Should You Build A New Home?

Building a home can be a daunting project. However, there are many advantages to self-builds, which could make them a much better choice than an existing home. Below are just some of the great reasons to consider building your own house.

You can customize your home to meet all your personal needs

The biggest reason to build your own home is the fact that you can customize every detail of it. It’s one of the best ways to achieve your dream home – you get to decide everything from the layout to the materials used. You can also take into account your personal lifestyle needs. If you or a family member has disabilities, you could plant to make your home as accessible as possible. If you have a large family, you can optimize your home by adding multiple bathrooms and a large dining room. You may be able to factor in hobbies such as setting up the perfect kitchen for baking or the perfect home gym for doing workouts. 

Not only do you get to design the building, but you can choose where to place your home. You can search the country for the ideal plot of land to build on so that your home is in the perfect location (unless, of course, you’ve already got land). If you need access to the city this could be somewhere urban or suburban that allows easy commuting. If you’d prefer to be at one with nature, you can search for somewhere rural.

Obviously, planning restrictions and your budget will create certain limits. However, with the help of a home construction company, you can try to find the most feasible way of incorporating these dream features, whether it’s a basement with a swimming pool or a bedroom with a balcony. Finding the right land can make a big difference – by acquiring the right plot of land, you’ll have less restrictions. 

It can often be more cost-efficient

Most people assume that building a home is more expensive than buying an existing home. However, in many cases, building a home can be a lot cheaper. The biggest cost is likely to be acquiring land. The cost of construction is relatively cheap – even when incorporating luxury features, you can usually build a home with these features for a cheaper price than were you to buy a home with these features. This is because there’s no seller or agents trying to make a profit.

Just like a standard home, you can fund a self-build with a mortgage. There are specialist self-build mortgage lenders out there that you can borrow from – they are more likely to lend you money than regular lenders. As for acquiring land, there are land loans that you can take out that are also a bit like mortgages. This means that you don’t have to be wealthy to build a home.

In the long run, you could spend a lot less on your home than an existing home. An advantage of designing your own home is that you can make it as green as possible – you can make sure it’s well insulated and even install solar panels, reducing your energy bills dramatically. You can also build your home to be robust as possible, reducing the risk of future repairs. 

You don’t have to worry about being outbidded

Whether you’re buying an older home or a new home, there’s always a risk that you’ll get outbidded by another buyer. Even if you don’t get outbidded, there could be other issues such as a seller refusing to sell to you or a seller deciding to take their home off the market last minute. This can be one of the most frustrating downsides to buying an existing home – until you’ve handed over the money, there is no certainty that the home will be yours. 

When you choose to build your own home, you don’t have to worry about this. The home is yours from the start – there is no seller to contend with nor any other buyers. This certainty can take away some of the stress and allow you to do things at your own pace. You can focus your attention on one home without worrying that your plans will fall through. 

You can be assured that your home will be safe, secure and good quality

When buying an existing home, you may not know quite what condition it is in. Older homes can be particularly prone to issues – there could be safety hazards such as old wiring or general structural issues such as rising damp or cracks in the walls. A home inspection may be able to detect these problems, but there could still be hidden problems in the walls. 

As for new builds, these tend to be in good condition due to being brand new. Everything is likely to be done to modern safety regulations, so you haven’t got to worry about fire risks from old wiring or presence of asbestos. That said, many new builds constructed by developers can sometimes deliberately incorporate low quality materials and features to keep the costs down. This means that they’re not always immune to problems and could experience wear and tear sooner.

When you build your own home, you have a much more accurate idea as to the construction quality. You can take measures to ensure that doors and windows are secure against burglars and that foundations are safe against flooding, damp and radon. You can make sure that electrics and plumbing are installed correctly and you can make sure that long-lasting materials are used so that you won’t have to deal with lots of repairs in 20 years time.

It’s a chance to leave behind a legacy

Building a home is also a chance to build a legacy. It could be somewhere for your family to live for generations. Alternatively, it could be a chance to leave behind some history – you’ll have left a personal stamp on the world that will remain there for years after you die. This can add to the satisfaction of building a home.