Buy vs Build a home [View All]

[Squatch]

Hey, all.

My wife and I are going to be moving to the Fredericksburg, VA area in the next couple of months and are looking at our options for a new home.

My biggest question is whether we should buy a home or contract the building of a new one.

Our budget is $350,000 and the area around Fred'burg has a number of beautiful hexisting homes in that price range.

However, there are certain things I would like to have in a home that most existing homes don't have *and* I want to know what the quirks/history of a house is before we commit.

So, with that budget, I was thinking of 1/3 toward a lot/acreage and the other 2/3 toward the actual home (~2000 sf living space).

So, the question is: build or buy?

Are there any good resources on line or in print to help me answer this question? Any horror stories out there?

Thanks!
S