Should You Buy or Should You Build?

You’ve got one little munchkin riding on your back like a cowgirl rallying up the herd, another running back and forth across the room playing tag, and a third with his Lego bricks sprawled across the entire floor focusing deeply on putting together some kind of droid from Star Wars. It is in this moment that your wife walks in with a sheepish smile across her face.

“Honey, I’m pregnant.” she says.

As you gaze around at the humble circumstances in which your family currently lives–2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a family room, a kitchen, and a small backyard currently completely robed in a towel fort built by your kids–you realize that perhaps it is time to move.

But now comes the ultimate question: Should you buy or build your next home?

There are a few benefits to each, and the answer is going to be different for every person, couple, or family, depending on their situation and what it is they are looking for when in the market for a new home. To help make this overwhelming decision we’ve got a few buy-or-build pros and cons to perhaps help you think about a few things you hadn’t considered before.

Buying An Existing Home (Pros)

• Convenient

It is a much shorter process to get pre-approved by a lender, work with a real estate agent to find the right home, put in an offer, do a bit of paperwork, and move in, than it is to start from scratch and build from the ground up. I have some friends that say, we buy houses Queens because they are great! Starting there might be a good idea.

The process of buying an already existing home can be completed within about a month or two, whereas building a new home from scratch can take 5 months or more. If you are looking to buy a new house, you also want to look at mortgages, if that is the case you might be interested in looking at something like https://www.moneyexpert.com/mortgages/ as you can compare mortgages and find the right one for you and your family.

• Cost

The cost of purchasing a new home is generally cheaper than building. When building a new home it is not uncommon to set a pre-existing budget and then gradually change that budget as the process gets further along. It is hard to predict the exact costs on items before going through the actual process of purchasing them.

• Landscaping

When purchasing an existing home it is likely that the landscaping has already been in place for a while: trees will be large or fully grown, grass will have been in place for a few years, shrubs, flowers, and other landscaping items will be mature and established.

Buying An Existing Home (Cons)

• Not Exactly What You Wanted

When purchasing an existing home you may not get all the rooms, features, styles, or layout you were hoping for. There are some situations in which you would be able to add on to the home or change appliances, but sometimes even these are not feasible options, and you will just have to buckle down and be okay with what is already available in the home.

• Older

Since buying an existing home means it has been around for at least a few years, if not many, there may be underlying issues with things like the pipes, the foundation, old appliances, etc. that are unknown at the time of purchase but will pop up as issues in coming years.

• Decorating

When buying a pre-existing home it may come with upgrades that need to be made by you, which may include extra costs to buy new furniture, paint, wallpaper, or flooring. Plus either paying someone to do the labor, or the time it takes you to make the changes yourself.

• Buyers Remorse

Every home has quirks and issues that make it unique. Sometimes if you don’t notice these unfortunate items during a walk-through, they may bother you for the first few months you live in the house. You may end up comparing the home to others you walked through in previous months, and perhaps even wish you had purchased a different one.

Building Your Home (Pros)

• Customization

The most obvious pro to building your own home is the massive customization available to you. You can create the layout, use the materials you want, buy the appliances you want, and landscape the way you want. You can in essence create your dream home; you can even put power outlets in more convenient spots where you know they are more likely to be used, add luxury rooms such as a games room or home cinema like this cheshire home cinema, you can add whatever type of room your heart desires.

• Savings

When working directly with a builder you may be able to negotiate several hundreds of dollars worth of savings.

The other way your brand new house will save you money is with the newer appliances you’ll be putting in. The newer appliances are much more energy savvy now, even things like washer and dryer sets, heating and air conditioning units, dishwashers, and refrigerators are built to save electricity and therefore keep your bill lower. Reducing the cost of your bills is important, but making sure that you have access to cool heat during the summer months should also be considered to be a bonus. And it is important that if it’s broken, you get it repaired as soon as possible, for the sake of your bills. Places similar to Boulden Brothers and their advice for three common problems, (https://bouldenbrothers.com/3-common-air-conditioning-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/) can help you to establish what needs to be done so that everything is as it should be to help you save.

• When It Is Complete, It’s Complete

You won’t have to spend several months or years re-doing things you don’t like about the house. The house is completely customized to the way you want it from the start.

Building Your Home (Cons)

• Overwhelming

While customization is one of the biggest reasons people choose to build their own home, having endless options for layout, design, materials, and more can become extremely overwhelming and time consuming.

• Timing

Contractors will all too often go over the initial completion date, which can be a large problem when it comes to a new home. You may have to leave your old home with nowhere to go because the new one hasn’t been completed yet.

• Cost

As mentioned previously, when building a home, the costs tend to pile up much more than what is initially contemplated. However, one large cost to take into consideration is the fact that you will need to not only purchase the labor costs to construct or build your home, but you will have to purchase the land it is being built on as well. This can drastically increase the price of building a home versus purchasing an already completed home, and is typically a cost that is initially overlooked by those in the market for a new home.

Now it is time to evaluate your situation. Where do you lie on these matters? Are the cons worth the pros? Should you call a realtor this week, or a contractor?

Whether it is time to buy a new home or get to work building the walls of a brand new home, McCoy Homes is your home-building and remodeling expert in Chattanooga, TN. We will help you remodel that pre-existing home and turn it into the home you’ve always wanted. Or we will start from the ground and build you a fantastic new home. Contact us today for more information!