New build or finished place: we chose by move-in date
We spent a while torn between a new build near Merida and a finished apartment twenty minutes further out, and in the end the deciding factor was not the layout or the price.
It was when we could actually sleep there.
The new build had a handover window of fourteen to eighteen months, which in practice means you plan nothing for two summers. The finished place needed a new kitchen and about six weeks of work, and we could use it this winter.
We also asked both sellers a plain question: what has been done to this building in the last three years, and who did it. The finished place came with a folder and two phone numbers. The new build came with a brochure.
Our shortlist sits on https://global-property.investments/ and I have started sorting by the date we could realistically be there rather than by price.
The brochure was nicer. The folder was more useful, and we are going with the folder.