With a clear eye on what they wanted in their next home and confidence in Gallagher and Henry as a homebuilder, Sarah and Dan pegged the family-owned homebuilder to construct the couple’s new home in Woodridge’s Farmingdale Village community in 2020. Sarah discusses the couple’s hunt for a new home, choosing new construction over the resale market, and putting faith in Gallagher and Henry.

Sarah and Dan began looking for a new home in the summer of 2020. “We were outgrowing our townhome in Naperville and were eager to set deeper roots with a single-family home of our own.”

The couple began their home search by exploring the resale market. “We didn’t know exactly what we wanted, but we knew what we didn’t like. We found so many homes needing a lot of updating and the thought of living through a renovation and having to invest in that wasn’t terribly appealing.”

Rather quickly, Sarah and Dan pivoted to investigating new construction with Gallagher and Henry at Farmingdale Village in Woodridge. “When we sat down with [Gallagher and Henry sales manager] Sandie Kanakes, we realized the advantages of building new and the choice became pretty clear. We hurried to sell our townhome and set up a contract with Gallagher and Henry.”

The Gallagher and Henry name was especially familiar to Sarah. Not only had about 10 family members worked for Gallagher and Henry over the years, including her grandfather, but Sarah grew up in Farmingdale Village. “I always wanted to stay in the area, so building with Gallagher and Henry in Farmingdale Village was the obvious choice.”

Still, the couple did their research. They scoured online reviews and queried family members with construction industry backgrounds. “And everything checked out. Gallagher and Henry was so highly recommended for the quality of work they do.”

A large, open kitchen was at the top the couple’s new home wish list. “Dan likes to cook and I like to bake.” The couple also wanted a basement, a large backyard, and lots of windows for natural light.

Initially drawn to the Calysta, the largest of Gallagher and Henry’s six Lifestyle Series home plans, Sarah and Dan fell in love with the Briarcliffe upon touring the model at Lemont’s Covington Knolls community. “With the open two-story foyer, the staircase, and the natural light pouring in, the Briarcliffe immediately caught our attention. Then, when we got into the kitchen and saw how it opened to the entire first floor, that really sealed the deal.”

Yet, the couple had some specific requests and wanted to explore modifications to the Briarcliffe plan. Sarah and Dan requested an extra one-foot ceiling height in the basement, a fireplace, and the addition of flagstone to the home’s front exterior. “Sandie got us pricing on those things immediately and we were able to move forward.”

Though friends warned Sarah and Dan of a complicated process when building a new home, Sarah calls her dealings with Gallagher and Henry “completely seamless” and free of stress. “I’m a second guesser by nature, but Sandie and [superintendent] Ed Holmquist were so reassuring and responsive and worked with us every step of the way. Having people who were super friendly and kind was the cherry on top of being able to build our home together.”

After selling their townhome in October, Sarah and Dan spent the next six months living with Sarah’s parents a block from their soon-to-be completed home. They visited the construction site daily and closed on the purchase March 23, 2021. “When the home was officially ours, it was actually kind of strange to have the keys all to ourselves and no one needing to lock up behind us.”

Now settled into their new home, Sarah and Dan look forward to a lifetime of making memories in Farmingdale Village. “It’s the perfect place for us to grow into.”

The construction of new homes in the U.S. is hitting levels not seen since 2006.

With construction starts on single-family homes rising at a double-digit rate throughout the spring and building permit applications climbing alongside them, the United States could host as many as 1.75 million new homes by the close of 2021.

So, what’s behind this new housing boom? There are four key factors driving house hunters to new construction:

#1: Limited Supply of Existing Properties

In the Chicago area and in many markets across the country, the number of existing properties on the market sits well below typical norms. In the nine-county metro Chicago area, for example, active home listings are half of what they were before the pandemic struck in March 2020. The slim supply of existing home inventory is fueling bidding wars on properties, pushing homebuyers to make fast decisions, and creating unsettling experiences.

In choosing to build a new home, you can avoid the chaotic resale market, a rushed process, and pricing ambiguity. Gallagher and Henry, for instance, is fully transparent on its pricing and has a defined, streamlined, and time-tested process for bringing your new home to life.

#2: Low Interest Rates

Yes, it’s true that low interest rates apply to an existing property just as well as they do to a new home. But rather than selecting a fixer upper or starter home – and dealing with that home’s inevitable updates, renovations, and repairs – buyers are taking advantage of historically low interest rates to get into their forever home now.

Combined with new construction’s lower maintenance costs and improved energy efficiency, buyers see taking advantage of current low rates to purchase a newly built home today as a savvy long-term financial play as well as one that gets them into their dream home.

#3: Convenience

After a year marked with inconveniences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, house hunters aren’t much interested in additional disruptions and hassle. Many look to their home to be a place of serenity, not strife, and don’t want their home complicating life.

In building a new home, you get new mechanicals, new windows, new appliances as well as a home built in your image. That means no haggling with contractors about renovation projects or repairs and no long days spent hunting for a new oven or refrigerator at retail stores.

#4: Control

With so much out of our control over the last year, even seemingly pre-determined things such as kids being in school, so many people stand eager to regain control. New construction enables just that.

With Gallagher and Henry, you select your lot and your home plan. Then, you can customize the home to your needs and tastes, selecting colors and finishes while also working with the Gallagher and Henry team on any modifications to the existing floor plan. Whether it’s extending a flex room, a finished basement, or adding another full bath to the second floor, you have the ultimate say so on how your home looks on day one.

Join the New Construction Party

The surge in new home construction has not happened by accident. More and more homebuyers are rejecting the resale market and choosing to build a new home because of the clear financial and lifestyle benefits new construction provides.

Gallagher and Henry invites you to build your own home in eight different communities across Chicago’s southwest suburbs. With luxury elements and in-demand features like open-concept floor plans, three-car garages, and flex spaces engrained in its Lifestyle Series home plans and a track record of high-quality construction running across eight different decades, Gallagher and Henry offers an exciting solution to your home search.