Build or Buy? Go Big or Go (Town)home? — All The Details on Why We Decided To Build Our “Starter Home”
Ira and I spent a little over a year looking at houses before we made the decision to start building. Although we’ve been living together in an apartment for a few years, this will be both of our first house AND our first house together so we really wanted to be sure we were making the best decision for us and our future. We spent a lot of time going back and forth on whether we should buy an existing home or build a semi-custom home. We weighed the pros and cons of each option and asked around for opinions from our friends and family and I’ve got to say…it was a very mixed bag. Both of us grew up in previously-loved homes that were 10+ years old when our parents bought them, so our parents knew first hand the pros (and cons) of buying something on the market. We have a few friends that are currently remodeling and renovating their own older homes—and then of course there are all of the home bloggers I follow on Instagram—so we’ve gotten to follow along and watch the work and stress that goes into that. Then on the flip side, six of our friends have built within the past 2 years and are super happy with their decision to start fresh. We listened to our fair share of “wHy WoUlD yOu BuIlD yOuR fIrSt HoUsE? You have no idea what you want!” and heard everything from “Now is the time to buy!” to “Build! You won’t regret it.” We took everything we heard with a grain of salt, decided what was important to US, and here’s how we made the choice to build!
Buying vs building
Pros of buying
Immediate availability. One of the major pros of buying a house that is already built is that you can usually move in immediately after closing. Time isn’t really an issue for us so we don’t mind waiting, but if you have a tight deadline, buying is probably the way to go.
Less stress. While buying a home can be a stressful process in general, you’ll have way fewer decisions to make when buying than you do with building. All of the design work is already done, so once you settle on a home, all you have to do is sign.
Price negotiation. This one wasn’t really something we thought too much about, but it is worth mentioning. When buying an existing home, you do have a little wiggle room when it comes to price (depending on the seller and the market, of course). When building a house, the price is the price and that’s that.
Pros of Building
Complete(ish) design control. Those that know me well know that I’m somewhat of a control freak. Okay, not somewhat…I am a control freak. Couple that with my love for design and building was a total no-brainer for me. You mean to tell me I get to pick out every single thing (within reason) that I want in my house? From location to floor plan to finishes? Sign me up, immediately.
No big repairs. Everything is brand spanking new. the home has never been lived in, renovated, DIYed, half-assed, nothing. There’s no guarantee that a new house will be completely problem-free, but I like knowing that I won’t have to replace the roof or have an old pipe randomly burst anytime soon.
Energy-efficiency. I love that newer homes are much more energy-efficient and generally use products that are better for the environment. Knowing that my home would be made of quality materials was important to us, so we didn’t mind spending a little more now in order to save for years to come.
Cons of buying
Settling. This one was huge factor that dissuaded me from wanting to buy. Ira and I both have a very modern design taste and the homes on the market in our price range just weren’t cutting it for us. Had we gone with an older home, we probably could’ve gotten features like a larger lot, mature landscaping, or more square footage but we would’ve had to sacrifice features that were more important to us, like the floor plan and design elements.
Possible maintenance issues. Ugh, need I say more? We had no interest in buying a house that had limited warranty left and would soon need major repairs or upgrades.
Renovations. This one isn’t a complete con for me personally. I love DIYing and having a project to keep me busy, so I wouldn’t have minded having a few things that needed updating. However, I didn’t want a house that needed something done to every single room. I get pretty impatient so I’d want to get everything done immediately, which isn’t realistic or budget-friendly. I also knew I didn’t want to be renovating our house for longer than I felt like we’d be able to fully enjoy it. We (obviously) don’t plan on moving anytime soon, but I didn’t want to invest in something that would take me 5 years to get it looking how I wanted if I couldn’t be sure we’d be living there for at least 10, make sense?
Cons of Building
Waiting to move-in. This can be a bit of a bummer if you really need to move immediately. Our current lease is up in July, so we’ll have to pay month-to-month in order to keep living here until our house is done in September (read: much more expensive). On the bright side, we won’t have to find a temporary place to live in the meantime which is nice and helps us save money
Everything is an upgrade. Everything. Every. Thing. We knew this going in, we heard it from friends, we read it on the blogs…but shit. You want levers instead of door knobs? Upgrade. Matte black finishes? Upgrade. Faux wood flooring? Upgrade, baybeeee. After we finish all of our design selections, I’ll have a bunch of posts for y’all on what we upgraded, what we didn’t, and why, but just know, you will have to pay for upgrades if you want your house to look anything like the model.
Living near construction. We’ll be one of the first families to move into our neighborhood, so we can expect to see lots of construction work and traffic for the next few (or more) years. Not a huge deal to me, but a dealbreaker for some.
No room for price-negotiations. What the builder says goes. Builders don’t typically drop the price of their homes and don’t negotiate, so expect to pay whatever the listing price is.
After making our list of pros and cons, Ira and I focused on the ones that really mattered to us to help up make our decision. In the end, we decided we cared most about not having to settle/compromise on location, floorplan, or the overall look of the house; being able to focus on smaller, more fun projects rather than major renovations; having control over major design options; getting the most for our money; and choosing someplace we could envision ourselves living longterm. We didn’t really care about being able to move in immediately, construction going on around us, or negotiating on price (as long as we stayed within budget). So, to us, the choice was clear. It made more sense to build so that we could be sure we were getting exactly what we wanted. We won’t be getting everything done through the builder (did I mention we have a budget?) and decided to only upgrade the things that make the most sense to do upfront or that would be super expensive/tricky to do later. So we’ll still have plenty to do once we move in on top of furnishing the place, so for us, that’s the best of both worlds. Our house is perfect for us and that was the most important factor of all.
Single-Family vs. Townhome
After we decided that a brand new house would fit our needs better than buying an existing home, we had to determine which type of home we wanted. Funny story, we didn’t even plan on buying a house this year at all. That story goes a little like this…
Our current apartment is a 2 bed/2 bath on the second floor. The second bedroom is Ira’s office/guest room/media room…I swear it’s more functional than that description makes it seem. It really does work out well. What doesn’t work out well is my office being in the main area of our apartment. It’s really hard for me to focus on getting work done when I’m staring at laundry that needs to be swapped out or a sink full of dishes. So, since our lease was coming up for renewal soon, I started looking into the 3-bedroom options at our complex. Let’s just say I was less than thrilled by the price. We could be in a house for that much. A house with a backyard for Ginger! So I went down a Zillow rabbit hole checking out houses for rent in our area, still not even thinking about buying. During my search, I found THE cutest, brand new townhouse for lease that was scheduled to be completed right when our lease was ending. It was perfect! It was fate! It was impossible for us to afford because Ira and I aren’t married and would’ve been required to make 3x the monthly rental amount each in order to qualify. I almost choked on my Truly when the listing agent told me that part, but I decided to go check out the model home anyway. Why? Honestly, the only reason I went was because I never turn down the opportunity to walk through a model home…and 8 days later we were under contract on a different house!
What?! But you weren’t even in the market to buy a house! I know that’s what you’re thinking. And you’re right. It was a crazy whirlwind of a week and it went a little something like this…
I toured the townhouse model and loved it just as much (maybe even more) than I expected to. While in the model, I talked to the sales agent about the community, the builder, the finishes, and the possibility of buying. She broke down the price for me and showed me that we could actually afford to buy a unit on our own and pay less monthly than if we were to rent one. So on top of all the other benefits that come with owning your own home, we’d actually be saving money! I was sold! Poor Ira had to listen to me go on and on for the rest of the day about this townhouse that I hadn’t even planned on going to see and how what we really needed to do was buy! Buy, buy, buy!! Well, something in my excited ramblings must have made sense because he agreed to go look at the units with me the very next day. The WHOLE TIME we walked through the model he played it super cool and suave. He kept his questions to a minimum and honestly seemed generally uninterested in the whole thing. I thought for sure he was going to say he wasn’t feeling it and that we should just stay in our current apartment. We listened to the sales agent go over the pros of living there over an apartment, thanked her for her time, and went on our way. Then we get in the car, he looked at me and goes “Just kiiiiiiidding, I loved it. Let’s do it.”
So me—the control-freak, spreadsheet-loving, planner—I set out to find similar homes to compare to the townhome…and I didn’t find a single one. There are no other townhome communities in our area with units for sale. I felt like this could mean 1 of 2 things: Either, 1) Townhomes aren’t popular in our area. People that move out to the suburbs want land and space and square footage and don’t want to pay for shared walls or small backyards. My thinking here is that families would opt to buy or build a single-family due to the prices being so comparable and we would have a tough time finding the right buyer (or renter) in the future. Or, 2) Maybe townhomes in our area just sold like hotcakes and that’s why there were no communities under construction to compare ours with. I felt a little less sure that the latter was the case and started looking at new -construction single-family homes in our price range as a means of comparison. And that’s when I found our home. Well technically, I didn’t find it. It was sent to me. From the heavens. Via text message. (God works in mysterious ways. Who am I to question it?)
Two days after touring the townhome I decided to go check out some model homes at a nearby community. There were about 8 builders in that community and all of them advertised homes starting in our price range which was exactly what I needed for my comparison. I pulled up at the entrance of the neighborhood, where the model homes were lined up one after the next, and it was a complete ghost town. Almost every single model had a sign on the door stating that they had sold all of their lots in that community and only had a few inventory homes left. I walked a few of the models anyway (you know me) marveling at their beauty and considering just for a second just how nice it would be to have a little more space than the townhouse had to offer and left—defeated and in a rush to get to cheer practice. I was on my way out of one of the models when I stopped to chat with a broker that was showing the home to another couple. He gave me his number and told me to check out a new community Ashton Woods was opening in just a few day’s time and I went on my way.
A few days went by and I all but had my heart set on moving into the townhome. I knew I really did like the townhome and with nothing else to compare it to, I felt like it was our best (and only) option. The townhomes were selling quickly though and they only had one available for a summer move-in with the design finishes we wanted. I tried my damndest to convince Ira we should make a move on it that weekend, but he wanted to take things a little slower. It had been less than a week since we started looking and he wasn’t entirely convinced yet. Well, like I said, God works in mysterious ways, but He is never wrong. That same weekend I got a text from the sales agent at the new Ashton Woods community. They had just opened up pre-sales that day and he wanted to make sure I had a chance to take a tour if I was still interested. We happened to be out of town, but Ashton Woods has virtual walkthroughs for each of their floor plans so I clicked through their website a bit and that’s when I found it. Our dream home. I was IN LOVE and I swear that is not one bit of an exaggeration. I just knew from that virtual tour that this was the house for us.
So I pulled my spreadsheets back out and started comparing. Both options were brand new, the same price (if you don’t include the design upgrades on the single family), had similar square footage, had 3+ bedrooms, 2 car garages, and were in great locations. With that in mind, we looked at their differences:
Townhome Pros
Less upfront cost. The sticker price on the townhome would be the price we would end up paying. There would be no design studio upgrades and they were offering a few incentives like free appliances and money towards closing.
Yard and exterior maintenance included. We were only responsible for anything “studs in”. This meant our HOA dues would cover lawn services and any exterior maintenance and repairs down the line.
2-stories. Having grown up in multi-story homes all my life, single-family homes have just always felt a bit weird to me. I like being able to go to a completely different level to escape any annoyances or responsibilities :)
2.5 bathrooms I’ve always felt that you should have at least as many bathrooms as you do bedrooms, so I really liked that the townhome had a powder room downstairs. I couldn’t imagine a 4 bedroom house with only 2 bathrooms.
Townhome Cons
Shared walls. While the townhouse IS a house, the shared wall situation kinda made me feel like it was just a glorified apartment. There wasn’t much insulation or soundproofing in the shared walls which I felt could lead to noise issues depending on our neighbors.
Tiny backyard. We don’t need a huge backyard, but I did want enough space for Ginger to be able to run zoomies without feeling like a hamster on a wheel.
Strict HOA. The HOA rules prevented us from making any changes to the exterior of the house including changing the front door which was very high on my priority list for things I wanted in a house. There were also a few other rules, like having to get permission from the HOA before listing out the house for rent, that just didn’t sit right with me.
No design freedom. Not all townhomes are this way, but the particular community and builder we’d be working with pre-selected all of the design finishes and put them into design packages. This wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, but they also decided which unit would have which design package. So not only did you not get to mix and match things like cabinet colors and flooring to your liking, but you were also limited to the design package specified for the unit you were interested in.
No dedicated office(s). Although this floor plan was a 4 bed, 2 bath, there were no dedicated offices, meaning 2 of those bedrooms would need to be offices, leaving us with only 1 extra room.
Single-Family Pros
More space. Technically the square footage of this house was actually less than the townhouse, but with more rooms and taller ceilings it felt much bigger.
2 dedicated office spaces. Although the floor plan we chose is only a 3 bedroom, it has 2 dedicated office spaces so we’ll still have a guest room and flex space.
Better for the long-term. When it came down to it, I couldn’t see us living in the townhouse for more than a few years before we wanted/needed more space. With the single-family home, I could envision us starting a family there and living there for years and years to come.
Customizable. Remember when I said that getting to make the design decisions was important to me? Well, I meant it. Ashton Woods is a semi-custom builder meaning you choose your floor plan, lot, and almost all of the design finishes for your home.
Better resale value and opportunity. This one I can’t be 100% sure of, but based on Austin’s housing market, I felt a lot better investing in a single-family home than a townhome.
single-family cons
More expensive upfront. What can I say? Ya girl has good taste. And along with that good taste comes a pretty expensive price sheet. Because of this, the design upgrades on our house will ultimately make it more expensive than the townhome, but it’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.
Yard and exterior maintenance. We’ll have to do all of our own yard work and exterior maintenance but luckily 1) Ira loves mowing the lawn. That is not sarcasm, it’s real life. He seriously really enjoys it which is great, cause you see, the way my allergies are set up… And 2) The exterior maintenance should be minimal since the house is brand new.
Single story. Like I mentioned before, single-story homes are not really my jam but I don’t hate them. With the right floor plan, they can actually be really nice! I always envisioned my house having a two-story living room with a catwalk that looked down to the first level, but we didn’t really need two stories and there’s always the next house ;)
The winner was clear. We both felt like the single-family home fit our needs and wants almost perfectly, so we made an appointment to go see the model in person the following week. We absolutely LOVED how it looked, felt, and lucky for us there was ONE LOT LEFT. That’s right. The neighborhood that had just begun pre-sales on Saturday was almost completely sold out of their first set of lots by the time we toured on Tuesday. That same day we filled out an application and put down our earnest money to buy the last inventory home they had available, which just so happened to be the floor plan we wanted, in the elevation we wanted, AND on a great lot! To add even more drama to this fun-filled story, we were actually racing against time to secure our offer on the house as there was another couple that had tried to sign for it over the weekend but didn’t get approved for the loan amount they needed. Come to find out, they added a co-borrower to their loan, got approved, and actually tried to sign for the house just one hour after we sent in our deposit. WHEW. Talk about a close call. The following day when we went back to sign our contract, we were super surprised and thrilled the find out that the price of the house actually dropped overnight because the cost of stone decreased. I’m telling y’all, my God is SO good.
And there you have it. Our decision to build our very first home in a very long, nutshell of a story. Hopefully, our account of why we decided to build instead of buying and why we choose a single-family home over a townhouse can be at least a little helpful to you in your own home buying journey! I can’t wait to share all the fun design stuff with y’all—coming up first, our exterior!
