BUILD OR BUY?

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. ~John Ed Pearce

It's sort of crazy making enemies of building products. You know? But if those products have cost you bigtime, hurt you bigtime, failed you bigtime, then just disliking is too good a word for 'em bigtime. ~AutoCAD Granddad

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world. ~George Washington

The easy question asked is which is cheaper, to build a new home or to buy an existing home. That question, clearly begs the bigger question: what do you want in a home? An existing home with marble, granite, hardwoods, landscaping, a wine cellar, and an all-out water view is considerably more expensive than a brand new home with Formica, linoleum, a patch of weeds, and a poorly executed floor plan.

Again, the question really remains, what do you want in a home?

We have clients who loved the process of building their own home, it brought them joy, closeness and they had fun creating exactly what they wanted. We also have clients who considered home construction stressful, irritating, and full of too many decision.

To Build, or Not To Build – that is the question…

Do you have the desire, time, and energy to build a home?

Are you good at communicating what you want?

Can you tell the difference between a well constructed home and one that is not?

Would you be comfortable interviewing a builders past customers to determine if they enjoyed the building process?

How would you handle conflict if building a house runs over-schedule and over budget?

Do you get excited selecting cabinet doors, doorknobs, carpeting, and trim work?

Have you always wanted to build a home?

Once you commit to a floorplan, are you abele to stay on track and not make costly modifications to the plans?

Do you have somewhere to live while you build?

Do you know the average lifespan of appliances? (gas ranges are expected to last 15 years, dryers & refrigerators 13 years, dishwashers & microwaves 9 years)

Would you be more comfortable remodeling an existing home rather than building form scratch?

Does the idea of creating with concrete, walls, siding, landscaping, lighting, cabinets, paint, panels, insulation, heating, framing and flooring excite or exhaust you?

There really is no “right answer” for buying an existing home versus building brand new. Listen to your heart, your bankbook, your partner, your Realtor, and take a look around. Home is where the Heart is and when you find a home to buy, or a home to build, which makes your heart sign the next step will be a natural.

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen

It’s cheaper to make it right than it is to get it right. ~AutoCAD Granddad

In raised, vaulted, and cathedral ceilings, vent well. The same goes for crawl spaces. ~AutoCAD Granddad