A whole lot of time, money, and energy go into both building and buying a home, no matter the route you take. Considering that buying a property is usually the biggest expense a person will have during their lives, it makes sense to put a great deal of thought into your two options: to build or to buy. If you’re looking to move to a new place, consider these four things:
Cost. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty. In general, buying an existing house tends be cheaper than building new, but chances are you’re not going to be in love with absolutely everything in a house someone else built for themselves and their own personal taste. So keep in mind that if you’re looking to make any changes or renovations to the home, these additional costs may fall outside of your loan and end up costing you more once they’re complete than the lump sum of building from the ground up to include all of your hopes and dreams from the start.
Maintenance. While buying may be cheaper than building at first, your safest bet is to build new when it comes to upkeep and maintenance costs, unless the home has been totally renovated or if renovations are a part of your purchasing plan and loan. When purchasing an older home, take a look at what could be your bigger expenses on down the line to replace (like the roof, HVAC system, and appliances). If these haven’t been replaced in older homes at the time of purchase, they’re going to be something that may end up costing you thousands of dollars later on. For example, your average HVAC system lasts about 15 years. If it needs replacing soon after the purchase of the home, you’ll be looking at a bill for somewhere around $5,000 on top of your regular mortgage payment whereas, if you build your home, you’ll know that all of these major facets of the house won’t need replacing for quite a while, and they’ll be under warranty for several years after the build.
Ease. If you’re looking for something fast, buying a home off of the market is your quickest bet. Building a home from scratch takes time, as it should, to insure a quality dwelling place. Do take into consideration that if you’re going to be remodeling portions of the existing home while you’re living in the space, it may be more practical to build from scratch rather than to live in a place that is under construction or in-the-works to becoming your dream for a month or longer.
Customization. It can be a challenge to find a place on the market that is exactly what you’re looking for, down to the very last detail. If you’re looking for your dream home, you should consider speaking with a builder who specializes in custom home building like Schmidt Custom Builders. It’s the best way to get exactly what you want, rather than ordering off of what just so happens to be on the housing menu while you’re in your search.
Thinking about building a new home or renovating your property? Contact us or fill out our quick questionnaire and we’ll be in touch soon!