Owning a house with a garden is a lifelong dream for many people. No matter whether you want to buy a house or build your own, there are pros and cons to both options that you need to know about.
The demand for larger living spaces is currently greater than ever before. We’re spending more time at home and working from our home offices, so it’s obvious that houses with a lot of space are going to be hugely sought after.
The decision as to whether you choose to build your own home or buy an existing one will depend on several factors including location, budget, ability to make decisions and time pressure. A comparison of the biggest pros and cons will help you make up your mind.
If you have a plot of land, you have the opportunity to build your own dream home and bring your own ideas to life. This is one of the biggest advantages compared with buying an existing house. Floor plan, room layout, interior design – you are free to determine all of these from the very beginning. But this isn’t a positive thing for everyone, because it requires knowledge, a feel for architecture, time and a lot of energy to be able to make all of the decisions yourself. Anyone who struggles to make decisions will save themselves a lot of hassle by buying an existing house. Furthermore, there isn’t much choice when it comes to the location of a new build because building land is so scarce. As an alternative, you could buy an old house, tear it down and build a new one – however, the cost of doing this often blows a family’s budget.
You’ll need a lot of liquid assets for any new build, as building land, the development and unforeseen building delays can incur additional costs. Construction projects are also financed through more expensive building loans that can only be converted into a cheaper mortgage once the project has been completed.
Buying a house is usually cheaper than building one. Depending on the age of the building, additional money may be required to renovate or refurbish it to your own personal requirements. To avoid exceeding your budget, you need to take into account the renovation or refurbishment costs and add them to the purchase price. Fortunately, however, the cost of value-preserving renovation work is entirely tax deductible. Buying an existing house also means less expenditure. You perhaps won’t have as much design freedom as with a new build, but it is still possible to change the floor plan and adapt the house fully to your requirements within your budget. If you’re lucky, you’ll find your dream home just waiting for you and all you’ll have to do is arrange the move.
Perhaps you’ll find the property you’re looking for here at Engels & Völkers. You can also add yourself to our customer search list absolutely free of charge. That way, you’ll benefit from being one of the first to receive information about new properties for sale in your desired area and can react immediately before your dream home is snapped up by someone else.
Have you found your dream home and want to sell your old house or apartment? We deal with everything associated with the sale so you only need to worry about moving into your new home.
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