Buy or Build? Whenever one has to relocate to a new place, the constant dilemma they face is whether to buy an existing house or build a new one. Each individual has specific desires and requirements to fulfill when they relocate to a new place. Some of these can be found in an already existing house while sometimes you might have to build your house from scratch to get exactly what you fancy. 

Both the choices offer benefits and both come with their own flaws. Here, we shall discuss the pros and cons of each alternative in brief so you can come to an informed decision. 

Let us start with the easier option of buying a house first. 

Buying A House

Buying a house is considered to be relatively easy since you don’t have to be personally involved with the procedure. It offers two broad benefits; convenience and costs.

Realtors or realty services make the task simpler for you by streamlining the process through discovering locations that suit your needs, arranging a visit, contacting the seller, negotiating on your behalf, helping with paperwork and so on.  Many buyers and sellers associate themselves with realtors to ensure they do not fall prey to fraud.

Let us now look at a few prominent pros and cons of buying a house 

Pros-

A] Move-in condition

The fact that one can instantaneously relocate is compelling enough for people to go for buying a house rather than building one. You might have a joining date at your new job, your children might be starting their academic year at a new school on a particular date and so on. If you are someone on a tight schedule, buying a house is the most appropriate option for you. 

B] Cost-effective

In most cases, it is more affordable to buy a house than to build one. This, however, may differ from market to market. When we talk about loans, a home loan is less risky than a land loan and usually comes with a lower down payment and better interest rate. If you want to get a cost estimation for a prospective home, a home value estimator tool can help you. Such tools give exact cost estimates so that you can plan your home buying budget accordingly. 

C] Close to developed regions

If you want to live in a developed region, finding land to build a house is tricky. You can, however, easily buy a house in an urbanized location allowing you immense convenience and facilities. 

Cons- 

A] House buying stress

Searching and going around to find the perfect house for you might be a tedious and time-consuming task. Sellers are fielding multiple clean offers above the asking price within days of listing their homes while buyers are struggling with high prices, bidding wars, and so on. With the right realty service or relator assisting you throughout, all the stress can be tackled with ease. 

B] Compromise on home style

You won’t necessarily find the exact house you dreamt of and might have to compromise on the home style. However, you always have the option of renovation to furnish the house according to your taste. 

C] Maintenance issues

One of the biggest drawbacks of buying a house is adhering to its repair and maintenance needs. You might encounter major maintenance issues with older appliances, plumbing and electrical systems sooner than you imagined. A solution to this is; extensively inspect the house before you buy and only buy a warranted home. 

Building A House

If you are someone who can relocate in your own time then building a house might work in your favor. However, building a house is more challenging and requires your complete involvement to bring up a brand-new structure from its foundation. There are a lot of aspects you will have to consider like- finding the land, getting an architect, evaluating systems and so on. 

Let us now delve into the pros and cons of building a house- 

Pros-

A] Complete customization

Building a house gives you the freedom of choice and control that you seek. You can bring your dream to life and build a house that reflects your tastes!

B] Less competition

When you build your own house, the competition is eradicated entirely. You do not have to compete for your home with other potential buyers. 

C] Less maintenance

With a new home, you are likely to receive a builder’s warranty for major systems and even the new appliances come with guarantees. 

Cons

A] Expensive

Building something from scratch definitely requires greater funding. Loans for land might be hard to avail and overall costs included in the building might put you under a financial strain. 

B] More effort

You have to be actively involved in building your house, deal with lots of people, and put extensive effort throughout the making of your house. 

C] Delays

There are high chances of delays which could be due to a number of reasons like labor shortages, raw material unavailability etc. 

With everything mentioned above, you might have gotten a rough idea of what suits you the best. All in all, building works for you if you do not want to compromise on your custom features and buying works if you are pressed for time. In the end, it all boils down to your subjective situation.