Pros and Cons of Building a House

There Are Many Pros and Cons of Building a House.

And say you when down the middle road and purchased a new, semi-customized tract house, it is still going to cost you around $50,000+ than a formally owned home.

Pros of Building a House

• Customization. When building a house from scratch you are going to be able to personalize the details to fit your lifestyle and preferences—from its layout, its cabinetry and flooring to the sinks, lighting, paint pallet and even door handles! Some tract homes built inside subdivisions enable for some customization in color choices, options for flooring and specific finishes.

• Little to zero competition. It may come as a shock given the state of our world over the past year, however the 2021 real estate market is in fire. In February 2021, current homes placed on the market for an average of twenty days! With homes going off the market so fast, competition to find the best current home at the lowest price may be challenging. Nevertheless, if you presently own the land you wish to build your home on, you clearly have no competition!

• Lower maintenance. Because newer homes are built to fulfill present building codes and have up-to-date tech, you most likely won’t have to be concerned about huge repairs or heavy maintenance problems for the initial few years—meaning no leaking roofs or failing HVAC units! Additionally, a lot of homebuilders provide a limited warranty should something break.

• Lower energy expenses. Newer homes usually feature the most recent energy-efficient systems and materials, in which typically leads to reduced energy bills.

• Newness. You get a fresh start as the very first owner of the home and relish in brand-spanking-new systems, finishes and hardware.

Cons of Building a House

Okay, we currently know one disadvantage of having a house built is that it’s more expensive—which isn’t that bad when you can budget for it. However, let’s think about all the other disadvantages of having a house built simply to cover our bases:

• Prolonged wait time. It takes an average of 7 months for the construction of a new house—not taking into account the planning and approval stages. Meaning you will probably have a gap in your living arrangements between when time you sell the old house and build your new house. So, you are going to need to be prepared to cover the cost of a rental until you can move into your new home.

• More difficult to negotiate price. A lot of buyers delve into a home purchase hoping to decrease the price. Whereas that’s general in the resale housing market, new homes are a somewhat different. Typically there isn’t a lot of flexibility on closing costs or purchased price with a homebuilder—unless your realtor brings an inventive mind to negotiations. Nevertheless, you would probably get the best value with an existing home.

• Noise and mud. When you build a house in which other new homes are being constructed, you may have to handle construction noise, traffic, and gloops of mud throughout your commute.  Eventually things are going to settle down as other homes are finished, but it’s something to contemplate if your patience for noise level and messiness is on the lower-end.

• Stress. When you’re having a house built, you are going to have to buy land, choose a home design, decide on flooring, hardware, cabinetry, countertops, interior and exterior trim, the list goes on and on. You are going to have to do all of this and stay inside of your budget. Handling each of the details that come along with building a home is going to take time and effort. Don’t underrate the degree of stamina you are going to need to guarantee it’s all done correctly.

• Hidden expenses. Those “$$” signs you see on the stickers—for things such as countertops, hardware, and appliances—are just a piece of the overall price tag. Upgrades can rapidly drive up the cost of your new home and might or might not be added into your contracted price. Take no chances by budgeting for only those things you can afford with cash. And remember, post-move expenses such as landscaping and curtains—they’ll creep up on you also.