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To Build or To Buy

For many people, that is certainly the question. Each has its advantages and while most people consider new homes to be highly desirable, only a small percentage of homes purchased every year actually get built from scratch. So why do home buyers, on the whole, prefer to buy an established home rather than build a new one?

For a start, in some more established areas, there is no land available for development, except when larger blocks become available for further sub-division or higher density dwellings.

But many prefer to buy an established property simply because it is more likely to deliver what it promises and less likely to disappoint. Assuming that all the pre-purchase conveyancing and building inspections are passed, what buyers see is what they get. The dreams and schemes involved in building a new home often have an element of the unrealised and even unrealistic about them – so that the final product often falls short of expectation – a scenario that is less likely to occur when the selection stage involves bricks and mortar rather than sheets of draftsman’s paper.

Even the costs are more predictable. You can see at a glance what is included for the price, and the opportunity to deviate from the budget is reduced. During building, it is easier to be rash with small amounts that add up: tiles you fall in love with that are dearer than the amount first allowed, kitchen fittings, bathroom fittings even landscaping – all the places along the way where the temptation of something bigger and better quality is just over on another aisle.
 Building is also time-consuming. Usually home buyers expect to have input on the design and all the fixtures and fittings where possible – but choosing takes time including lots of consultation and discussion with experts and others who will live there. And even when the house is finally done, there is still the landscaping to be carried out. Many home builders do this themselves to save money – but find the imposition on their leisure time far greater than they anticipated.

It is certainly true that when buying an existing property there is no opportunity to have input into colour schemes, designs, floor-plan other than to vote with your feet and keep looking till you find one as close to what you had in mind as possible. And if you do decide to renovate or extend at some stage, you will find that the overall cost per square metre is greater than building from scratch. Older houses especially will have higher level of maintenance, and this must be factored in.

There will always be those who cannot resist the allure of the brand spanking new, but for the majority, buying an existing home gives them greater control during what is a stressful period of their lives.