Build or Buy Existing Home?

[Lew P]

I wonder what the adantages are of building vs buying a existing house? Is the cost the same?

Mahalo
Lew

[Lee G]

Lew,
With the price of new homes in Puna starting at $300,000 it is now cheaper to build your own house. This way you get what you want but the downside is do you have a year to wait while the home is being built?
Lee

[jdirgo]

Lee is absolutely right. There is a premium on existing homes right now, so if you're willing to deal with the hassles of building (and they are CONSIDERABLE), it is less expensive to build your own home. But it does take a year, there's contractors and sub-contractors to deal with and a lot of headaches. Just read pslamont's long thread about building to get a good idea of what it takes.

John Dirgo, RA, ABR, e-PRO
RE/MAX Properties
808-987-9243 cell

[mella l]

Lew you might consider staying at a VRBO rental to get a feeling of an area while you look around at what is available for sale. It will help you decide these questions for yourself, or come up with more questions!! Good luck and have fun with it that's what retirement is about right?

You might go to Borders in the King Kuhio shopping center, and get The Ready Map of East Hawaii and do some scouting around at the properties available.

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa...sland#2980

http://www.hawaiiinformation.com/REsearch/

Just some ideas but perhaps you've already gone thru these motions!

mella l

[JerryCarr]

I agree with Buzz, especially in view of the fact that the rapid escalation of prices on existing homes seems to have stopped and perhaps even reversed. Homes in my area of HPP are staying on the market longer and, those which are selling are often at reduced prices. This could be very local. In any case, if you custom build, you will get EXACTLY what you want (as long as you can afford it.) It seems that building package homes, however, would in most cases be less expensive than custom due to design costs and the economies of scale involved in packages. Any other thoughts on the real estate market out there??

[jdirgo]

There is a little market correction happening now and the premium on existing homes is less than it used to be. The big trade-off is "is it better to get exactly what you want" versus "it takes a year to build". You do pay for the convenience of being able to move it right away but you pay less than it used to be.

John Dirgo, RA, ABR, e-PRO
RE/MAX Properties
808-987-9243 cell

[olin137]

What about some type of "intermediate" strategy; i.e., a combination of using contractors and doing as much as possible yourself? In our case, one of us participated in building a house some years ago (mainly as laborer, not honcho), and we have relatives who have built there own homes and have offered to come over for at least weeks at a time to help. Assuming that we do extensive homework/planning, and can go with a 12-18 month timeline for the construction, would this sound feasible to "get the house you really want"? Thanks for any advice.

Olin

[Rose C]

We just received a quote from a packaged home builder in North Carolina. The site is in North Hilo. The sq ft price for a 1550 sq ft is about $210/sq ft, not including driveway, power to site, water hookup, septic, permits. About 2/3 of the cost are for design and materials and 1/3 for local labor. Although it's a nice design that takes advantage of the view, the cost seems a bit excessive to me. Any comments? We don't want to buy an existing house since we already have the land.

Rose C

[John S Rabi]

I was just smiling at one of the previous posts, a "typical 3BD/2BA package home for around $120K" might work at some parts of the country but not in Hawaii. Builders are bidding from $130/sq.ft. in Puna.

John S. Rabi
ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,R
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
808.327.3185

[John S Rabi]

Sorry Buzz, I didn't mean to be a smarty. I just got a bid last week, it was @ $148,000 for a 1BD/1BA 700 sq.ft. turn-key vacation home and included the $22,000 package price from HPM. I think you can get a better deal on an existing but new home right now than having one built. The market is slowing down and those who built these new homes that are on the market are lowering prices. The builders are still busy because of contracts signed a year ago, but I think building cost will come down too once they will have nothing else to build. Of course the ones who made huge money the past few years will have the luxury to wait out the adjustment period but there will be new builders who will need the work.

John S. Rabi
ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,R
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
808.327.3185