Build or Buy a House

Build or Buy a House

Summary: The decision to build or buy a new home or buy an older home can be difficult.

Carl, I'm going to graduate from college in April, and my wife and I would really like to build our own home after I graduate.

My concern is the price of land. Where we live a quarter acre lot is anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000.

Would we realistically save money by building a house rather than buying one already built? Homes are selling for $300,000 to 350,000. Thank you for the help.

Building a new house isn't always the best option. It depends on the situation and situations are like snowflakes, no two alike.

New homes usually sell for more than older homes.

If they didn't, no one would buy an older home.

But when you build your own house, you are (in theory) building for much less than what new homes sell for, all things being equal, such as, location, location, and location.

Do some home work using my Getting Started page, and see what it might cost you to build a new home or have one built in a location (zip code) you are interested in.

I show you how you can determine in this early decision making stage an approximate construction cost estimate for a new home plan without having to buy the home plan .

Then you can make a more educated decision about building a new home, buying new home, or buying an existing house.
Carl Heldmann