Blog
Should I Build or Buy a House?
Posted by: CENTURY 21 Northwest
Date: September 03, 2018
Posted by: CENTURY 21 Northwest
Date: September 03, 2018
When you get ready to move to a new home, you’ll always be faced with a choice. On one hand, you can move into a previously-built house. On the other, you can go with a new home construction. The choice between whether you should build or buy a house can be difficult, but it’s an important choice to make. Both have their own pros and cons, some of which are more important to some buyers than others. As you begin your search for a new to place to live, figuring out the difference between the two choices will be one of the most important decisions that you can make.
It’s always a good idea to break your choices down to a list of pros and cons. When you’re looking at whether to build or buy a house, a few major categories quickly come to mind. You’re going to look at basics like financing and time, of course, but you’ll also want to look at factors like customization and even the amount of stress that either choice would put you under. When looking at how the two compare, you might find that you’re in a better position to determine which choice is really better for you.
The good news about moving into a traditional home is that you’re usually looking at a fairly short timeline. The average closing process will take between two weeks and sixty days depending on the terms of the sale, which allows for a quick turn-around. This is good for those who need to move quickly, but not great for those who are looking at long-term plans. When you get ready to buy, it’s often important that you’re either at the end of a rental contract or that your current home is ready to sell. If you’re not in either of these positions, you might have to do some financial balancing to make things work.
Construction, on the other hand, is time-consuming. You might spend six months to a year building a home, and that’s only if things go well. You might have to deal with months of extra construction time due to issues with labor, weather, or even materials. Building a home is difficult for those who need to move quickly, especially if they need to be out their current residence in short order. If you are looking at the long-term, though, building a home can be a great choice.
If there’s one thing that building a home will always have over buying a previously-owned home, it’s customization. If you’re looking for the great features that are so important to home-buyers today, the surest way to get them is through building them yourself. If you choose to build a home, you can get exactly what you want – at least, as long as your budget holds up. Your imagination (and the realities of construction) dictate what you can and cannot do when building a home, so you’ll always have a leg up in terms of customization here.
In some cases, though, buying a previously-built home will give you plenty of options. If a house already has some of the features you like, it may cost you less to buy that home and do a bit of renovation than it would to build everything from scratch. You may also get the chance to purchase a home with great amenities that you simply could not afford to build on your own. This one is usually a matter of breaking down costs and comparing between whether to build or buy a house. Depending on the situation, either option might work out.
It’s usually quite a bit easier to get financing for a conventional home purchase than it is for building a new home. There are dozens of reasons why this might be so, but most of them come down to current homes being more of a known property for the lender. Even the vaunted FHA loan, which helps so many individuals without the ability to make large payments to buy a home, doesn’t work quite the same for building a home as it does for buying a traditional home. You’ll certainly have to jump through more hoops if you choose to build your own home.
The good news, though, is that those with good credit aren’t going to have to worry too much about getting a construction loan. There are FHA loans for building a home, as well as dozens of other loans that have great interest rates. If you’ve already decided between whether to build or buy a house and your goal is to build your own home, there are many lenders who will be more than happy to help you out. Once you get through the application process, it’s not likely that the extra work you had to do to secure the loan will be brought up again.
Simply put, building a new home is not for the faint of heart. It’s a process that can be filled with pitfalls and problems, not to mention ballooning budgets and ever-lengthening timetables. If you’re looking to build your dream home, it’s important to remember that you’re going to be taking on a fair bit of stress in addition to all of the stress that comes with buying a traditional home. While working with a good builder can help to alleviate some problems, it must be noted that construction always carries with it a bit of stress.
This does not, however, mean that buying a traditional home is stress-free. In fact, there are issues with which you’ll have to deal here that won’t crop up with new construction. You won’t have to deal with title problems, hidden defects, or problems with the buyers. You won’t have to worry about your offer not being accepted or having to deal with the former owner’s need for a specific closing date. You’ll need to decide which types of stress are most reasonable for your needs and determine if the pros outweigh the cons for one type of purchase for the other.
Ultimately, making the choice to build or buy a house is very personal. It will depend on how you weight the facts above, along with dozens of other factors that might be important only to you and your family. No matter what you choose, though, you’ll be able to find a way to make your dreams of being a homeowner into a reality. When you’re ready to buy, make sure that you don’t do it alone. Visit CENTURY21 Northwest to view the home buyer widget today and to figure out your next move.
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