Build vs Buy a House: Which Is Better for Your Budget and Lifestyle?

Show Notes:

Choosing the right land is just as important as choosing the right house design, and in this episode we break down how to evaluate a building site before you fall in love with the view or the school district. We explain how two “similar” lots can have totally different realities once you factor in buried utilities, old foundations, wetlands, soil problems, steep slopes, floodplains, zoning setbacks, and the true cost of bringing in water, sewer, and power. You’ll learn why Landmark insists on checking that a house actually fits the lot and matches its conditions, how low‑priced land can hide expensive construction challenges, how special foundations, geotechnical reports, and flood‑elevation requirements affect design and budget, and how proper site planning also ties into disaster resistance (hurricanes, earthquakes, high winds, snow loads). Throughout, we will show you how Landmark helps owner‑builders go from “we own this land” to “we understand exactly how to use it,” acting as the engine that connects site conditions, permits, structure, and custom design into a buildable, budget‑aware plan. Of course, if you need help evaluating your land, we can assist with your site plan review to ensure your design fits the property.

Transcript:

Steve Tuma: Now, our partnership with customers — it goes deep. We work a lot together, talk to a lot of them every single day. We get to know each other like family and work together. So there’s no sense in, you know, quote, “blowing smoke” to get a sale.

Interviewer: Hello everybody, and welcome to Episode 79 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show.

With me, as usual, is the President and Founder of Landmark Home and Land Company, a company which has been helping people build their new homes where they want, exactly as they want, nationwide and around the globe since 1993 — Mr. Steve Tuma.

Steve, what’s going on, my friend?

Steve Tuma: Just another day helping people build houses. It’s actually really the design process and helping them get everything set up to build, which is where we really help our customers. They don’t always realize that up front, but that’s really where it comes into play — the support of building a house.

Interviewer: I know you work hard, but I can’t imagine having a better job than yours if it’s what you’re into — and you seem to be into building houses a lot.

Steve Tuma: Well, it’s kind of amazing. We get a lot of thank‑you notes or people leaving positive reviews for us and different things. But once, I got a construction‑paper — you know when you were little kids, the teacher would give you construction paper and you’d cut out a little bear or a car or something and make your own little piece of art?

This lady’s children put it together and said, “Thank you for helping my mom build us a house.”

Interviewer: That’s great.

Steve Tuma: And I was like, “Wow.” I still have it. To see the impact of a new home that a family designed, understood, knows why they’re doing it — working the budgets, the trials and tribulations of just getting the project going — to see the end result and how they look back and how it’s affected a family is incredible.

And then not just the first house. Some families go through — we have one brother and a cousin, I think we’re in 19 houses with them. I have other people that become investors and put rental units up. It’s amazing to see what happens.

Interviewer: That’s got to be a lot of fun.

You know, for this edition of the podcast, I wanted to dive into another one of our comparison topics and give you a chance to explain the pros and cons of different types of homebuilding and different types of houses in general.

So if you’re good to go, let’s get into that.

Steve Tuma: Yeah, yeah. This is going to be an interesting one. Let’s talk about it. Let’s see where it goes.

Interviewer: Yeah. Let’s talk about the differences between building your own house and buying a structure already built. You run into this a lot: “I could buy a new house or an old house, or I could build one.”

Give us the background and pros and cons on both of those options.

Steve Tuma: Well, it’s pretty interesting because what I’ve found is, some people just buy existing and some people just want to build new. So there might be a variety of pros and cons, but what I’ve found is: generally, people that want to build, want to build.

The idea of buying a home — the theory is that you can just move into it. But generally, an existing home needs some type of work, whatever type of work it is, or you’re taking a home that’s there — you can’t adjust it or make it to exactly what it is. So the chances of you finding the exact home that’s absolutely perfect for you is probably pretty limited.

And you also don’t know the condition of it, as well as how it’s been maintained. If it’s an older home, it might need some help — but chances are, mechanicals, insulation, windows, or other things just aren’t as efficient as a new home, which is going to have the better details for it.

So I would say a lot of people go through and build because they know what they want. Sometimes it’s a life’s personal challenge — they’ve been wanting to do it since they were a kid. Other times it’s a financial decision, because the affordability of homes — it’s a big thing in the news now; things are expensive.

So if someone can do some of the work themselves, coordinate it, they can save a lot of money, get some equity in the house. And if they’re financing, what people don’t realize is the savings of $100,000 or $200,000 or $300,000 on a house, compared to adding to your mortgage — what that compounds out to.

I don’t have the exact calculation, but if you save $100,000 on your mortgage — if it’s $100,000 less by building your home than buying an existing — over the course of a mortgage that might save you a quarter of a million dollars.

So it’s not just the “get the house you want” — that it’s energy efficient. It’s also a financial move.

And there’s also the flip side: sometimes people build a bigger, nicer home with the same money than if they went through buying existing.

But that’s the key as to why people build — they know what they want, and they want to do it. And a lot of times people say, “Hey, when I build it, I know how it’s getting built. I know that it’s being built right. There aren’t shortcuts. I can check it myself. I can make sure it’s specified right.”

So I would say a lot of it — some people just lean one way or the other. But the people that want to build — it’s in them. It’s been something they’ve been thinking about. There’s a personal pride. They enjoy it.

And a lot of it — it gets people into homes that otherwise they wouldn’t be able to financially afford. We have some people that save the money — they sell a house, it’s retirement funds, it’s rich uncles, it’s loans. Other people say, “Hey, I’ve got enough to get it dried in. I’ll do that this year. Next year I’ll do the inside.”

And some people might say, “Oh, that’s a lot of work.” It’s like, “Yeah — for two years, to not have a mortgage, that’s pretty cool.”

So there’s a lot of motivations as to why people build a home. Some of it, like I say, is the quality. Some of it is they get the house they want. And a lot of it is the financial position they’re in — that they’re able to put it together.

I’ve only had two people say, “Hey, if it goes over a million or two, I don’t worry about it.” Most people, whether it’s a $200,000 home, $500,000, $700,000, $1.5 million, $3 million, whatever it is — they’re watching their money.

So the guy building a $2 million home is watching the money just as much as a person with a $200,000 home.

And that’s what we’re able to do — give them a set and guaranteed cost for our portion of the project, so that they have better control and understanding of the project that goes into it.

Also, if someone’s buying a home, you don’t know what you’re getting. A lot of people say, “Oh, I’ll buy and renovate.” And yeah, that’s great — you do...