Remodeling a house versus building a house?

[tmckay2]

as someone building right now, i strongly advise building rather than remodeling. yes, if you know what you are doing and things go the right way you can remodel for considerably less. but sometimes you don't know what you are getting into, sometimes there are unforeseen issues, sometimes you have to weigh time versus money. find a reputable builder with good warranties and fixed contracts and just do it right. you can design a house exactly how you want, whereas with remodeling you sometimes are simply limited by the structure itself. i am fairly cheap so i kept trying to find a better deal and after months and months i just couldn't do it. yes, the build cost a bit more, though not as much as you would think, but having complete control over the design and costs allowed me to make compromises when needed. for example, i wanted a third story, 360 degree view tower. where are you going to find a home with that? how much would that cost to add to an existing house, if you even could? i simply cut out unnecessary useless square footage in favor of my tower. theres just stuff you simply can't do without building. also, i wanted a bomb shelter/storage room/safe room/whatever and got to design it into the plans and they simply lower the blast doors in after pouring the concrete. much cheaper, much easier.