Are you an Ohioan looking to get on the homeownership ladder? questions to ask a home builderYou have better chances here than in many parts of the country! But can you find something affordable on the housing market, or would it be better to build your own home?

If you decide to go with the latter, there are some critical questions to ask a home builder before pursuing that route.

With listing prices inflated across the nation, building your own home comes more into focus — and you can design it exactly as you want. But would it be cheaper than buying a ready-made house? Even if you find a great piece of land, rising costs of materials and labor can inflate your expenses considerably. A recent StorageCafe report found that buying a home in Ohio costs around $178K less than building one — that’s more cost-effective than almost else anywhere in the US.

Building a House in Ohio Is a Very Normal Activity!

The median price of land for residential building across Ohio is around $58K per acre, about the same as the national figure. This is also similar to costs in California and Texas, for example, but several times less than in currently trending states such as Utah ($234K) and South Dakota ($177K). The median residential lot size in Ohio is 0.23 acres, which is also similar to the national average — we appear to be the most normal state in the nation for residential construction! 

The median cost of a construction contract in this part of the world was about $367K in 2021, according to the US Census, somewhat less than in the country’s West and Northeast regions. The StorageCafe study added this to the price of a median-sized residential-building lot, adjusted for inflation, and then added expenses such as surveys, legal fees and so on, arriving at a total cost for building a median single-family home — in Ohio, the total is $450K, which also aligns with the national average. 

Homebuying Puts Building in the Shade in & Around Ohio 

The StorageCafe report calculated the median listing price of single-family homes in Ohio to be around $272K in the fall of last year. This is better value than in almost any other states in the country, with lower figures being posted only in Arkansas, Louisiana and neighboring West Virginia — the lowest anywhere at $225K. Ohio’s figure means it costs $178K less to buy a house than to build one, the second-highest difference in the country. 

Pennsylvania, to the east, registered a median listing price of $345K for single-family homes. This compares to a total home-building there cost of $528K, which is amplified by a higher cost of construction in the Northeast of $431K. The difference of $183K makes Pennsylvania the most cost-effective state to buy rather than build in. 

The neighboring Midwestern states of Indiana and Michigan, with median listing prices hovering around $300K, favor buying by savings of $142K and $153K, respectively. Kentucky, to the south, benefits from a lower median construction contract cost of $319K, and with a median house listing price that is also around $300K, the cost advantage of buying is just $59K. 

Leaving Ohio? Building is More Cost-Effective in Coastal States

Thinking of constructing a dream house out of state? At the other end of the spectrum, by building rather than buying, a cool $494K can saved in Hawaii — with the nation’s highest median listing price of slightly over $1M — and you would get a large median lot size of 0.62 acres. California is the mainland state saving you the most money by building a home, $205K, owing to a high median listing price of $700K. Either way, surf’s up!

You need to move to the nation’s capital for a great job opportunity? You can commute to DC from Virginia, Delaware or Maryland, and building your house there would you save a sum approaching $100K. Utah and Colorado favor also building by similar amounts. Texas’s good-value real estate registers a below-average single-family-home listing price of $412K, but with land prices almost identical to Ohio’s, building a house in the Lone Star State is still more than $50K cheaper. 

By building in Ohio you can get your custom-designed dream home. And if you opted for a smaller-than-average house and a compact lot, you could maybe get something for your budget — to extend your living space, consider renting storage in Cleveland, storage in Columbus, or in whatever city you call home. Comparatively speaking, however, buying an average single-family home is very good value in the Buckeye State, so start browsing your local Ohio home listings.