Buying an established home means you know what you’re getting in a few keys ways.

First, the potential defects of an established home are often visible, or show up in the pre-purchase building inspection to give you a warning ahead or time about the challenges you may face when moving in.

Secondly, buying an established home usually means buying into an established area. If you need to know that public transport, good schools, or essentials like shops are nearby, it can be difficult to find such an area that still has vacant land which can be built on.

Pros: A smaller deposit may be required

You may need a higher deposit to get a Construction Loan to build a home scratch, than you may need to buy an existing home.

Pros: It may be closer to the centre of town

In general, you can’t find vacant land close to the town centre to buy, as all the land is already occupied. So if living close to the town centre is pivotal to you, an established home is more likely to be available as an option.

Being closer to the town centre will also mean that an established home is more likely to provide facilities and infrastructure such as public transport, schools, and job opportunities.

Pros: It’s usually a faster process

It is faster to settle and move into a home than to build a house from scratch. Buying an established home can take as little as 30 days from signing the conditional contract to the date of settlement, which means you could move into your new home just a month after finding it.

Cons: It usually is more costly

Depending on where you live, data from CoreLogic RP Data, Domain Group, and BMT Quantity Surveyors shows that it may be cheaper to build a house from scratch than to buy an existing home:

Sydney: Cheaper to build
Melbourne: Cheaper to build
Brisbane: Cheaper to buy an existing home
Bathurst: Cheaper to build
Perth: Cheaper to buy an existing home
Hobart: Cheaper to buy an existing home

A large number of home owners end up building because they do not find anything currently on the market that suits what they want or need. Even if it looks like it may be cheaper to buy an existing property, potential buyers or builders must consider how much money they would need to spend on renovations to make it “just right” for their home.

Remember to check the asbestos register and be on the lookout for asbestos if you are making any modifications to an existing building.

Buying a home off the plan or otherwise does appeal to first home buyers because the First Home Owners Grant is available if you buy a home that no one has lived in before.

Pros: You only pay stamp duty on the land when you build

When you build a home from scratch, you do not pay stamp duty on the house – only on the land. This is also true if you move into a newly-built home that has never been occupied before.

Pros: Generally energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly

The average Australian home produces tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

New homes are made from brand new materials and come fitted out with new appliances, and so they tend to be more energy-efficient, saving you money and saving the planet in the long run. The cost of electricity bills was the average Australian’s number 1 stress when it comes to the cost of living in 2016.

Building your house right can make it cooler in summer (and warmer in winter) without spending more on your energy bill “passive design” techniques that take advantage of the sun, shade from trees, cooling breezes, insulation, and energy-efficient glazing for example.

Cons: Land costs money

In most towns like Bathurst around Australia, land costs a fine premium. Even if the actual house build is not terribly expensive, you may have to pick your area carefully when choosing a block of land.