So you’re ready to move into your next home. Whether you’re a renter who’s finally buying their first home or a current homeowner who’s ready to move into a bigger and better house to accommodate their growing family, there’s one question that might be going through your head right now: “should I buy my next home or build it from scratch?”
Today, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of building your home from scratch to help you determine if this option is for you.
PROS:
- Fully customizable - whether you want a tiny house, a mansion, or something in between, building your own house from the ground up will allow you to design your home however you like. Make it as big or as small as you want, add custom features to fit your family and your lifestyle, make it look like a resort or a castle -- it’s all up to you. If you run a business from home or you’re a remote worker, you can even add a home office or a workshop so you can separate your business/work from your personal space.
- Less competition - as soon as you secure the piece of land you want to build your home on, the competition for your dream home flies out the window. You don’t have to worry about other people snatching up a good find from you and you don’t need to worry about other people making a bigger and better offer on your best option. That means less stress from house hunting for you!
- No need for repairs and renovations - even houses that are marketed as “ready for occupancy” need a bit of tweaking to fit your lifestyle and give it a look that you can truly call your own. These repairs and renovations, no matter how small, can eat up time and money but you don’t have to pay for these if you’re building your home from scratch since you can plan it and design it exactly the way you want and need it to be from day one.
- Better quality materials - you know how some people buy already-built houses only to find out they used materials that contain harmful chemicals like asbestos, lead, formaldehyde, and the like when it was built? You can avoid this unpleasant surprise when you build your home from scratch since you’ll have total control of what materials are used during the whole building process which also leads us to the next point.
- Less maintenance - because everything is new and you’re in total control of choosing which materials to use, you won’t need to repair and maintain anything for the first few years of living in your new home. Even if something breaks or malfunctions, you can have it replaced under warranty so it’ll be less stressful and somewhat less expensive for you.
CONS:
- Expensive - building a house is definitely more expensive compared to just buying one that’s already been built. You’ll have to pay for services like water testing, land surveying, and the like. You’ll also need to hire professional services from architects, engineers, plumbers, electricians, interior designers, and more to build a house from scratch.
- Tricky financing - first-time homeowners who don’t have anything to use as collateral may have a hard time trying to take out a land loan. Even if they succeed in doing so, the interest rate and the down payment may be higher, depending on the lender. Aside from a land loan, you might also need to apply for a construction loan and then a traditional mortgage which you’ll need to pay off at the same time compared to just paying off one traditional mortgage when you buy instead of build.
- Unexpected costs and delays - as if building a house isn’t already expensive enough, you’ll have to anticipate unexpected costs, too. And, due to natural and personal reasons, your contractor could cause some delay in building your home, too.
- Stressful - should anything go wrong with the whole building process, you as the homeowner are expected to come up with a solution. Your contractor may offer ideas and suggestions but, ultimately, the decision on what to do next will depend on you and this can cause a lot of stress.
- Time-consuming - if you’re the busy type who’s always pressed for time or you simply want to move out of the house you’re in now and into your new home in a couple of months or so, this option might not be for you. Building a house takes time. You’ll need to be very hands-on all throughout the building process as well if you want it to go as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
We hope this list of pros and cons helped you in determining whether building a house from scratch is for you. If you ever find yourself wanting a simpler process, you might want to consider just buying a house instead. We’ll talk about that too, soon, so make sure to check back here for that.