When It’s Time To Build, Not Buy
The processes of both building and buying a new home have positives and negatives factors which help the homeowner make the judgment call between the two. Many people choose to buy their home ready-built, either straight from the plan or pre-loved for convenience, speed, and relative cheapness. This mode of acquiring a new home can be over in a matter of weeks, beginning to end. Building a home, on the other hand, can take months, if not years, from its inception. But for some people, building their own home gives the ultimate sense of achievement. The emotional connection to the building in which they live is strengthened so much by the knowledge that everything is exactly as they want it. If it’s time for you to move house and you just can’t decide between buying or building, here are a few times that building is so much better than buying.
When you want to exercise your creative flair
When you buy a home, the only creative flair you can really exhibit is the color of the walls, the type of flooring, and the art you choose to display. A ready-made home limits the opportunities available for you to make it your own. Yes, you could knock down a partition wall, dig a hole for a pool in the yard, or add an extension, but you can never truly change the fabric and layout of the building.
When you build your own, you have the opportunity to design absolutely everything from scratch. Even if you’re not comfortable going it alone, a reputable design and build company will encourage you to exercise your creative flair on every minor detail, from the cornice to the material on the outside walls. And when you know that you’ve made the executive decision on every detail, the love you have for your home is increased tenfold. Don’t worry if you’re not a creative type and still want to build your own home – that’s what the professionals are there to help with.
When you want something that just doesn’t exist
Some people choose to design and build their own home because the home they most desire just doesn’t exist, either at all, or in the location they dream of. Maybe you fantasize about living in the middle of nowhere, with floor to ceiling windows to make the most of the natural light and stunning vistas, but the location you’ve fallen in love with just has no homes of that nature. This is the perfect opportunity to build your own.
Maybe you’ve found a plot of land in an up and coming area, and you’d like to build something completely unheard of in that area – a home which pushes boundaries of design and architecture. Maybe it fits into a larger scene of interesting buildings in that locale, or maybe it really sets itself apart from the crowd. Either way, if the home you want doesn’t exist in the area you want it, building it yourself is your only option.
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When you have very specific requirements
Some people are very specific about what they need from their homes. In some situations this is because of a disability, so building a home which caters to their needs is ideal. Maybe you’re in a wheelchair, and you’d like to create a single-storey home such as those on www.visiononehomes.com.au, which can be built with wheelchair use in mind. Yes, it’s possible to adapt an existing home to make wheelchair use possible, but when you create this home from scratch, absolutely every little detail is made with efficiency and comfort in mind.
People may also want their home to be more conducive to their interests and hobbies. For example, you may be a budding chef with a tremendous love of home cooking, but none of the houses in the area you like have kitchens big enough to suit your needs. In these situations, building a home with the perfect kitchen is perfectly common. Perhaps you’re a freelancer who works from home regularly, and you particularly desire an office with huge windows overlooking a certain landscape or river, but that home just doesn’t exist – well why not build it?
When you want to go green
While some modern homes are being built with a smaller carbon footprint and with more ecological gadgets inbuilt, we still have some way to go. That is why people who want to reduce their impact on the environment are still more inclined to build their own eco home than adapt a pre-existing home.
There is far more to an eco home than solar panels. They’re cleverly designed to stay cool in summer and warm in winter without using vast amounts of power to achieve this, and they are far more efficient users of water, including rainwater toilet flushing systems and reusing dishwater to feed the plants. A home which is built from scratch with this is mind can remain almost completely separate from the national electricity grid, and stay almost completely carbon neutral. If you want to go green, building your own might be the best way to go.
When you have time to invest
Buying a home from the market can take a matter of weeks and only a bit of active work, whereas building it from scratch can take years of hands-on graft. If you want a new home quickly, building it probably isn’t for you. If you’ve got a bit of time to invest, including active work time, building your own home could be for you. From finding the right site to communicating with builders and contractors, to performing regular site visits, even if you’re not planning on ever picking up a saw or a drill you could find it taking upwards of 30 hours a week at times. If you think you might struggle to invest this amount of time, on top of your employment and family life, you might find it difficult to be as involved with the build as you might like.
When you have money to invest
The upfront cost of building your new home can be vast. Equipment hire, land purchase, contractors and building materials can all add up, so it’s worth being liberal with your budget to account for any overspending. It’s possible to mitigate the risk of overspending by employing a project manager and building company with a good reputation, and remaining hands-on, rather than just leaving them to get on with it. While you may be able to get a bank loan to help with some of the finances of the project, it’s still far easier to get a mortgage to buy an existing home. That being said, the running of a brand new home should be lower than that of an older home. There will be fewer repairs, the energy costs should be lower, and everything should work more efficiently. And if you come to sell it, you could find that the resale value is higher because it is a newer home.
When you have the emotional strength
Finally, building your own home can be stressful, exhausting, and relentless. If this is something you want to do, you need to know that you can deal with over a year of stress, without it causing you or your family any problems. When things go wrong, run over their time frame or over budget, will you be able to take it on the chin, or will it give you sleepless nights? If you’re not at a point in your life where you can take it on the chin, it might be worth leaving it a few years.
Building your own home is one of the most rewarding experiences of your life, and highly recommended, as long as you can take the stress.