What are the Pros and Cons of Building your own House?

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Are you deciding whether you should build your own house from scratch or buy an existing one? It’s very exciting to build your own residential property because it gives you a chance to be involved in the project. You will be able to apply your ideas, and see them come to fruition. There is no satisfying home as one that you made an input. A custom home will stand out from the rest, in a town or village where the suburbs are standard and uniform.

Pros:

Building your own home has the following advantages:

Land Choice – Prior to building, you have to buy a vacant lot or land. You are able to choose the location where you want your permanent home to be. Do you want a home in a greenfield? Then look for land in those areas.

Custom Home – You are able to come up with a custom design of your ideal home. Just convey your ideas to the Architect.

Property Value – A new home has a longer lifespan and higher market value than an old home.

Competitive Bids – You can choose the best contractor for the job by running competitive bids or through word of mouth recommendations.

No Need for Remodelling – A custom design saves you money on remodeling, alterations and additions. One of the first things that home buyers do when they move in an existing home is kitchen remodeling. Even the bathroom and living room may need to be altered to suit the tenants. You can avoid remodeling costs by designing and building your own home.

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Integrated Planning – During the planning and design stage, you can plan for integrated building services such as HVAC, acoustics, security and safety systems.

Maintenance – A new home has lower maintenance costs than an old home, since there are no major repairs and renovations needed.

Cons:

The disadvantages of building your own house are laid out below:

High Risk Loan – In order to build a new property, you might need to apply for a construction loan if your funds are insufficient. A construction loan carries more risk than a mortgage loan to buy a finished property. As a result, you may incur high interest rates. To pay back the loan, you might want to rent out the finished property, but this is a personal choice. Lenders can negotiate a long term repayment plan.

Land Costs – You have to buy land on which your house will be built. If the land is not yet serviced, you will pay extra costs in servicing the plot with electricity, drainage and road access.

Demolition Costs – If you own an existing plot which is already built up, you will need to demolish the building to make way for a new dwelling.

Preliminary Site Investigations – The location or physical address on which your residential property will be based, may need to be investigated for soil conditions and stability, including weather, terrain, access, drainage, underground pipes, adjacent buildings, building zone, trees and other environmental issues.

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Design Costs – During the planning stage, the prospective owner has to hire an Architect or Certified Designer to produce sketch designs, and later on the final architectural drawings of the house. Changes will be made along the way. The plans have to be approved by local authorities before securing a building license.

Estimating Costs – In the course of designing the house, the client has to estimate the cost of building the proposed home. He or she will need to hire an estimator or quantity surveyor for this.

Construction Costs – When the home designs are finalized, the prospective owner has to find an experienced building contractor to carry out the construction. Building a house from scratch is a process that involves risks. The client should make allowances for all possible risks. The project may run out of budget, it might be hard to procure certain building materials, as well as the skilled labour required to complete the project on time. Within the design period as well as the practical completion time, the construction index (material + labour prices) may fluctuate. Issues with the quality of work done may arise, alterations will be required and the weather may disrupt progress. Claims and disputes are part of any construction project. With a professional project manager, they can be handled well.


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