{"id":22013,"date":"2023-10-31T12:59:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T19:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=22013"},"modified":"2024-08-08T09:04:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T16:04:32","slug":"buyer-is-it-cheaper-to-build-or-buy-a-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-is-it-cheaper-to-build-or-buy-a-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Cheaper to Build or to Buy a House? The Best House for Your Buck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s time to consider packing your belongings and moving into your dream home. But what is your dream home? Is it a remodeled existing house, or something you<a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house\/\"> build from scratch<\/a>? Does a new construction meet your needs or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-cheapest-way-to-build-a-house\/\"> your budget<\/a>? Do you know off the top of your head if it\u2019s cheaper to build or buy a house?<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll want to maximize the features and space you\u2019re going to get for what you\u2019re spending, so that six months from move-in, you are not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nar.realtor\/magazine\/real-estate-news\/sales-marketing\/buyers-remorse-is-rampant-among-pandemic-purchasers\">regretting your decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s break down what you\u2019ll pay with self-built, new, and existing homes, so you can narrow your search enough to have a great real estate agent take you the rest of the way to your dream home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"geo-cta widget-cta widget-cta--content     widget-cta--dark widget-cta--dark-blue-gradient\">\n    <div class=\"widget-element--content\">\n        <div class=\"widget-element--content-header\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"homelight logo\" class=\"widget-element--logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/ccprototypev5\/images\/logo-small-cta.png\" width=\"106\" height=\"25\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        \n                <h3 class=\"cta-headline widget--bold\">Step one: Talk to an expert!<\/h3>\n                        <p>Even if you&#8217;re just day-dreaming at this point, it&#8217;s never too early to ask a local real estate agent for advice on building a house.<\/p>\n        \n                <div class=\"widget-element--buttons\">\n            <a data-type=\"In Content CTA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/find-agent\/quiz\/buyer?#\/qaas=0\/\" class=\"cta-click-track widget-element--button\">Get Started<\/a>\n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"section--1\" data-toc-header=\"Self-built homes\" data-toc-type=\"head\"><\/div>\n<h2>Self-built homes<\/h2>\n<p>There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-how-to-build-a-house-yourself\/\">build-your-own-house programs<\/a> that can make this cheaper, or you can use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-shipping-container-home-design\/\">shipping containers <\/a>or tiny homes, so you have a lot more flexibility with price \u2014 to a point.<\/p>\n<p>HomeLight\u2019s own experts have determined you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-cheapest-way-to-build-a-house\/\">build your own home<\/a> for anywhere between $8,500 and $360,000, depending on various factors, including square footage, energy efficiency, and the level of DIY.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking of building your own home,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ben-marciano-463696146\/\"> Ben Marciano<\/a>, seasoned contractor and owner of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a-listbuilders.com\/\"> A-List Builders<\/a>, has some sound advice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn general, it is totally possible to build your dream home, but it\u2019s critical to work within your budget, and be realistic about it, to make it happen. Understanding how to measure for materials is key, in addition to understanding the skeleton of your home for remodels that aren\u2019t just skin-deep.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is it cheaper to build or to buy a house? The pros and cons of self-built, new construction, and existing homes, broken down for budget-conscious buyers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":38935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192,638,645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-buyers","category-house-hunting","category-new-homes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is it Cheaper to Build or to Buy a House? Pros, Cons, and Prices<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it cheaper to build or to buy a house? The pros and cons of self-built, new construction, and existing homes, broken down for budget-conscious buyers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-is-it-cheaper-to-build-or-buy-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it Cheaper to Build or to Buy a House? The Best House for Your Buck\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it cheaper to build or to buy a house? The pros and cons of self-built, new construction, and existing homes, broken down for budget-conscious buyers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/buyer-is-it-cheaper-to-build-or-buy-a-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HomeLight Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gohomelight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-31T19:59:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-08T16:04:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hl-blog.homelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Untitled-design-17.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amna Shamim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gohomelight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amna Shamim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is it Cheaper to Build or to Buy a House? 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