EVANSVILLE— When a person receives an unexpected job transfer from, say, Chicago to Evansville, it puts additional pressure on the jobholder and his family to find housing on short notice in the new community.
The idea of double moving — leasing an apartment for six months or longer until a custom home is built — could present too many jangled nerves and anxious moments, atop the adjustment of the family’s breadwinner to a new job or new work territory.
As an alternative, some homebuyers opt for spec homes, those built on the speculation that someone will need or want an already-built new home immediately.
Settled homeowners may want a new home in the same community, but without all the emotions and stress of waiting for one to be built.
With a spec home, they go directly from their sold home to a new home.
And there are other advantages, builders say.
For home shoppers who have difficulty visualizing what a room or some other house feature may look like when complete, spec homes provide the opportunity to see the finished work firsthand, said Mike Zehner of Zehner Contracting LLC.
A spec home also enables the homebuyer to judge a builder’s skill, said Shane Clements of Eagle Construction.
In buying a spec home, there could be some savings.
“People on average get a very good value when they purchase a spec home.
“To have the same home built again may be costlier, as sometimes construction costs increase by a couple percent,” Zehner said.
“If anything, I’d take a little under the market value to sell one quickly.”
Spec homes definitely help drive the housing market.
During the recent recession, however, the Tri-State market was almost void of new spec homes. Prospective builders feared they would be too risky to sell.