and I’m there making sure your side of the transaction is being looked after.
OLDER / RESALE HOMES — WHAT YOU’RE GETTING
Now let’s go to the other side, because I think resale homes sometimes get underestimated. I’ve been selling real estate here for 30 years, and one of the things I love about Henderson is that our communities were developed during very different periods. You can drive through Green Valley and see large trees, established parks and neighborhoods that have been there for decades. Then you can drive ten or fifteen minutes and be in a completely different environment.
When buyers come into an established neighborhood, what you see is what you’re getting. You can see how people maintain their homes. You see the landscaping. You know what is behind the house. You’re not looking at a map and being told, “Eventually this will be commercial and there will be more restaurants and amenities.”
And sometimes the lot is the biggest advantage. Many new home communities have smaller lots. In some older Henderson neighborhoods, buyers can find larger lots, wider streets and more separation between homes.
A resale home might already have a pool. During Covid everyone wanted to add a pool to their home and the pool builders were swamped. Prices went up significantly. Now to add even a basic pool you are looking at around $80,000. This is one of the huge bonuses of a resale home with a pool. Also, most resale homes already have the shutters or window treatments, mature landscaping, ceiling fans, built-in barbecue, patio cover and a finished backyard.
Those things don’t always jump out at you when you’re comparing two asking prices online.
I see this all the time in Anthem, where I live. Buyers will walk into a home and see landscaping that has had 20 years to mature. You simply can’t recreate that overnight. Some of those homes and neighborhoods have beautiful established trees and landscaping.
Of course, there is a trade-off. With an older home, we want to pay attention to the age of the air-conditioning units, roof, water heater, appliances, plumbing fixtures and other systems. Sometimes a resale home is beautifully remodeled, but the expensive mechanical systems are still original. That doesn’t mean don’t buy it. It just means know what you’re buying.
Hi, my name is Leslie Carver, and I’m a real estate professional here in the Las Vegas and Henderson area. If you’re thinking about moving, buying, or selling here, make sure you subscribe because I share community tours, market updates, and everything you need to know about living in Las Vegas and Henderson. Now let’s talk about where the decision between new and resale really starts to matter.”
THE COST ISN’T JUST THE PURCHASE PRICE
This is probably the part I wish more buyers understood. I had buyers looking to purchase a home for around $700,000. We found a resale home in Green Valley Ranch listed at $715,000 that had been on the market for around 30 days so there was likely some negotiability.
We also looked at a new KB home in Inspirada with a base price of $675,000. At first glance, the new home looked like the better deal. But base price does not include a lot of upgrades with KB Homes. Once we added basic upgraded flooring, cabinets, electrical upgrades and then took into consideration after close of escrow purchasing window coverings and then have to landscape the backyard, suddenly the comparison looked very different.
There is one other expense people overlook: time and disruption. If you buy an older home knowing you want to remodel the kitchen and bathrooms, are you okay living through construction? I’ve seen buyers say, “Oh, we’ll just redo the kitchen,” and six months later they’re wondering why they ever thought that sounded easy.
On the other hand, if you buy new construction, you may wait months for the home to be completed, and construction could continue around you after you move in.
New construction may make more sense if: You want modern finishes and layouts, you like the idea of customizing a home, you’re comfortable living in a community that may still be developing.
An older home may make more sense if: You prefer an established neighborhood, you want mature landscaping or potentially more space, you want to avoid waiting for construction, you’re comfortable updating or maintaining an older property.
Neither option is automatically better. It really comes down to what matters most to you.
And this is where I really try to get buyers away from just looking at houses and start talking about how they want to live. Do you want to walk outside your door and have parks, trails and brand-new amenities around you? A newer master-planned community like Cadence or Inspirada might really appeal to you.
Or do you want to be in a neighborhood where the trees are already mature, the shopping is established and you can see exactly what the community is going to look like? Then Green Valley Ranch, Seven Hills or Anthem might speak to you more.
I’ve lived in Henderson for years and raised my boys here, and that is one of the reasons I’m such a believer in choosing the community first.
A beautiful kitchen can be changed. Painting and flooring are very easy to change and make a big impact on how the house feels. You cannot change where the house sits. You can’t make the lot bigger. You can’t move the neighbor behind you.
So, when I’m helping someone decide between new and resale, I always want to get back to those things first. Neither option is automatically better. It really comes down to what matters most to you.
“So, should you buy new construction or an older home in Henderson? The answer really depends on your priorities. If you’re only comparing the price on the listing, you could miss some of the biggest differences between the two. Look at the neighborhood, the total cost, the amount of maintenance you’re comfortable with, and how you actually want to live.”
“If you’re trying to decide between new construction and resale in Henderson, reach out and I’d be happy to help you compare your options.”
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