Many Houston residents are on the fence about whether they should acquire an existing home or build their own. This guide will compare the advantages and drawbacks of each option to help you make an informed decision. Let’s start by looking at the pros and cons of building a custom home.
Pros and cons of building your own home
Building a home can be an exciting experience for prospective homeowners. However, this route does come with its ups and downs. For this reason, it’s important to look at the benefits and challenges that come with constructing a home before taking the plunge.
Pros of building a custom home
Customization
The most obvious benefit of constructing your own home is having the ability to customize it, however you please. If you are building your home from the ground, you will have the freedom to choose the floor plan and elevations, select the type of flooring you want, and add custom features, and select colors to reflect your tastes, preferences and needs. At CRV Homes, we are a true custom builder and the endless options and selections are made by our clients with the guidance of our in-house designer.
Modern features and components
Building your own home also gives you a chance to add modern features and finishes to it. You can use the latest energy-efficient materials, such as Energy Star-certified roofs
and insulated siding during the initial construction phase. These materials could help
protect your home from the elements and reduce your heating bill in the future.
Some items, such as insulation or preferred lighting, can be difficult, or in some cases the existing structure. Being able to include your desired features, components, and colors during the initial construction phase offers flexibility, better results, and preserves the warranties on the installed features.
Ensuring fixtures are installed correctly
Older homes sometimes suffer from problems, such as leaky roofs, foundation issues, grading issues, and poor insulation, due to improper fitting practices, typical settling and aging. When building your own home, you can ensure that these items are fitted properly, installed per manufacturer specs, and operate properly. This can save you from running into problems in the future.
Saving on costs
It is believed that constructing a new home can be more expensive than purchasing an existing home. However, the practice of building a home from the ground up can be the more affordable option when you consider the costs of purchasing an existing home and renovating it to include desired features. In many cases, upon completion of a CRV Homes built custom home, our clients move into their home with considerable equity. The value in building a home with CRV Homes is that when you move in, you have the floor plan you want, the features you want, in the location you want, often at no extra charge.
Cons of building a custom home
Construction time
The biggest drawback of building a custom home is that construction takes a fair amount of time. If you plan to move to a new property, you will have to wait until construction is completed. A new home can take anywhere from 3 to 8 months to finish, depending on the size and complexity of the project. This process can get delayed if the building-process is interrupted by bad weather or material availability.
Unexpected costs
When you start construction on a new property, it can be difficult to estimate what the total cost of the project will be. Unexpected lot preparation costs and material price increases can cause you to exceed your initial budget. These sudden expenses may prevent you from customizing your home in the manner you initially envisioned. At CRV Homes, we will quote you a price to build your home on your lot, from initial consultation to and through the warranty period. Only custom features that are added during construction will affect the price.
Supervising construction
Homeowners are expected to supervise and keep track of construction activities for their project. This can be difficult if they have busy lives and other responsibilities to focus on.
If you are using the services of a contractor or a home builder, you may still need to keep an eye on construction activities to ensure that they are going according to plan.
CRV Homes will be on your jobsite daily to supervise the build-out. We will provide regular reports via email from start to finish. While we encourage you to visit the site as part of enjoying the custom home process, CRV Homes does not expect that you will need to supervise any part the construction process. The construction managers at CRV Homes are very experienced custom home builders having supervised over 700 homes.
Pros of purchasing an existing home
Less effort than constructing a home
Buying an existing home can be tempting. After all, someone else took care of the planning and construction for you. This frees you from the burden of purchasing land and picking out a home design.
Moving in on short notice
As mentioned earlier, constructing a home can take several months. This can be a problem for people who need to move on short notice.
Purchasing an existing home is generally a shorter process, and can be completed in around 30 to 45 days. However, this does not factor in the amount of time it takes to browse through listings, select a property, and on the other end, renovate the property to include desired and updated features.
Negotiating a lower price
Purchasing an existing home also gives you the ability to negotiate for a lower price. While you can also negotiate with a builder to build your home, you will have more flexibility to negotiate an existing home based on the list of faults provided by an inspection report, if you choose to hire an inspector.
Hiring a professional real estate agent to provide guidance through this process and then hiring professional contractors to make the suggested repairs will provide you the most desirable results
Cons of purchasing an existing home
Renovation costs
If you have chosen to purchase an existing home, you may have to renovate it to suit your tastes and needs. For example, a person who uses a wheelchair may need to make changes to their home to make it wheelchair accessible. This can lead to additional costs on top of your initial purchase.
Old fixtures and components
Existing homes are also less likely to possess modern fixtures and components. As a result, you may have to deal with problems, such as outdated wall ceiling textures or leaky roofs that are not up to code or standards. Your heating bill could also be higher due to inefficient outdated air-conditioning system, the poor lighting may detract from the functionality of the space, or the kitchen may limit your enjoyment because of outdated or missing features.
Should I build my home or purchase an existing one?
As you can see, constructing a home and purchasing an existing one both offer their own advantages and drawbacks. The option that is right for you will depend on your unique situation.
If your focus is on customization, it will be far easier to construct a home to fit your needs. However, if you need to move to a new location on short notice, purchasing a pre-existing home could be the better option.
CRV Homes provides a turnkey custom home building option. Please contact us to learn more about how our experienced team of builders, designers, and real estate professionals can make the process seamless, easy, and fun.
If you are planning to build a custom home and surfing the web for search terms like “custom home builder Houston”, go ahead and surf on over to “http://crvhomes.com”. CRV Homes is a “Build on your lot Houston” home builder. Some like to search for "Custom Home Builder near me" to find CRV Homes whom is often touted as one of the “best home builders in Houston” and knows the importance of excellent customer service. CRV Homes has high ethical and professional standards, and are committed to providing their customers with exceptional services and quality products. Addition. The team at CRV Homes knows it is exciting to build a new home so their professionals keep you updated on progress via phone, text, email, and even photos - every step of the way!
CRV Homes is a responsible builder and environmentally friendly!