Is it cheaper to build a house reddit

It is almost ALWAYS more expensive to build a custom house than buy a used house. Think of it like buying a new car vs a used car. It's more expensive. It's just how it is.

It can often be hundreds of thousands of dollars more expensive, depending on the range. It can be VERY expensive.

If you are a general contractor or you know how to do a lot of the work yourself, sure, you can probably do ok, but there are going to be massively expensive things you haven't considered... like getting utilities to the house. My parents built a custom house at the end of a private road, and at some point the county inspector drives out, says their house is too far from the next closest fire hydrant, and slapped a $22,000 fee on to their project to pay to get a new fire hydrant installed or home would never pass inspections.

The prep of the land, perc tests if doing septic, and many other things can be quite costly. There can be unexpected expenses in setting the foundation. I've seen people's foundation cost 50k more than expected because they dug down a few feet and hit a lot of rock that had to be excavated out and extended construction times another month or so.

So, if you are going to build from scratch, make sure you either are doing it from a more builder ready development, like a tract home development, or you have the overhead and comfort to get it done, extra expenses be damned.

Be aware, some land is also cheap because you can't get it approved for building. I live in Arizona and there are a lot of people on septic. But, our ground is super rocky and hard. I saw some people drop 75k on a 3 acre plot to build, and as they were planning their septic drain field, they were doing soil percolate tests everywhere and they ALL failed, all over the property. No matter where they tried, it was just too rocky and they could not get approved for a septic system, and local sewer was not available. As such, they ended stuck with some beautiful nice land without great alternative options to build and 8 years later land is still undeveloped and vacant.

This is why new construction tract homes ("cookie cutter homes") are so popular because you can get a small piece of land usually in the 5-10k range, and you don't have to worry about all of these potentially unexpected extra expenses as the mass builder handles all of that.

Clearly you are looking for the privacy of a 1 acre home, maybe free of an HOA, so to build new, there's going to be possibility of unexpected overages. A good place to start is to have a realistic discussion with local well-reviewed builders in your area who can advise, or maybe have built similar homes you are interested in in certain areas, as they know the important factors of that area more than anyone.

Also, another thing to consider... there's the "Best practices" new construction build, and then there's the lowest level "Just meets code minimum build," and then there's everything in be-tween. There are so many options in new construction, and a wide range of expertise and build quality issues, that one project of the same square footage could easily be 2x or 3x the cost just because you are going with some top-end luxury quality amazing builder using some cool modern stuff. There's no real set price in new construction as there is this massive slider scale on quality vs speed vs skill vs attention to detail and so on.

Sorry if this isnt the right sub but I figure it's still an investment even if it's your own home so why not. I try googling and everyone has the same pros and cons list but no one actually says which is cheaper. If I'm looking for say a 3 bedroom 2 bath that is move in ready is it cheaper to buy said home? Or build said home? Any insight is appreciated.

Edit. Upstate NY if it helps.

Hi everyone! I'm currently 27 and renting in a HCOL area, trying to save up enough to buy a home in the next 3 years or so. I'm trying to get a handle on weather it makes more sense to buy a house or buy a lot and build a house on it.

Pros for building a house:

• Get exactly what I want

• Everything is new and won't need maintenance for a while

• Avoids wasting money on rooms I don't need

Pros for buying a house:

• Less expensive/square foot

• Avoids initial costs of putting in utilities

• Easier

What else am I missing? I don't have any construction experience or knowledge, and I don't really know where to start.

I’ve been on the hunt for an existing home as a vacation home for about 9 months and the process is so frustrating. I’m seeing list prices go up and up, and list prices are meaningless anymore because every property I put in an offer is part of a massive bidding war. It’s emotionally exhausting. I saw there is a plot of land for sale in a neighborhood I like (it’s part of an established HOA community) and I’m considering buying the land and building. I’ve never built a house before. What is the process like? How do the costs compare? Are there hidden costs or risks I need to consider? I’m just trying to figure out if this is a logical or feasible path to pursue. I’m getting very defeated and trying to think outside the box.

What is the cheapest house style to build?

Where is the cheapest place to build a house?

Are new builds overpriced UK?

Can you build a house for 200k UK?