Buying or Building Your Family Home: Which Option is the Best for You?
People have different ideas of home ownership. Some will automatically think about buying a home without even considering building. For them, the process of building might seem too intimidating or complicated. You also have those who simply don’t consider the idea because it seems out of reach.
However, you have people on the other end that couldn’t do it any other way. Their dream was always to buy a piece of land either in the city of the country and create their own home from scratch. Both options can work better depending on the person, and many things have to be considered as well. Let’s take a look at both these options, and what to expect from them.
Buying a Home
Buying a home is usually the first choice, and it’s pretty understandable. It’s simpler. You don’t have to worry about permits. You also don’t have to worry about looking for a good builder, architect, or engineer.
This is also a good option if you don’t have specific needs. For instance, some people might be very keen on having a house with a small carbon footprint. If you’re on the market for a truly green home, then this will limit your choice. On the other hand, you could build your own home based on your own specifications and with your own features.
There are other downsides to buying a home that people often don’t consider. For one, you don’t have as much knowledge of the actual state of the house. You can’t possibly know the exact age of every component, and will invariably have to deal with surprise repairs from time to time.
Building a Home
Building a home can seem like an ambitious project to some, but has plenty of advantages. For one, you’ll realise that it can be much cheaper than buying a home. This also means that you could have a much greater return on investment if everything goes right. As a matter of fact, it is estimated that the finished home will usually fetch back 20% more than the total building and lot costs.
The best aspect of having a home built, however, is that you can have it built based on your own specifications. No need to check the house for airtightness if you want to add a sophisticated heat transfer ventilation system, and no need to pay extra money to add features on to an existing home. Not to mention that the home might not even be built to support those features.
Challenges of Building a Home
While building a home might sound like a great option and a dream for some, there are some significant challenges that come with it. First is financing. Getting a mortgage on a regular house is easy, but with a self build project, things become a bit more complicated.
Then there’s the issue of scope creep and materials. When we talk about returns on investment, we’re usually using best case scenarios. But things can go bad very fast, and costs can start accumulating too.
Doing something as simple as overpaying on concrete could make a serious difference at the end of the day. However, you have services like Mixit that make everything simpler for you. They have an easy concrete mix calculator and a screed calculator that you can use to get an estimate of how much you can expect to need for the job. You can check it out at https://www.mixit.co.uk/services/concrete-calculator.
Their concrete calculator is easy to use. All you have to do is input the area height width and length and get a result. After you’ve used their concrete mix calculator, all you’ll have to do is contact them and they’ll be able to give you a quick quote based on your calculations.
Knowing how to save on material and hiring the right people will be essential when building a house. Knowing how to pick the right plot will also be essential. If you decide to buy a plot of land somewhere remote, there are plenty of things that you’ll have to consider first.
First of all, you have to know if you have access to power and water lines. If you don’t, then you can expect to pay a lot and it could also be inconvenient. You will also have to take some additional costs into consideration like buying a septic tank.
Then there’s the planning and permission process. Getting land approved for construction takes some time and can be frustrating. You’ll also have to be careful with budgeting as funds from your mortgage will be delivered in stages, so you should have significant cash reserves to deal with this. You can learn how to get planning permission through the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/planning-permission-england-wales.
Conclusion
As you can see, the choice between buying a home and having one built isn’t as clean cut as we can imagine. Both options have their pros and cons, so you should take your time and consider them. Make sure that you’re open minded as well, and give both options a chance.
