Should i do this?

Question

Me and my fiance wants to buy a home in the $300,00's or so and I was thinking about buying a nice presentable home and just adding to it. Will it be cheaper than just building a house from scratch? I might want to add extra bedrooms or an office or exercise room or something like that. Would that be cheaper or should I just build a home with everything included? I am looking to move to Ocala or stay more in the central area in florida. What do you suggest? Thank you

Answer 1

dear voice: are you sure this is the right place to find an answer to this question? it sounds like a serious topic and this site is quite fun but with the potential of receiving misleading answers. i don't want to discourage you but i have had some painful experience related to the answers i get to my serious and quite simple questions.

Answer 2

Right now the real estate market is very weak in many areas around the country, including Florida. For a while, contractors were getting top dollar due to the hurricanes, etc. If that's still the case, you might be better off buying an existing home to try to get a good deal. In general, building a new home is more fun, but it could take a long time and usually costs more than you think. Buying an existing home will cost more than you think, too, since it is very common to find issues after you buy and upgrades you want. Try to factor in a nice buffer for this. There's no right answer, but it can't hurt to look for an existing home and put down a low offer! Good luck...

Answer 3

A couple of thoughts --
- If you build a new home in Florida the entire structure will have to meet the new (read expensive) guidelines for Hurricane protection (at least a $25k bump). Hurricane protection for the addition will not really be a factor.
- If you build a new home in Florida IMPACT fees will be factored into your new home cost, where they were probably cheaper (maybe non existent when the older home was built).
-- Building costs (labor) in Ocala are cheaper than many places in Florida and when you add on you will not have to pay all the overhead associated with a large building firm developing a tract of property.
-- Watch out for restrictions (setbacks, pre-approval by a home owners association, etc.)associated with adding on to an existing home before you buy

Answer 4

Weird, I just read your other question about where to live in Florida and I suggested Ocala. Guess I should buy a Power Ball ticket today!

It is MUCH cheaper to buy an existing home than building, unless you can do alot of the work yourself. Bringing utilities to a vacant lot can be a small fortune in itself.

Answer 5

The smartest thing in the world anyone buying a home can do is to buy something where the mortgage is less than 20% of your income. You will NEVER struggle to make your payments, and will have plenty of money left over to save up and make improvements. Then you can sell the house for way more than you paid, and move on to a home closer to your "dream" home. Even though the housing market drifts up and down short-term, they aren't making any more land, so homes are generally a smart investment...

Happy house-hunting!

Answer 6

My opinion is that when you add onto a house the floor plan rarely works out well. It always seems awkward to me. Also you normally have now overbuilt for the neighborhood, meaning that you have a home worth say $300,000 in a neighborhood or $200,000 homes...It will be more difficult to sell.

I would not buy a home with the intent to build onto it.

Answer 7

If you wait you may find what you want in the price range you want. FL real estate is expected to drop over 20% in the next year which puts homes in the $450K range within your target and might include everything that you require. If you build now the home will not retain its value.