4 Benefits of Building (vs buying) a Home
When you decide the time is right for you to buy a house, you might be wondering whether it is better to build or to buy an existing home. To help you decide what is best for you, we will include below 4 benefits of building vs buying a home.
New vs Used
Obviously one advantage of building a new home instead of shopping around to buy a home that was built 20, 30, or even 40 or more years ago is that you are getting everything brand new.
A new home comes with new wiring, new windows, new plumbing, etc. Having all new building materials should ensure that your home is more energy efficient due to newer technologies in their production.
Read my post on hidden homeownership costs here for more useful information on what to expect.
In addition, your new home will probably come with new appliances so you won’t have to worry about replacing them any time soon due to wear and tear from previous owners as you might if you buy a previously occupied home.
Customize vs Compromise
Another advantage of building a home instead of taking what you can find on the market is customization. When you choose to build a home, you usually get choices such as where you want to build, what house plan to go with, how many bedrooms, etc.
Of course, there are also the finer details such as the quality of some of the materials used in the build, like flooring or windows. When you build, you can work with your contractor and choose these items to suit your specifications and needs.
On the other hand, choosing to buy a home that has been lived in previously means all of these things have already been done when the home was originally constructed. Therefore, unless you have additional funds to remodel, you may have to compromise what you want and take what you get.
Insurance
Insuring a new home may cost you less than insuring an existing home. One reason for this is because insurance companies expect that they will not have to pay out money toward any claims against a new home for many years after it has been built.
However, an older home already has wear and tear from previous owners as well as from environmental factors such as the weather. You could potentially purchase an existing home and end up having to replace the roof within just a year or two, for example, due to damage from previous storms and age.
Some new homes even carry warranties and structural defect insurance to provide further protection on your investment. If you live in the UK, for instance, you might want to consider a latent defects insurance policy to provide you with coverage against any structural defects you may encounter.
Resale
If you have the need to sell your home in the future for any reason, you may be able to sell your newly built home for more than you would get from an older home of similar size. Newer home are going to be more desirable to a buyer because they are typically more energy efficient, more modern, and require less maintenance and repairs.
There is some great advice on the Citizens Advice page.
As you consider your options, keep in mind these 4 benefits of building vs buying a home to help you come to the decision that is right for you.
What would you add as an additional benefit of building vs buying a home?
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Eve when you customize you still have to frequently compromise. Our custom home plan had a side load 4 car garage but the lot we chose wouldn’t accommodate it so we had to redraw the plans with a front load 3 car one. And unless you have totally unlimited funds, there are still things that you might want but get left out to suit the budget or you just can’t fit it into the plan. In ours, we could have a pantry and laundry room in one space or we could have a mud room. We chose the pantry laundry room since we are empty nesters and don’t have kids tracking in and out. I love the house hunter shows on TV but am always very critical of the buyers when they appear unwilling to compromise or they want a half million dollars worth of stuff in a house that costs #200K. They need to build if they are so inflexible.