Honestly, at this time I don't have the money to buy a house or build one. But I did find a house in a home plans magazine that I would LOVE to have. That brought the question to mind if it would be cheaper to build or more expensive. Have to consider where you want to build, the cost of the land to build it on, etc.
2007-02-26 08:43:08 · 6 answers · asked by Scott 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
buying a house..youll never be satisfied, and youll always want to change things...If you build your own, you can customize it..in the long run building your own will be cheaper
2007-02-26 08:47:26 · answer #1 · answered by ERIC K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is always cheaper to buy an already built house. However, building one has many advantages that may make up the difference. If you can do any of the work yourself, you can save money. you can also have it built the way you want, with no wasted space. you do need to consider the lot price, and whether or not there are covenants, sewer and water, or septic and well, and driveway. All of these will be in addition to the actual cost of building the structure of the home.
2007-02-26 16:49:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buying a house will almost ALWAYS be cheaper than building one. Building a home requires paying for special loans, architect/builder/contracter fees, plus you have to pay separately for each and every fixture and appliance. Then there's the cost of time: it can take years to build a house while you write check after check for your future home and on the construction loan--but you're still paying rent or mortgage payments to live somewhere else in the meantime.
Most people contest that they end up spending almost double what their original budget was when they build a home. Besides, cost of labor, costruction materials, and commodities (steel, aluminum, lumber, etc.) that it takes to build a house have continued to rise over the last few years. It's SUPER expensive to build on your own.
A compromise might be to buy a new construction home from a custom builder in a developing area. You get to select things like paint color, floor materials, and appliances (and you can even negotiate floor plans to some extent) but you don't have to do it all from scratch yourself.
2007-02-26 17:57:39 · answer #3 · answered by lizzgeorge 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have built two homes but my last home was an existing home. The first was a learning experience. We received a house that had exactly what we wanted for about the same price as an existing home but we got what we wanted.The second house I did lots of work myself as I learned from the contractor on the first. Then when I was ready to move up again the market fell off greatly. Housing values have fallen but the cost of building has stayed the same so this time we bought an existing home.
2007-02-26 19:20:46 · answer #4 · answered by toledogolf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buying a house- all day long. Building a dream home regardless of price can be difficult, especially since 99% of first time home builders run into cost overruns and unexpected hiccups.
2007-02-26 16:48:51 · answer #5 · answered by Mark P. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With all other details being equal (same location, size, etc.), I believe building a home is USUALLY more expensive than buying an existing home.
2007-02-26 16:48:26 · answer #6 · answered by indiana_darlin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋