Well there are pros and cons for both. If you were anticipating a 30 day closing, that is not enough time for any builder to build a home. The good builders take 5-6 months. All builders pre-sell their lots so unless a contract on one of their homes falls through, you would not have a home ready in 30 days.  I get weekly reports from the top builders that lets me know when a contract has fallen through and an opportunity opens up. 

There are over 400 builders in El Paso tx and not many I would recommend. The builders I would recommend are the ones that I  get good feedback on from buyers, their home inspections turn up little and if something does come up these builders are willing to comply with  repairs. Good or bad El Paso builders generally sell their homes for $100 and up per sq ft. That means if you want a 2000 sf home you will be spending $200K and up. The only El Paso Builders on this list that I would recommend are Edwards  who is a custom builder or  track builders, Desert View, Quality Craft, Santana and Rassett. All the others have had lots of issues and in my opinion don’t resale very well.  Below are the new homes on the market  which sell 2000 sf  between $145-199K:

RES Customer Display

With new homes, you get to pick who the builder will be and with resale you don’t. With new homes I have been able to negotiate upgrades without adding to the price which you can’t do with resale. New homes are built with the most recent innovations while resales are usually dated and need updating. Most first time buyers end up buying a new home. And it's no wonder, they are offered incentives like points towards closing, new appliances, easy lending and much more.