Building VS Buying Established

Personally, i know one of the main questions i had when thinking about purchasing my first home was the question of whether to Build a house and land package or to Buy an established home. 

There are many pro's and con's to either sides and both will be appealing in different ways depending on your circumstances and personal opinions. I don't claim to be an expert BY ANY MEANS, but these are my views on the two and how i came about deciding what option we will be going with:

BUILDING A HOME:

PROS: 
• You get to choose the builder
• You get to choose the location
• You get to choose the floorplan
• You get to choose the interior decoration
• You get to choose the landscaping
• Everything is fresh and new
• The initial deposit is sometimes cheaper than established homes
• You often get alot more for your money
• Instant equity when completed

CONS:
• Unseen costs (Decorating, landscaping, driveway, fencing etc... sometimes not included)
• Restricted to your house looking "Just like everyone elses"
• Only modern designs (You can't really get a heratige or victorian looking new home)
• Not as much character as an old home
• Probably wont have a higher increase in value as the years go by compared to established
• Paying for rent while building and paying for the build costs at the same time
• Stress of building
• It's not turn-key (You can't just move in straight away)
• Blocks are often smaller in estates 
• Infrastructure can sometimes take years before it's all built up 

BUYING ESTABLISHED:

PROS:
• It's turnkey!
• The costs are upfront and very transparent
• You can get some really cute older houses with character
• The prospects of being able to renovate it "the way you want" and "when you like"
• Buying established usually has a better resale value
• Larger backyards

CONS:
• Everything comes as is, if you want to change it, you need to put in the hard yards (time and money)
• You usually need about a 20% deposit (on a $400,000 property that's about $80,000!!!) But sometimes they will accept between 5-20%. 
• It's Old. Everything has been used. There's dust, rotting wood, termites, spiders etc...
• You don't get to choose a layout or floorplan and generally the older houses have 1 living space, no walk in robes or ensuites.

SO...

That being said, I think we have decided for our FIRST HOME... drum roll please...
We are going to build a house and land package!

For our own personal reasons, we think that as a first home it might be a better option for us to build. In the next 5 years that we would be living in this house, we will most likely be starting a family and the idea of having to renovate at the same time kind of sounds like a nightmare to me!
I am also very particular about my living environment (i'm a designer) so i think it would be so much fun to be able to design our own home from scratch.

Plus with homes getting so expensive and it being so hard to get into the market, building seems to be the way to go at the moment for first home buyers, especially with the $10k first home owners grant being offered (although not alot in the grand scheme of a loan) and nothing being offered as a grant for established. 

After we have outgrown our first home we will most definitely be looking at buying an established house and having fun renovating it together! But for now, building seems to be the answer for us! 

xK