Purchasing a home is one of the biggest decisions that most people will make. There are many things to consider when purchasing a home, starting with whether to purchase an existing house or to build a custom home. While existing houses may be close to what you are looking for in a property, it may not exactly meet your exact needs or desires. That’s why a number of people choose to get exactly what they’re looking for by purchasing a custom-built home instead.
There are many advantages of buying a custom-built home, as The Seattle Times notes. To start, designing a home from the foundation up guarantees that you will get the house that you want and that meets your needs. Buying a previously owned home often means accepting compromises on things, ranging from unchangeable factors like the size and configuration of the lot and the building’s architecture, to things that can be changed out at a price like appliances, landscaping and even the overall design. While it may seem easier to just buy a previously owned home, this often means purchasing something that does not really meet your needs, meaning that you already are buying in to needing to make more changes or replacing elements to suit your lifestyle. Since a home is such a significant purchase, it makes sense to invest in a custom-built structure that is exactly what you want and need.
Another advantage with choosing a custom-built home is that it may actually save you time. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but when you consider the process of buying an existing property, you can see that it may be quicker after all. Choosing an existing home means spending months looking at dozens or hundreds of prospective properties, making and offer and purchasing one, and then renovating and replacing what you need to make it into the space that you want. Building a custom home avoids this frustrating process altogether, and allows you to focus that time and energy on creating the perfect home for you and your family instead of adapting your life around reconstruction and renovation work.
The next factor is cost. Buying a previously owned home may seem less expensive, but it may end up costing more in the long run. When you buy a previously owned home, you may end up spending more money on maintenance, upkeep and improvements than if you had built a custom home. The average cost of a new roof, for example, is nearly $7,000, says Home Advisor, while the average cost to remodel a kitchen is more than $20,000. Tack these costs on top of the purchase price, and factoring in other rooms, improvements or even just maintenance costs, the price can quickly add up, making it easy to see that it may be a better deal to just buy a new, custom-built home.
Energy efficiency is another feature that is important to more and more homebuyers. With a custom-built home, you can be sure that energy efficiency is built in from the beginning. Energy-efficient homes are better for the environment, and also save you money through lower utility bills. A new, energy-efficient home can save you thousands of dollars each year in utility costs, as Consumer Reports notes, which means that a bit of money spent during construction can easily pay for itself over a few seasons of utility bill savings.
The right appliances and fixtures can greatly enhance the enjoyment and usefulness of a home, as well. Unfortunately, buying an existing home may limit your options for appliances and fixtures. Older homes may not be capable of fitting a larger refrigerator or accommodating a gas range instead of an electric. Installing new appliances or plumbing fixtures in an existing home often requires expensive carpentry, plumbing and electrical work, but purchasing a custom-built home allows you to be sure that the appliances that you want will fit and work well in the home.
A custom-built home also provides the opportunity to incorporate future-forward design. An existing home may meet your family’s needs today, but it may not work as well in the future. Future-forward design allows your home to be modified or extended in the future to meet your changing needs. For example, if you don’t have children today but are thinking of expanding your family in the future, designing your home with a hallway that ends in a closet that could later be knocked out to access an expansion allows you to plan ahead for options in case you may later need them.
The professional team Reynolds Home Builders can help you build the custom home of your dreams. We do the hard work when it comes to designing and building your custom home so that you can relax and enjoy the experience. Contact us today by calling 850-508-5076 and schedule a consultation to learn how we can make your dream home a reality.