Most homeowners assume that building a brand new home is more expensive than renovating an existing home or buying a market property. After all, the ability to personalize your layout, amenities, and finishes, along with the many advantages of a new construction home, would surely come with added costs.

However, BUILD by TJH can offer savings over both renovating and buying a resale home for many homeowners. Learn some of the ways that tearing down and rebuilding could be a smarter financial move.

Building a home was never an option that we thought was in the realm of what we could do. But after looking into Thomas James Homes, it was way more affordable than we thought, for even better quality.

—Katie E., TJH homeowner, Los Angeles, CA​

The unexpected expenses of renovating

Renovating an older home may seem like the less expensive option compared to building a new home, but sometimes that’s not the case. In fact, there are many hidden costs to renovating that homeowners may fail to consider.

Minor renovations could reveal major structural problems or underlying issues that are vastly more expensive to fix. Supply issues or design changes could lead to additional expenses. Large-scale renovations that create excess dust and noise pollution can even cause health issues.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know for sure that renovating your home won’t involve such unexpected expenses. That’s why  homeowners, after doing their research, may opt for a new home to get the additional space or modern design and amenities their family needs.

Savings over buying a new home

If you’ve decided that a new home is the way to go, you may be surprised to learn that building a home can be substantially less expensive than buying a new home.

Data from StorageCafe and Yardi indicates that homeowners in Washington state save an average of $66,000 when they build, and those in California save an average of $205,000. The savings experienced by those building a new home can be more significant in certain parts of California. The average savings for homebuilders in Los Angeles County is $345,728, in Orange County is $581,372, and in Santa Clara County is $1,101,032.

Therefore, depending on where you live, building could not only be a more sure-fire path to getting exactly what you want in a home, but may also be a more economical one. As an added bonus, you may avoid bidding wars that can drive up the price of available market homes, especially in the desirable neighborhoods where we build.

Preventing unforeseen expenses

Renovating and homebuilding can both end up costing tens of thousands of dollars more than expected if you make common mistakes like not selecting the right contractor or homebuilder.

Our many happy homeowners appreciate the steps we take to make homebuilding easier and more joyful. We provide a simple end-to-end process to give you a seamless building experience guided by a dedicated project manager. We take care of the details, from pulling permits to installing finishes, so that you don’t waste your time (which is money) juggling the many tasks of construction management.

Our price guarantee means your home’s price is locked-in upon contract execution.

Reducing repair and utility costs

New construction homes may be less expensive to operate and maintain than older homes, including those that have been renovated, which is another way tearing down and rebuilding may save you money.

We stand behind our people, product, and process with a warranty program and devoted customer experience team to address covered issues. We’ll cover the warranty details specific to your location before you sign your contract.

In addition, the energy efficiency of a new home may result in lower utility costs, which can add up to significant savings over the  years you occupy your home.

New construction financing

Financing is another important financial consideration when looking at home solutions. Fortunately, financing a home build can be less costly and difficult than you may think. We’ve partnered with preferred lenders to provide our homeowners with an all-in-one construction-to-permanent loan.

These loans use a draw process to pay toward your new home build. The loan amount is determined by how much has been paid out so far. If you have an existing home loan, a construction-to-permanent loan may allow you to pay a monthly payment based on the outstanding loan amount.

Housing while you build your home

Another financial consideration is where you’ll live while building your new home.

If you remodel your entire house, you may need to move out while the work is being completed. And remodeling time frames can often be often fluid, especially if you are having to manage multiple contractors yourself. It’s not unheard of for those remodeling their home to spend a year or more living in temporary housing.

One of the great advantages of BUILD by TJH is that you’ll know your move-in schedule as soon as work begins. We promise that we’ll complete your new home within 12 months of the start of construction.

Enhancing the value of your existing home

Having an underbuilt home can substantially decrease the value of your property, even if you live in a sought-after neighborhood.

On the other hand, having a new construction home with more square footage, better design, and elevated features may increase your home’s value, both in the short-term and the long-term. We’ll help you by potentially maximizing the value of your home by replacing an older or underbuilt home with a larger, more functional, modern one.

As the nation’s largest, single-lot, new home replacement builder, we’re able to source custom-quality materials at a lower price than other homebuilders. As a result, you can get a quality new construction home that will look fresh for many years to come, for less than you might imagine.

By expanding your property’s footprint and enhancing its design you have an asset that’s more marketable whenever it’s time to sell, rent, or keep as a family home.

—Brian Reid, TJH Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

Get the numbers you need

The only way to find out for sure if tearing down and rebuilding with us is right for you is with a free BUILD Analysis.

During this process, our Private Client Group provides a comprehensive assessment outlining what rebuilding could do to your home. The BUILD Analysis includes evaluating your home, all-in construction costs for building the selected TJH home plan, and recently sold comparable homes in your neighborhood.