The overwhelmingly popular trend in recent years has been about building your own house. People all over the country have decided that the best way to own a top notch home is to build one that is brand spanking new. Look at the staggering numbers of new home construction over the past 3 years. The numbers will blow your mind. Even though this is a great way to own a quality home, however, there are other options available.

Probably one of the most popular alternatives to building a new home is buying an older home and then fixing it up. Fixer uppers, as they are often times called, offer many advantages that building a home from scratch does not. For example:

1. When you purchase a so called "fixer upper," you can save yourself thousands of dollars. These types of homes are often times in bad condition because the past owner failed to keep up with proper maintenance. However, just because a house is in bad shape, does not mean that it cannot be restored to its original glory. Instead of building a brand new house for $200,000, you can easily purchase a distressed home for $100,000, and then put $50,000 worth of repairs into it. This will give you a totally remodeled home, as well as an additional $50,000 in your pocket. I don't know about you, but I can sure think of a lot of things to spend $50,000 on.

2. Fixer uppers require less of everything. When you build a new home, you have to go through many different steps, including a design stage, hiring a builder, and waiting for the home to be completed. Older houses can be bought one day, and then moved into in no time at all (not to mention most older homes have a lot of charm that just isn't present in modern day houses). This means that you don't have to wait around for months before you can get started. You can have your home completely renovated in the time that it would take your new home to be built. For those who don't mind parts of their house being under renovation, there is even the option of living in the house while the work is being done. Talk about a lot less stress, headache, and wasted time!

3. You can easily negotiate the price on these types of houses. Many times, the seller is motivated to unload the property very quickly, for one reason or another. You can pick up a real bargain when this happens. Alternatively, if you build a customized home to fit your specifications, you are at the mercy of the contractor and how much he charges. It's often times common for builders to go 10-20% over budget. However, you can eliminate this uncertainly if you look into older homes in need of a little TLC, since not only are you dealing with a motivated seller, but you often times are able to get a price that is greatly discounted off of the market value, since the house is not in ideal condition.

All in all, "fixer uppers" are a great alternative to building a brand new house. Even though the majority of people would rather build new, it does not mean that one cannot benefit from buying an older house in need of some repair. The three benefits listed above prove that these types of homes offer a great value to anybody who is in the market for a home purchase. And what's even more important is the fact that financing for fixer uppers is now much easier to get qualified for. In some instances, homeowners can actually finance the purchase price and renovation costs in one single transacti