Moving into your very own new home can be a wonderful and even magical process and milestone marking a break with the past and the beginning of something new and promising. While moving into a new home that has already been built or inhabited allows you to vicariously assume the old memories left behind there, building your own home can allow you to bring your very own domestic vision to life, and give you almost full control while doing so at every step of the way. If you happen to have a partner who will move into and live in the home with you, it is a chance to solidify your bond together even further. However, like any other option such as buying a home already built or inhabited, there are advantages and disadvantages to be mindful of during the process. A thorough evaluation of these can help you decide whether or not building your own home is worth it or right for you.

Pro 1. No Market Competition

When looking for homes that are available on the housing market, competition is fierce, as homes are usually available on the market for around only thirty days on average, leaving little time to decide and compare options. When building your own home, this stress is greatly diminished, as you are not limited by what the market has to offer and for how long at any given time.

Pro 2. Personalized Customization

Rather than acquiring a house someone else has already lived in or built themselves, building your own house is inherently a very personal and self-guided process. As a result, the freedom and ability to customize is an additional huge bonus of building your own home. This privilege begins with every stage of the building process, from planning a layout to painting the walls to moving in and organizing furniture all the way to adding finishing touches and undertaking later renovations. Even limited options for customization are a hidden blessing that lower labor costs and allow you to stay more safely within your originally allotted budget.

Pro 3. Better Maintenance

As newly built homes must strictly adhere to modern safety regulations and civil codes, they do tend to better conserve energy and integrate cutting-edge technology of higher quality. This can cut down on costly maintenance fees early on, alongside the limited warranties that are readily available should anything break down or malfunction.

Con 1. Delayed Moving In

As opposed to buying and moving into an already built or inhabited home, building one of your own is a lengthy process of on average seven months. This means that you will not be able to move in immediately until everything is not only constructed completely but up to code and safe to live in. This can result in a large gap between selling your current home and being able to move into the one you are building, meaning you will have to consider where you will stay during that time and how much it will cost to do so.

Con 2. Less Price Leeway

With personally built homes, there is relatively little leeway to haggle prices as one can often do with the resale market. However, having an experienced real estate agent can help. If you search for one in your area; for example, you might search for a Logan Utah Real Estate agent if you are in Utah, you can find someone of your own to negotiate better prices and incentives on your behalf can help you get a better deal.

Con 3. Hidden Expenses

Another downside of building your own home is the bane of unforeseen expenses and upgrades to be paid out of pocket. Most of these are in the proverbial fine print that is not readily visible in the initial price and contract when beginning the process, and they can insidiously sneak up on you down the line once you have already moved and lived in your new home. A possible solution is to budget conservatively and to be sure to ask the builder relevant questions about all potential hidden prices so that you will not likely be so taken by surprise later on.

The process of building the very home you will ultimately move into can be a highly rewarding and personalized one. However, it can come with its fair share of challenges, as the responsibility of building it to specifications that satisfy both your particular personal preferences and the residential regulations of where you are looking to build it rest more heavily upon you. Whether it's worth it is your decision.

Author's Bio: 

Katie earned a BA in English from WWU and loves to write. She also adores hiking in redwood forests and photography. She feels happiest around a campfire surrounded by friends and family.