Acknowledging that buyers appreciate the advancements of a new home, many still prefer an established neighborhood. Infill home building can meet the desire for modern finishes in a vintage setting. With limited lots, according to a late 2021 National Association of Home Builders report, teardown-rebuilds are a viable option.
Among marketing strong points of builders performing teardowns is the offer of new homes in buyers’ preferred neighborhoods, in contrast to renovating an existing house in the desired area to bring it up to the level of today’s expectations.
“In the repair and remodel world, there is always a sacrifice,” says Tommy Beadel, co-founder and CEO of Thomas James Homes, which builds residences in California, the Pacific Northwest, Colorado and Arizona. “You may get the home where you want it, but then you end up fixing the parts that don’t meet your standards. Buyers want the ease of access to what they want and that it is at market value.”
The teardown-rebuild model allows buyers to move to communities where new home construction ended decades earlier and no more lots exist. In such settings, the growing pains of the neighborhood are long past, and long-standing services and institutions are in place to serve residents.
“There is a scarcity of product and no more land to build on within these top markets,” Beadel says. “Thomas James Homes is in the markets where the average age of housing is 80-plus years, and the only viable solution is through teardown building. Teardown building allows homeowners to pick exactly where they want to be. When rebuilding an individual home, owners have the option to stay exactly where they are or pick the location where they want to be.”
