Buying vs. Building
Buying a house, whether it’s your first home, vacation retreat or retirement oasis, can be a complicated process. There are many steps every homebuyer must take before committing to such a milestone, and one of the earliest steps is deciding whether to buy an existing home or to build a customized home. This step may be easy for you to decide, but it’s still a good idea to do the research and understand all of your options before jumping into it.
Buying
Buying an already existing home seems to be the easiest option for many homebuyers. You get to move in right away (most of the time), you get to skip the architect, contractor, and interior designer (usually), and the up-front costs are usually less expensive than building a home from scratch.
With that being said, there are also many negative aspects of buying an existing home. For one, homes are in high demand, making it a tough market. If you’re lucky enough to find your ideal home, you must make an offer on it immediately or risk losing it. The home you end up purchasing could need major renovations. The average cost to remodel a home in Michigan is around $50,000, with the higher end being closer to $100,000. Granted these costs are usually spread out over time, but knowing that you could have put that money towards a newer or customized home may sway you in another direction.
Building
Custom home building sounds intimidating, but if you’re committed to creating your dream home then this is the best option for you. Sure, there’s a lot of work, time and money that goes into building a customized home, but the end result is worth it all. Not only is your home specially customized for you, it’s also on a lot of land of your choosing. If you’ve always dreamt of living on the water, living in the woods, or simply living close to the downtown hustle and bustle, then you get to bring that dream to life.
Working with contractors also ensures that everything is up to code and meets or exceeds your standards. Each phase of the homebuilding process needs to be approved (foundation, framing, plumbing, etc.) by your local governmental issuing office and a contractor typically handles all of that for you.
If you’re still unsure of which direction to go when it comes to homebuying, just know that you will not be disappointed with building a custom home tailored to your needs and preferences.