Owning a home or any property is amazing, it is an accomplishment we feel very proud of. It is usually an objective most people work very hard for in their lifetime and one they are very proud of listing in their will to their children or love ones or even to a charity. When it comes to choosing the ways and means of acquiring a property, regardless of whether it is for residential or commercial purposes, one is often faced with the dilemma of deciding between buying or building.
In Ghana for instance, renting a property is not cheap, so it comes as no surprise that quite a number of people aspire to be property owners rather than tenants. If you are on the quest to own a home or commercial property in Ghana but cannot decide on the best option to go for, then our brief review of the pros and cons of these two options might be useful to you.
In general, buying a house or any property appears to be the much easier option for many. If you have enough funds or if you qualify for a mortgage to choose between the wide range of options on the market, even better. A real estate agent will take you through a number properties in your desired locations, you walk-into the building, you inspect, you have a feel for the property and then you are only left with the task of deciding which of the various options suits you best. When you decide on the one, you write a cheque and ta-dah! You are now a home owner. Sounds cool right?
Furthermore buying property in Ghana can be a great choice for people living outside Ghana. There is no such thing as “I sent all my life savings to a trusting relative to build a house for me and he or she absconded with my money.” Not everyone living abroad has the luxury of taking extended time off work to travel and stay in Ghana for several months while their dream home is being built. There have been uncountable stories of how a lot of Africans abroad not just from Ghana alone, have been duped by a family member, a friend or someone whom they deemed as trustworthy all because they believed that person was the best candidate to be the middle man in their quest to build their dream home. To avoid the drama and inconvenience of betrayal and fraud, buying a property has proven to be of great benefit to a number of Ghanaians living abroad who want to own a property in Ghana.
Recently, there has been an influx of estate developers and home building specialists who advertise their homes across Ghana in hopes of attracting customers all around the globe. Across the Greater Accra Region in Ghana for example, it is easy to find well-designed and well-built homes in currently recognised trendy areas such as East Legon, Trassaco, Tema, Kasoa, Kuntunse, Amasaman,Prampram Spintex, Nsawam and many more, ready for the next available home owner to buy.
All you have to do is, get your money ready, book a flight to Ghana, browse through the available options and make your choice. There are no longer stressful phone calls to Ghana in your mission to getting your desired home.
Buying has also been of great benefit to some people living in Ghana with extremely busy schedules. Imagine this, from Monday to Friday you work a hectic 9 to 5 job. You even work on Saturdays with Sundays the only day you get to rest. Your schedules can be so tight that, you cannot foresee fitting in frequent trips to building sites and giving attention to every little detail that comes with building your own property. Your tight work schedule and also an extremely busy family life that requires your undivided attention takes all of your time. But on the other hand, you still want to enjoy all the added bonuses that come with living in your own home or being a landlord. The best possible solution will most likely be buying a property instead of building. The plus is, you do not have to find time to buy and transport building materials or go in search of the right cabinets for your kitchen or have to keep up with supervising the day-to-day activities at your building site. In this case all you have to do is find properties that suit your budget, view the properties to make a decision, then proceed to making the necessary arrangements and payments and you are done!
Another benefit of buying property in Ghana would be that, one does not have to deal with the stress of obtaining land title certificates. Buying property in Ghana, cuts back on the legal process involved in obtaining a land title certificate which in some cases can be a tedious procedure. Dealing with other people who claim to have purchased the same land you have is one task off your list. When two or more people claim ownership of a plot of land, the contention results the issue being taken to court. Then there is the stress that comes with court cases and legal fees. To prevent all of that, many people see buying as the best alternative to building since the only legal hurdle you would deal with is the official transfer of ownership from the real estate company to your name and or mortgage agreement
Buying property means, you hardly deal with issues such as how to fix water pipes to your home how to get a meter or how to connect electrical wires to your property. All the stress of dealing with Ghana Water Company or Electricity Company is made easier. All you have to do is, pay your prepaid utility bills and move in with your furniture and other belongings.. So generally buying a home or any property outright tends to be a more straightforward option than building.
Buying a home or property in Ghana has been made possible and easier even for people who do not have enough money to build and design their desired property.
These days, a number of real estate and property developers in Ghana give aspiring home owners the option of paying for their dream homes and property in instalments. These companies have come up with flexible payment plans and terms to suit a wide range of Ghanaian budgets. Be it within a year or five years, you too can live in your own home and pay for it on the terms you deem as reasonable. There are also a number of banks that offer mortgage loans in Ghana which we will cover in another blog.
While Ghana is rapidly developing with systems and processes gradually progressing towards the level of some developed countries across the world, there is still lack of professionalism on the part of some of our masons, plumbers and other tradespeople in Ghana. There have been cases where a number of home builders complained about tradespeople not showing up to the building site on time, completing a fraction of the the required daily tasks but still expecting to be paid in full. Admittedly this is not the case for all tradespeople but when you opt to buy a property, the stress of potentially dealing with such an issue is avoided.
From convenience to flexibility and ease, there are wide range of reasons why you may decide to choose to buy instead of build your own home or property in Ghana. Convinced to buy rather than build your home or property in Ghana? Don’t make up your mind just yet. There are still a number of great benefits when it comes to building your own property in Ghana. We all have different tastes and preferences. Most of us can count the number of times where it has been very tough to get someone to see your vision or realise specific details the way you want them. The same applies to trying to find your home. Not every house built by a real estate company may suit your needs and lifestyle. Thus, building your own would be a feasible option.
For starters, homes or properties built by some companies tend to have a similar look and design. You may find about two or three lanes in a community having a similar structure. If you are the type of person who likes things customised then buying may not be for you, especially if you do not wish to remodel after buying. Building your own property gives you the opportunity to choose your own design and the general outlook of the building. You get to decide what type of roofing you want, what type floor tiles, what type of window frames and their positioning, if you want an indoor or outdoor pool and so on. There is no limit when it comes to customisation. Unlike buying a home where some of the amenities available may not tick all your boxes. When you decide to buy a house or property, you should always be open to the possibility of having to renovate or make a few tweaks to certain structures. For instance, a house you just bought might have most of the things you require but all the bathrooms have showers instead of the bathtubs you want. Hence, when it comes to building your own property, everything is tailored according to your needs and preferences
There’s a saying, “run your own race at your own pace.” With building your own home or property, you get to do just that. Once you have acquired one, two or three plots of land in an area of your choice, you get to decide when and how to build your desired property. There may be a case where you do not have enough money to buy a house outright and owing a real estate company or a bank is one headache you would want to avoid.. Hence, you build according to your budget and time convenience. You have more control to determine when the property would be fully built and ready for you to move in.
You also get to carefully choose and inspect the building materials that are used to build your house, you can never tell the quality of the materials such as timber and wiring used in some of the houses put up for sale. The sad reality is most home owners who buy houses only realise the cutbacks and poor build quality after a few years of buying the house when all the payment has been made. At this point there is little to no chance of compensation for the remedial works you will have to undertake.
A number of people may argue that building your own house or property may be relatively cheaper than buying. This is because, real estate companies seek to make profit by way of commission and tend to charge very high prices as compared to an individual who built their property on their own. So, regardless of the benefits of homes and properties for sale, building can be a preferred option when you what to save some money. After all, don’t we all appreciate a good saving?
To buy or to build, have you decided on your preferred choice when it comes to owning your desired property in the beautiful country of Ghana? Do share your thoughts and even your experiences with us in the comment section.