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The transition into a new home is always an exciting experience. And you’re not limited to just buying a house for sale. You can choose to build up your ideal home in Pickerington, OH. It’d be a great choice, too.
However, building a home can have its disadvantages. But over time, you’ll see the benefits of making this decision.
Continue reading to see why building a new home instead of buying one is worth it.
We understand that the associated costs have a major role in your decision.
The National Association of Realtors shares that the median price of an existing home in the U.S. in 2022 is $391,200. You also can negotiate the price of the home you’re interested in to get the most savings.
Rocket Mortgage explains that the average cost to build a home in the U.S. in 2022 averages to $282,299. Typically, costs will dramatically vary. Many factors can cause this price to fluctuate: building materials, buying the land, the location, home blueprints, total square footage, HVAC installation, and much more. This means you could pay several thousand more than the price of an existing home.
From the data, it may seem more concrete and safe to buy an existing home. There wouldn’t be so many variable costs that could spike up the costs. Additionally, you’d avoid unexpected expenses interfering with the budget.
However, you’ll soon learn that the upfront costs of building a home will have long-term benefits.
Let’s take a look at what makes building a home (versus buying one) such a good choice.
The downside of buying an existing home is that you don’t have much of a say in how the home looks or is designed. You have to take its structural setup as is.
When you build a home, the design is entirely up to your imagination. That means you decide where the kitchen is, how many bedrooms to include, or how spacious you want the master bathroom to be.
Depending on how long you wish to live there, you can also incorporate universal design. This means incorporating home features that accommodate those with disabilities and/or allow you to age in place better. Some examples of features include:
As you blueprint the home, you choose the materials. So you can choose to use raw materials that are of higher quality. While it will cost more upfront, you’ll likely have a more energy-efficient home that won’t require as much maintenance as an existing home might need.
Even better, because you’re building your home, you don’t have to compete with anyone to buy that home. It’s fully yours long before the home is even built.
As great as these benefits are, you need to factor in a few possibilities.
One is time. You will need to invest about a year of time, from land acquisition to final build. If you had plans to move to an area quickly, you can’t do this when building a home.
Another possibility is the unexpected. Certain materials you need could be unavailable. The weather can interfere with work. You don’t have sufficient contracts that discuss building costs, delays, and expectations.
You need to be ready for anything; have a lawyer on hand to look over your contracts with the home builder and general contractors. This will help reduce the unexpected.
One of the more stressful elements of buying an existing home is competition. Just because you see a nice home within your budget, in a great location, with great features, and that’s move-in ready, doesn’t mean you can buy it and it’s yours. Other people want that great home, too.
You have to make an offer that’s better than the other buyers. It’s a sellers’ market; whoever offers the best deal to the seller gets the home, and it may not be you.
Even if you do win the bid, likely, the home doesn’t have the most up-to-date materials and appliances. This means you may need to spend more money over time on maintenance and possible repairs.
Additionally, there may be features that you might’ve wanted that aren’t available in this home. So you’d have to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to install those beneficial features. Depending on how many features you want to add, that could easily make the cost of the home exceed the upfront savings.
Buying a home is the preferred decision for those who want to relocate for work or school, save money upfront, or have a desire to sell it years from now. It’s also ideal for those who don’t desire too many extra features, or the home is already in a fantastic location.
If time has a major role in your decision, you can look into buying an existing home.
Whether you want to save money and time upfront and are ready to move in now, or you want that dream home, it’s up to you to decide what’s worth it.
If you want to build the home of your dreams, our experts at Heitmeyer Build and Design are ready to put our quality work and experience into making your dream home in Pickerington a reality. Contact us today with your project ideas.
Heitmeyer Building & Design is a Construction company with over 100 years of experience in commercial construction and residential construction located in Pickerington, Ohio.
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