Should you buy or build a home – this is a question many home buyers are contemplating. According to Walter Molony of the National Association of Realtors, there is a big price difference between buying an existing home and building a new one.  The main advantage to having a home built is that you can customize it, but financially, buying an existing home is often the better financial choice.  Building a home is also an lengthy process that requires a lot of work on the part of the buyer  What would be the advantages of buying an existing home?

• The home is already there in an established neighborhood so you know what the neighborhood looks like and who lives there.
• If you build, you not only have to take into account the cost of the home but you have to buy the lot to build it on.
• Construction of a new home is not always smooth sailing. Things always come up and more often than not you end up spending more than you originally thought. With an existing home you pay one price and know exactly what you are getting.
• When you buy an existing home there is not much work for the buyer besides securing the financing and the transaction is usually complete within 6-8 weeks.  If you build the process can take 4-6 months or more and you have decisions to make all along the way, meetings with the builder and more.

There is nothing wrong with building your new home but be aware that is it is long process that can be a lot of work and end up costing a lot of money, it is not a decision that should be made lightly.

The trend in the Twin Cities these days seems to be toward smaller lot sizes. In the past it was most common to have 100 ft. wide lots but right now most new developments are looking at 60-65 ft.  Ryland and Pulte homes both say that their new developments are mostly smaller lot sizes.  There are many reasons for the change such as being able to offer a better home at a lower price with the smaller lot, better lots, people downsizing that are not ready for a townhome but don’t want all that yard work and young families that are too busy for yard work.

These days so many families are dual income, so there is not as much time to spend on the yard, many parents prefer a better school district and are willing to settle for a smaller lot in the right district and the kids today have so many scheduled activities that they are not spending much time in the backyard either.  With all these factors, the smaller lot sizes are just working better in most developments.  There are still larger lots to be had but the smaller ones are the current trend.  Now would be townhome buyers are able to buy a single family home for about the same price with the smaller lot sizes and they don’t have all the work of a large lot.