I'd buy an older home with great location that I could get cheaper and do a remodel. Pro's-
you can get more house and location for less money and know the work is done correctly and finish how you want. Just buying land and laying a foundation can cost quite a bit, if you can at least start with that, you're ahead of the game. Plus materials keep going up.
Con's
You never know what you're digging into and having done more than a couple remodels, nothing surprises me anymore. It always costs more than you think
and unless you can support two homes, you end up living in the construction mess and that takes some adaptation. Having done it, it really isn't that bad. Plus our memories of sleeping on the floor in a sun room for 3 weeks felt like we were kids camping in the backyard in forts we built
Surrounded by dogs and cats.
I'm very hesitant to buy any newer house (10 years or so old). They were built cheap, cheap, cheap. Cheap fixtures, cheap labor, cheaply done. Even the McMansions, or should I say, especially the McMansions. entire subdivision were thrown up quickly and it can look good long enough to sell it. 5-10 years down the road, they look 30 years old.
I was just over to my cousins house to look at all his doors. Really nice solid mahogany doors. Beautifully finished, I have to give them that. They didn't mount any of the jams to the framing. They're ****ing held in by drywall and trim. of course a couple years down the road, all the doors are falling out.