Buying a new house verses building a new house

By: Richard Kook   -pdf-
COOLhouseplans.com

You and your wife spend weekend after weekend looking for a new home. Finally you find a home that you think is perfect. After driving past the home several times, envisioning yourself living there, you decide that something is missing. The house is smaller than you thought, or the lot the home is built on dose not go with home. Several months go by. Discouragement builds with every home that you thought could be the one, but never seems to work out.

Finally, on the way home from another disappointing day of house hunting, you pass the construction site of a brand new home. You and your wife look at each other; “could we possibly afford to build a brand new house”, you say to each other? Sure you can!

There are several steps you should take to determine if building a home verses buying a home is better for you:

Home Building Budget

Virtually anyone can build a new home. It’s determining how much new home they can afford that usually makes or breaks the deal. Make sure you know how much home you can afford. Make an appointment with your local bank or loan officer to help you answer this question.

If you have a good loan officer, they will be able to explain construction loans, closing costs, and what to expect when your home is in it’s construction phase.

Make sure you read everything and understand every thing before signing your name. Remember you signature is valuable to them. Make them work for it.

What kind of house do you want to build?

Of course it would be a good idea to keep close with the general appeal of your surrounding neighborhood. Many residential neighborhoods and or private communities have an architectural review board. Check with them first to determine if the home you select meets the criteria of that existing neighborhood. If you live away from neighborhoods or remotely, build what you want.

Selecting your new home design

Are you going to have an architect draw a custom set of house plans for your new home? Why not consider stock house plans? There are many house plans and home designs to choose from. Stock house plans are considerably less expensive than having a custom house plan drawn.

Where do you find stock house plans?

Two sites that offer an impressive variety of the latest house plans are:

House Plans - by COOLhouseplans.com
Home Plans - by Ehouseplans.com

Searching for a house plan for your new home is made simple. Once you have found a great house plan, call them up and get more details before you order. House Plans can even be modified to suit your needs! What could be easier?

Tip - Did you know that custom house plans from an architect can take weeks, some times month to draw? With stock house plans from COOLhouseplans.com or Ehouseplans.com, you can get your house plan the following business day! Wow that’s fast!

Home construction costs

Make appointments with several contractors in your area. Find out what the average cost per square foot is for the home that you would like to build. Talk to local people that are building. Find out if they are happy with their builder. Make friends. They will help you.

If the contractor is worth his salt, he will include estimates for not only building your new home, he will also provide building costs for driveways, septic tank installation and roads, should you need one. A good contractor will pay attention to detail, and provide you with answers to your questions.

Determine what you want to pay for land. Shop around. Subtract your building costs from your overall budget plus about 2-5% for unexpected building expenses.

Location

Location, location, location; you have probably heard this a time or two. Drive around and determine where you would like to build. Talk to people that live in those areas. Find out about schools, military bases, among other local amenities the local community has to offer. Could they increase or decrease property value?

Get what you want.

Find land that appeals to you and your family. After all you are going to be living there. Make a checklist of the features you would like your land to have. Take a highlighter with you. Highlight the more important features that you need to have on your new home site.

Do you need a lot of land or do you want a lot of land?

Obviously the land you select will need to be able to accommodate the size of your new home. Now that you have established the minimum land size for your new home, would you like a larger lot? Maybe you, your wife, or both of you like to garden. There’s an easy answer to one of your questions. Do you like to cut grass? Do you like trees around you?

Start your land hunt.

Read the classifieds in the local paper. Look for Land for Sale signs in the areas that you like. The Internet provides a great source for people with limited time. Grab a cup of coffee and your wife. Sit down and surf together.

There is a nice piece of land that you wish was for sale. Too bad it’s not. Find out who owns that land through public records at the local tax office. Make them an offer. You may surprise yourself.

Finally find an honest realtor that will work for you. Talk to them on a regular basis. Most realtors will be glad to help you with purchasing land. In most cases they make a higher commission on land than on an existing house.

Read the four basic steps for building a new house

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