Home buying has been a topic on my mind for quite some time now. As Ben and I grow into our careers and start establishing roots, we often talk about buying property.
Then the question comes into play as, where do we buy a home? We are very fortunate to actually have our choice in countries when it comes to buying. Because he is a British citizen we could easily (I use the term easily very loosely here) buy property in England. On the flip side, we could buy in Toronto which is where we live currently. Wherever we buy, we have the hope of using the property as rental or vacation property should we decide to move to another
Canada and England both share in the desire to help first time home buyers get into the market by offering a 5% deposit down. This would be a bit help for us when it comes time to purchasing a home no matter what country we decide to settle in. The one thing we need to consider however is that we are earning Canadian dollars so in order to buy a home in the UK, new or old, we would have to save that much more because of the much higher exchange rate.
In with the new
Apart from deciding where it is we want to buy property, we also need to consider whether it is more beneficial to buy a new build or a fixer-upper. According to figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC), the number of new homes registered last year was the highest number since 2007. I was surprised to learn that the UK has a goal of building 200,000 new homes every year. Last year they fell short however only building 156,140. Still, to me that’s a fairly big amount of new homes in a country that seems to have no more room to build!
Buying a new build means that we could move into something that needs very little work. If we purchased a new build early enough we could even be apart of the building process by choosing fixtures, fittings and finishes. That in my mind is a big advantage. The problem with new builds is that you are often having to set up camp outside of major cities (there are only so many areas available for new builds in Toronto and London). New building techniques generally means lower energy costs as well.
Out with the old?
There’s something to be said about renovating an old house and making it yours. I can only imagine how it would feel to know you built that kitchen, or re-tiled your bathroom. Plus, buying old and renovating means you are likely increasing the property value right away.
That said, we would have to be willing to actually put the work into this property. Maintaining a full-time job and then coming home to work on renovation projects at night and on the weekends just sounds exhausting. Woodworm, damp, rewiring, plumbing and external guttering and drainage are common problems we could likely face by purchasing an older property. However, purchasing old means we are more likely to find something in the city or at least very close to it.
In Toronto, older homes generally mean more space, I can only assume this is similar in the UK. A new bathroom and kitchen could raise the value of an older home substantially and we could easily include more modern features like bi-fold doors.
No matter where we decide to buy a home or what it is that we decide to buy it’ll be ours and that’s what matters. In Toronto, it’s likely we will be purchasing a newer build but if we decide to buy in the United Kingdom we will more than likely be purchasing an older home.
What are your thoughts? Would you rather buy new or old?
*This was a sponsored post – after all a girl’s gotta eat! As always, opinions and comments are my own.
