Buying a house vs Building it in Nigeria

Posted by James on Tuesday February 3, 2015 at 14:18:1:

In Nigeria, before any one can decide on whether to buy an existing or better still an already built house, there are certain considerations that need to be made. These consideration all boil down to your financial strength, your desires and needs.

Building Your Own House
One of the most important factor that determines the purchasing or building of a house is how much it will take to build or buy one. This involves doing a research on which of the options will be more cost effective. This may require talking to an expert or a local builder to ascertain the costs for both options and the processes involved. At the end of the day you will have to compare the costs and determine which one of the options best suit your budget.

In some cases, building a house may cost more than buying one of the same shape and size and this is because you've been able to cut out other costs such as agency costs, purchase raw materials yourself and so on.
However, at times, building a house may cost more than buying one because of the numerous details involved such as the cost of land and materials for the building itself. In a situation where you already own a land, building your house may get to cost less than buying one.

With building your own house, you have the opportunity of customizing it to your taste. You have more control over the design and style to your specification. You also have control over what kind of building materials will be used, unlike an already exiting property where all you do is inspect to see if its at least close to what you desire. You are at liberty to see to it that latest standard and features are implemented.

Buying an Already Existing House
When it come to buying a house, one thing is for sure - everything in it will be slightly depreciated, except in cases where it was a newly built house. If they have been around for a long time, it means that some renovations and maintenance will be required. With an already existed (a house that has been existing for years) you are at a risk of the collapsing, especially when the materials used in constructing the house were sub standard.

Finding one that has all the designs and style that you desire is going to be difficult if not impossible - this is actually the most common drawback when it comes to buying. They may not have the modern wiring specifications and other essential amenities. Also, you might not be able to tell what kind of materials were used for its construction - whether substandard or not. To do that or find something will probably take a whole lot of time if not forever.

Most of the times, buying a house is less expensive compared to building one. Buying a house might be the most preferred option in a situation where you really need to move in quickly. Again, most of the times, building your house might require you to go towards the outskirts of the city as these are where most of the vacant lands for sale are found.