A home is usually the single largest investment that you will make in your lifetime. Most buyers tend to spend a great deal of time and energy searching for or designing “the perfect home”, even before signing any contracts!
Factors such as price, location, market trends, property taxes and the like will come into play when the house hunt begins. Then, of course, each buyer typically has a checklist (or, perhaps, more of a wish list) regarding specific needs and expectations for the potential property. Before all of these choices and check lists can be considered, you will face the most important decision of them all, and that is whether to build the home or buy it pre existing. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages: there’s no perfect option for everyone, but there might be a perfect option for you!
Over this month, we will break down the pros and cons that come with buying or building your home. For today’s blog instalment, we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of buying a pre existing home.
Building a Home
Pros
Building your house might not offer the same convenience as buying an existing house, but accepting and carrying out this challenge can pay off with extremely satisfying results. The golden advantage: the unbeatable likelihood that you’ll achieve exactly what you want in a house. For most, it is this factor alone that provides enough incentive to favor building over buying.
There are a myriad of other advantages too, of course. The first of these being the opportunity to opt for a more ‘eco friendly’ build, as modern energy codes include better heating and cooling, as well as improved insulation and air filtration standards. The power of choice is in your hands: you could even go solar powered if you so wished! An efficient house is better for you, and better for the environment (not to mention…your wallet).
But the advantages do not stop there. A new house may (literally) be better for you. There will be no asbestos and mold removal for you, as you’ll be constructing from scratch with shiny new, fresh material.
Despite the upfront cost of building being generally higher than buying, it may just become easier in the long run to recoup your investment. How, you might ask? Well, should you decide to sell the home, its value will be far greater than that of a pre existing home simply on the grounds that it is newer! This fact also impacts the amount of rent rate you can expect to be receiving from tenants one day.
Finally, building your new home will end up requiring fewer repairs and dramatically less maintenance; saving you both money and time.
And let’s face it: building a new home from the ground up certainly produces a great level of pride and satisfaction. There is always something rather wholesome about seeing a project as great as a house build through from start to finish. You form a bond with the house, and it receives your personal touch: a pro that is perhaps worth the added time and (potentially) stress.
Cons
The biggest drawbacks that accompany building (as opposed to buying) tend to be the higher costs and longer timeframe. Both run the risk of increasing throughout the construction process, and not everyone has the time, money, or energy for that kind of unpredictability. With increased time and potential for problems comes an increase in costs, so do make sure you find yourself a building team with solid references and proven communication skills to avoid nasty surprises!
In conclusion, even if you start your investment property journey set on finding the perfect existing property, you might just end up persuaded to build and achieve exactly what you want in a home. Likewise, if the unpredictability and timeframe of building intimidates you, it might be best to shop around for a ready to go pre existing home. Either way, we at Priority Home Loans Hamilton suggest you take time to do extensive ‘worst case scenario’ research. If you have friends or family who have been through the buying or building process, ask for their opinions and build your own opinion from them.
If you are looking for a mortgage broker in Hamilton, or you would just be interested in some experienced advice on initiating your investment property hunt (be that buying or building) get in touch with the team at Priority Home Loans today. We can help you make the buying or building call!