05/01/2022
As a follow up to the post about property prices we will today write about building your house or buying an older property and refurbish it.
If you want build your own house you have two options;
Buy a plot with an approved project or buy a plot, engage an architect and design your villa. Then the architect will make the planning application and roughly a Year later you can hopefully start your project. In both cases you will have to find a builder and somebody to supervise the project.
Alternatively, you find an older villa matching your requirements in terms of location and size and do a refurb. Depending on the extent of the refurb you might be able to do the design work yourself or, in the case of a bigger project, find somebody with knowledge in these kinds of jobs. In any case, unless you want to be hands on yourself, you better get some local help. It saves you time, money and heartache.
A short note on construction prices which have gone up drastically last Year. This is due to a combination of higher energy prices, a general shortage of material and a shortage of skilled workers. Steel alone has gone up by some 60%, building material (tiles, cement, bricks, electrical material etc etc) by some 30% and wood prices have shot through the roof. Desperate builders are poaching workers from other building sites offering bonuses and higher pay so they can finish projects on time and avoid penalties.
Based on this, it might be a good option to buy an older property now and hold on with the refurbishment until supply has caught up with demand and prices returned to (near) normal.
