Build or Buy?

cgh

I've seen plenty of houses on the market now that are well below the price it costs to build.
so the question i have here is wether people would build a four bedroom house approx 2000sq feet or buy one.
I've seen plenty of these around the laois/kildare/Offaly area for between €200k and €300k.
when you look at these they are generally finished off to a high standard, new kitchens etc.
it would seem that its where a unfortunante couple hedged thier bets and now can no longer afford to keep the house and hve to sell up. which puts plenty of bargins out thre if you look hard enough.
so what would people reckon, buy a site for €50k and build or buy a exisiting dwelling for roughly €250k.
Over to you guys.

Dfmnoc

if u build a house it will be to your own spec and you can keep an eye on the progress to know that its built to a high stand, where as buying a house i wouldn't touch of anything put up in the last 15 years as they were built in record time which was at a cost to quality which is why u see so many with cracks, dampness and crap sound proofing in em, dodgy electrics plumbing and everything else

muffler

cgh wrote: »

buy a site for €50k and build or buy a exisiting dwelling for roughly €250k.

First of all I'll state that as I'm the design and planning business I could be accused of being a little biased but I would recommend you go with that option. As mentioned above you you could possibly buy a heap of trouble and no amount of inspections and surveys will reveal the entire "make up" of a house that has been build and is now for sale.

In saying that there are some good bargains to be had if you know where to look and when to look.

But with building your own house you have full control of the reins and you get the house YOU want and not a house that someone else wanted. I have no idea of the property prices in that area although there are 1 or 2 posters here who could advise better but if you can get a site for 50 K I would imagine that you will build a house of approx. 200 - 230 sq metres in size that would achieve at least an A3 rating.

If you're not a fussy type person, a bit lazy and prepared to take a wee bit of a gamble then buying may be the route to go. If you're more of a determined type and know what you want and prepared to put in a good bit of effort then build your own

muffler

As the thread is more of a general topic I'll move this to the main C & P forum.

cgh

Yeah building does have its merits, but how much time do you have to put in to be on the site and make sure all is going well.
also looked at the possiblity of a Log Cabin style home. but personnally dont like them.
I'd prefer to build my own home if i could, but there is alot involved in it. the hidden extra's and then the extras like a decent kitchen, wet room, fitting it out with floors and that kind of stuff that all adds up.
but yeah i can see that there are pluses for every option. but plenty of negatives too

1100010110

You cannot buy a house to the same standard of quality that is now required for the equivalent cost of building one, check for A rated houses on the market and see how their prices are holding up compared to the less well performing (BER) properties on the market.
Also, would the cheaper option of buying a finished house end up costing you more over the lifetime of the occupancy than any additional cost of building?

sinnerboy

cgh wrote: »

Yeah building does have its merits, but how much time do you have to put in to be on the site and make sure all is going well.
also looked at the possiblity of a Log Cabin style home. but personnally dont like them.
I'd prefer to build my own home if i could, but there is alot involved in it. the hidden extra's and then the extras like a decent kitchen, wet room, fitting it out with floors and that kind of stuff that all adds up.
but yeah i can see that there are pluses for every option. but plenty of negatives too

The average lifetime of a kitchen or bathroom fit out is 15 years. The average lifetime of a floor finish is between 7-10 years. So when building your own ( all-new or refurb existing ) focus the spend on those things you expect to serve you for for your lifetime - the basic fabric of the build walls /roof / floors / windows / doors. Then you will have lower running costs will allow you to save up in the Credit Union to replace the kitchen / bathroom / carpet / timber floor because "you are tired looking at it" .

Don't make the Celtic Tiger mistake of paying for 25/30 years for items you will have replaced long before the mortgage is paid off....