Is It Better to Build or Buy?

San Fernando Valley Real Estate Podcast with Scott Himelstein

When it comes to choosing between buying and building a home or between buying a new or resale home, there are a lot of variables to consider.

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Is it better to buy or build a house? Or is it better to buy a new or existing home?

One of the pros of building a house from scratch is that you’re allowed to pick out the details of the home, such as the floor plan and other certain amenities.

Personally, however, I always think it’s a little more expensive to build a home, and I wouldn’t look forward to picking out the thousands of details necessary to build a house. These include all the building codes and regulations from the city that you have to deal with.

More importantly, with all the recent natural disasters in Florida, Texas, and California, I believe that hiring people to build a home will be more expensive than normal. Due to the shortage of supplies created by these natural disasters, the cost of materials will be more expensive as well.

I wouldn’t look forward to picking out the thousands of details necessary to build a house.

When it comes to buying a new or existing home, buying new construction is like buying a new car because it’s a brand-new property. No one has ever lived in it before, and projects like landscaping will need to be done after the fact. If you can find a similar home that’s maybe three to 10 years old in a similar neighborhood, you’ll find that projects like that have been taken care of.

When buying a brand-new property, landscaping can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000. Adding upgrades to the home itself can also cost you thousands of dollars. If you buy a resale property, there’s a good chance those upgrades will already have been done. Because that resale home isn’t brand new, the list price will also be lower too.

There are a lot of variables to consider, so what’s best for you depends on what your specific needs are and what you’re willing to do and pay for.

If you’re trying to weigh the options of each of these scenarios or you have any other real estate questions, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email. Until then, have a happy new year and we look forward to seeing you again in 2018!