Buy a house or build your own?

[CarribRN]

Which is cheaper to buy a built house or to build your own? or to buy a condo?

Can somebody discuss the cost of obtaining a house in Greater Toronto Area.

Thanks.

 

[Leon]

If you are actually able to build a house by yourself, that would be cheaper because you are putting in a lot of the work yourself instead of hiring people to do it. You will also know that your house is built properly instead of buying a house that might not have been well built.

Some people like condo's but you have thin walls. If you don't mind hearing the neighbours and they don't mind hearing you, then it's ok. I have had neighbours who were playing loud music all the time, people who argued all the time. My friend had some neighbour that stomped around above them wearing shoes on a wooden floor. Sounded something like a heard of elephants. Also their child was taking music lessons and playing the clarinet (badly) all day. That would be the main reason to get a house.

Another thing with condo's are condo fees. With a house, you set aside money for maintenance or borrow money when you need to and it is up to you what you do when. With a condo, you will always have these condo fees and if the house management decides that major repairs are necessary and they do not have enough in funds, the costs will fall on each condo as well and it may not be at a time it is convenient for you.

 

[Coffee]

If you are actually able to build a house by yourself, that would be cheaper because you are putting in a lot of the work yourself instead of hiring people to do it. You will also know that your house is built properly instead of buying a house that might not have been well built.

Some people like condo's but you have thin walls. If you don't mind hearing the neighbours and they don't mind hearing you, then it's ok. I have had neighbours who were playing loud music all the time, people who argued all the time. My friend had some neighbour that stomped around above them wearing shoes on a wooden floor. Sounded something like a heard of elephants. Also their child was taking music lessons and playing the clarinet (badly) all day. That would be the main reason to get a house.

Another thing with condo's are condo fees. With a house, you set aside money for maintenance or borrow money when you need to and it is up to you what you do when. With a condo, you will always have these condo fees and if the house management decides that major repairs are necessary and they do not have enough in funds, the costs will fall on each condo as well and it may not be at a time it is convenient for you.

support you Leon. All you need is to buy a plot of land and download a number of instructions on how to build a house (these are in abundance these days, including on youtube). Normally things done for self differ from those things done for sale. It takes much time to read construction forums, understand principles and money (your family needs to live somewhere, i.e. temp lease cost), plus money to survive till construction finishes. BUT once done, it pays off greatly!

 

[Prodigy4299]

OK, so the specific question you ask is, "Which is cheaper?"

In that case, a condo would be, for sure. Leon definitely brings up some valid points, but of course not all condos are the same...

As for building a house yourself, I advise you think about it in the long term. Is this the house you'd like to live in for the rest of your life? Probably not. In that case, the future buyers' tastes should be just as important to you as your own. I have found Canadians to be relatively boring in their tastes, preferring the path well travelled. Hence, any 'cool' or 'personalized' touches on your house may lower the value in the long run.

For that reason, people who are thinking of switching homes in the next 5-10 years just buy cookie-cutter homes that they know will sell.

I am definitely not trying to dissuade you from building your own house, I just wanted to bring up another point to consider.

 

[anushauc]

Nice discussion here !

We dont have any plans right now but would probably need to as we settle down in the longer run

What about Town Houses ? Street Houses ? Apartments ? Any suggestions !

Also anything to do with mortgages and loans related to buying and required down payments !
Trying to understand the pros and cons on these..

Cheers

 

[slavasz]

In short, if you can - build it, otherwise buy or rent.

This might be useful too:
http://house.creatica.org/index.html - he is all you need to build a house.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca01821.html
http://www.buildyourownhouse.ca/Photo%20Gallery.htm

 

[CarribRN]

Guys, thanks for the reply. Lemme just clear what I meant when I said "build your own". I was not really referring to myself building the house on my own, but more like to purchase a land, hire an architect and have the house built by a contractor. Is this cheaper as opposed to buying an already built house?

Can you apply for a housing/ bank loan as well even if you are not able to establish a line of credit yet?

 

[Leon]

Hiring some people to build you a house might well end up more expensive than buying one that is already there. It depends on how many special wishes you have. Cheaper than having a house built for you might be if you buy a new house in a new neighbourhood where a construction company is building a lot of houses at the same time. Another option would be to buy the lot, pour a foundation and get a manufactured house to put on it. They are not bad houses and they are made under controlled circumstances in a factory. Nobody in a hurry because it's freezing outside etc. You basically have to look into your options and compare.

When you first arrive in Canada and do not have any credit, it could be hard to get a mortgage. You can discuss that with your bank or a mortgage broker.