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Should You Buy or Build Your Own Home in Washington State?

May 7, 2019

You’re currently in the exciting beginning stages of looking into buying a new home. But where should you start your search? You could build your own home in Washington State and start creating memories in a space that no one’s ever lived in before. Or you could search for that perfect home among those that have been standing for years in established neighborhoods. There are benefits and drawbacks to both, and here are a few. Unknown vs. Certainty One of the most appealing reasons for building your own home is knowing that everything will be new. You’ll be the first one to use everything, so you’ll know the history of your home and not have to worry about what might have happened in the years prior to you living there. The biggest downside to buying a previously owned home is all the unknowns that come with it. Even if the previous owners attest that the house has nothing wrong with it, and even if you get a home inspection before moving in, there can still be underlying issues. You may not find these issues until after you’ve been living there for a while. The older a home is, the more opportunity there’s been for something to have gone wrong over the years. Foundations can shift and settle. An uncaught drip in the basement can cause a hidden mold problem. These and other problems can cause thousands of dollars of damage—and create a headache for you while you try and solve them. Customize Now or Renovate Later Another benefit of building your own house is that you can customize it to your exact needs and wants. You don’t have to go searching around town or waiting for a good home to have a for-sale sign stuck in its yard. When you choose to customize, you can build your own home in Washington State from the inside out, selecting the floorplan, color schemes, flooring, accents, and more. Once the house is complete, it’s yours to live in, hassle-free, and everything will be to your tastes. On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person who takes pleasure in fixing up less-than-perfect things, the sort who sees inspiration rather than work in home renovation, then buying an older house might be the better choice for you. You can get a good deal if you’re willing to compromise on some of the things on your wish list, knowing that you can renovate later. But keep in mind that remodeling can be a huge hassle. You won’t be able to use your kitchen for weeks if you’re doing a full remodel. It can also be an expensive venture that can eat up any money you might have saved from buying over building. For example, the average kitchen remodel costs $23,000, and the average bathroom remodel costs $10,000. These figures depend on the size of the spaces and the quality of materials. Energy Efficiency Appliances built today are much more energy efficient than those built even a decade or two ago. Efficiency is important for the environment, but it can also benefit your wallet by keeping your utility bills low. If you’re looking into buying an older home, keep in mind that some or all the appliances may be older and less energy efficient. If you live in that older home long enough, chances are you’ll soon have to spend money repairing or replacing worn-out appliances. With a newly built home, all your appliances will be new and under warranty. New appliances generally will run with no problems, so you’ll be repair-free for a while. And if anything does go wrong, being under warranty means you won’t need to pay for repairs. Having this peace of mind is very appealing to many people. All New Tradition Homes floorplans are ENERGY STAR®–certified, meaning that you’ll be saving money on your utility bill every month with all of your new appliances. We care about making your home as energy efficient as possible and make it a point to integrate the latest technology into every home. Speed of Move-In Building a home from scratch will take time, and with all the work and decisions that need to be made, you may not be able to move into your new home for a while. This can be fun—you’re building your dream home! But it is a lot of up-front decisions that you don’t have to make when buying off the market. One good part about buying a pre-owned home is that you can move in soon after closing on it. Since it doesn’t need to be built and you won’t have to make any decisions about how your house should look and be structured, there is comparatively little to do before you can start moving your furniture in. Even if you’re not planning on fully remodeling any rooms right away, you’ll likely have a few things you want to change. Unless you happen to find the one house whose previous owners had the exact same style tastes as you, you probably won’t agree with all the decorating choices. Prepare to spend a few hundred to a few thousand extra dollars if you want to repaint some rooms or take down that tacky wallpaper in the kitchen. Traditional or Modern Style Like with fashion, home styles have changed over the years. Older homes may have styling and features that aren’t typically included in brand-new homes, which can give them their own charm. Older homes also tend to have larger yards with more mature trees and plants, giving you more shade. Are you a big fan of modern floorplans, styles, and design? It’s nice to have amenities like walk-in closets, larger master bathrooms, and higher ceilings. And open plans are great for entertaining. If you like these things, you’ll naturally find them more easily in newly built homes. It’s a lot harder to find the latest trends when you’re looking at homes on the market that are a few decades old or more. Newly built homes will also include amenities that you might not seek out in a house but that are nice touches, such as more outlets and technology integrated throughout. By creating a list of needs and wants, spending time making a budget, and consulting online resources, such as home listings and home designers whose plans you like, you can start to decide whether buying or building your own home in Washington State is right for you.