Build or Renovate

[Jon 1]

In respect of the SE, and with hindsight would you build or renovate/

[Richard-R]

I myself would build. Cost per sq ft is much less ( depending on the state of property to renovate) and is often much quicker in real terms. It does depend on the cost of land in the area that you wish to live in and in rural France if you wish to have a nice big garden a new build or building your own will ensure this. We opted for an old propery that some one else had spent at least 50,000(if not more) doing up and it only cost us about 10,000 euros more than a complete basket case of the same size and in the same area. You are now buying at the top of the market in a lot of areas so will not make much if any profit, long or short term on sinking a lot of money into an old house in need of a great deal of work. If in doubt find an architect in the area you wish to live and get him to do a quote on restoring an old building that you have viewed by the Sq meter and also the cost of a new build by the sq meter adding in the land cost and resale value.
Richard(Aude)

1802 (2004 ME THINK'S ALSO)
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour;
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,


Wordworth

[Piprob]

I agree with Richard. We can let you have some costing details if they would be of any use.
I think we brought the land at or near the top of the market, but we think we're getting real value for money with the constructions costs. We're on the very edge of Quillan, close to the Aude.
There was nothing for sale with a decent sized garden anyway.
Robert

[Lf]

New build is generally cheaper than renovating but if renovation is your thing you're not going to be happy with a new build. TVA on a lot of renovation work is at 5.5% whereas it is 19.6% on new build.

Regards

Charles
http://www.lesflamands.com/hr

[A_Redman]

I will probably build next time but it was not an option for this house (we did not have the capital and needed to spread the work over a number of years)

The advantages are you can chose the site and euro for euro even if you buy very cheaply it is almost always less efficient to rebuild and that very quickly swallows the apperent savings.

At its simplest it is a lot easier to leave the hole to instal the windows than it is to open the hole out and make good.

I am not sure about the satisfaction argument. I would have a lot of fun building to an appropriate modern design. I lot of the design on our house was compromissed by the need to maintain structural integrity and not spend more than the house would be worth.