Adult discussion: Buy land then build a house or buy a house on a lot? Whats cheaper?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
bbortko said:
How much are you willing to do? Do you have cash for repairs after the purchase? Any reputable contractor will have a hard contractor with everything spelled out, the only extra expenses will be if you change things or go over budget when you pick out flooring, light fixtures, cabinets and things of that nature. Your foundation, framing, roofing, rough plumbing, windows and things of that nature will be set in stone, if they loose money on the work thats their problem not yours. If you are your own general you will save $40-60, 000 by finding your own subcontractors and over seeing the work. If you are handy you can also save a lot by doing little stuff like trim work, mounting/hanging cabinets, insulating/soundproofing interior walls, painting and whatever you feel comfortable doing that a warranty isn't a big deal such as roofing, foundation, hvac.

If your buying used you need to consider how much work is needed and how soon. If you're going to need hvac, windows,or roofing you need to consider that part of the cost, these are very expensive necessities that are better of being part of your mortgage than financed down the line if you cant pay cash. Are you willing to live with other people's taste in flooring, cabinets, and the like so long as they are in an acceptable condition, if not might be better going new.
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We are willing to cover any cost if necessary and yes we do have the funds for repair after purchase. If we are buying used we are going to find a home that is ready to move in. If we do purchase used, the only thing we would really do is just re-paint the interior and shampoo the carpet. The homes we are looking into buying are in a gated community and the homes are nicely well kept indoor and out so there wont be too much to fix. The homes in our area of interest are very modern and were all custom homes when they were built. No two houses are the same on the block. We are pretty handy and love to do DIY projects, but my dad would rather pay someone to get everything done properly if we do build our own house.
 
David R said:
We've recently been through a similar debate, I'm not sure how it goes in the US but over here with the market the way it is building usually works out more expensive (depending on the house and the land you're looking at, of course). With building, make sure you look at what is and isn't included in the price the building company give you for the house. Over here the "house" price usually DOEN'T include; curtains, floor coverings, landscaping, driveway, site works/excavations, power/water/phone line (can cost a bit depending how far you are from the boundary!), drainage/sewage. and probably a few other things I can't recall right now. We were looking to add about another $60-80K (NZ$) to the cost of the house and section to cover the things not included.

Miguel mentioned cost over-runs. I would certainly try avoid that by getting a fixed price contract with the building company (if they do such a thing where you are). IME the banks will look far more favourably at lending the money for a fixed price build from a larger house company than a non-fixed-price type build from an independent builder where the costs can just keep going up and up.

There are certainly many benefits to a modern newly built house, and being able to design it as you like [dedicated spot for a 600g tank in the lounge, for example!] is great. But if you can find an existing house that ticks all (or most) of your boxes then there is a good chance it will be better value for money. Our existing house was about 15-20% less that what we were planning on spending if we built, and probably would have cost even more to build new as it is larger and of higher spec than we were planning on building.

IMO it is certainly worth investigating both options, but do exactly that; investigate! Make sure you go through every line of fine-print, every condition and clause, find all the hidden/additional costs etc. Weigh up both options and keep an open mind...
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Thank you for replying! :) I was seriously thinking about having a dedicated spot for a 600 gallon tank! We are learning everyday about buying used or building new. Its a headache taking all the information in, but well worth it. We want to make the best decision so we are really doing our homework haha
 
As for landscaping, We can do out own landscaping. Drive way, would have someone come out and do it for us. My dad really wants tile instead of cement for our driveway, which will be much more expensive.
 
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