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Buying An Existing Home
When shopping for a home, the big question is whether you should look at buying an existing home or build a new one.
Below are the some advantages and disadvantages for both options:
Building a new home
Advantages:
- You can customise the whole layout and design of your new house to suit you.
- When it comes time to sell, it may be easier to sell a newer home rather than an older one as they are seen as more appealing.
- There are a range of home loans on the market which have construction loans available. This can make it easier to manage the whole process as you have access to money at different stages of your home being built, rather than in one lump sum.
- The major downside is that you can???t move in until your home is built.
- You may also have to spend more than you anticipate if major issues pop up along the way.
- Things can still go wrong when building a home such as faulty appliances or sections not built correctly and needing to be re-done. It can take time and persistence chasing builders to get your home built according to plan.
- After settlement is complete (this usually takes around six weeks after contracts are exchanged), you can move in right away.
- There is more choice on where you can buy compared to building as you aren???t limited to vacant blocks available or knocking down old homes.
- Many existing properties have most things done such as landscaping and the gardens done, which is one less cost to consider.
- It can sometimes cost more to change what you don't like about an existing home compared to knocking it down and rebuilding. Make sure you do all your calculations first and shop around for contractors.
- Some renovation may require permission from your local council, take this into account as the process can take time.
- You may be faced with unexpected leaks and faulty wiring which can be quite costly to fix.
