Building VS Buying A Home
If you are considering entering the property market you may be tossing up building vs buying a home. Both new and established homes have their pros and cons, and at the end of the day your decision should be the option that offers the best solution to your current needs. At a glance, building a home offers customisation potential, lower ongoing costs, better incentives, less competition and a warranty. In contrast, buying an established home offers closer proximity to the CBD, established infrastructure and landscaping, better investment potential, a larger land parcel and rapid move-in times. We discuss the pros and cons of building vs buying a home in greater detail below.
Many homeowners are drawn to the financial value of building a home from scratch. Reduced stamp duty and the First Home Owner Grant offer significant savings which can be put into the house as equity or used to furnish the property. If the new build functions as an investment, owners may take advantage of depreciation as a tax benefit in the first few years. New homes frequently offer more efficient energy standards and fewer maintenance costs which can offer ongoing savings. Even if issues do arise, they are usually covered by warranty.
Furthermore, building a home from scratch offers unlimited customisation potential (within the scope your budget, of course). There is essentially a guarantee that new homes won’t require renovation for quite some time. Everything is nice and new so there will be no more work needed following construction. Natural ventilation, solar panels and solar batteries can be installed as well as grey water systems. These offer nice augmentations to your house and, as mentioned, savings on utility bills.
To give more scope to the argument, there is far less competition buying a block of land and employing contractors to build your property compared to purchasing an established home; the buying process is far easier. Finally, in an era where working from home has become so commonplace, many people may find building their own home more appealing than buying close to the CBD.
In contrast, the location and features of established homes may be more appealing than new builds. In a similar regard, land packages where established homes are located are sometimes larger than new homes. The absence of a garden in a new home is easily noticed, however established homes come complete with landscaping and gardens which offers much beauty and sophistication.
Buying and moving into an already-established home is far quicker than building a home (1 month compared with 6 months). However, you won’t get the same potential for customisation if you buy an established home. If first home buyers want the opportunity to move to a second, larger home, they need to ensure their first property will increase in value to allow the upgrade to happen. This is more likely to happen in the short-term with an established home.
If you are still deciding on building vs buying a home, contact U Homes today for a professional consultation. U Homes has been building and selling homes in Melbourne for more than 20 years now and offer a wide range of tailor-made solutions for first home buyers looking to enter the market. We are available to speak to you from Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. Contact our friendly consultants on 03 9048 5737 today to ask about how we can help you build the home of your dreams.