Buy New or buy Established?

14 Oct 2016| Posted by: Geoff Baldwin

Buy new or buy established is the question.

With the First Home Owner Grant only applying to new properties the temptation can be to head in that direction however the pain can sometimes outweigh the gain says RE/MAX WA MD, Geoff Baldwin.

Yes, there is the $10,000 grant for first home buyers who buy land and build but it pays to do the sums over the whole package and take into consideration the time it will take from start to finish.

Typically it will take six to eight months depending on weather and other influences, from the time of buying the block through to handover of the keys and during this time there are costs to consider:

• Rent will continue to be paid while the house is being built
• Loan payments will need to be paid on the land and then more as the graduated payments become due on the build.
• There are always extra costs in addition to make the house a home once the builder is finished.

Right now the market for established homes is full of opportunity and many properties can be purchased for much less than it would cost to build them at today's costs.

Many established properties include a host of bonus extras that have already been added by previous owners such as air conditioning, pools, landscaping, etc.

There is no doubt that building new will be the choice of many however this decision should not be made based on perceived cost savings alone without considering the bigger picture.