Buying a house/ Building a new one

[Chandhana Padmanabhan]

Hi All,

I am a newbie and had started researching on real estate investment a couple of months ago. I am 27 and would like to buy my 1st house. However, I am confused, if I need to buy an existing property/ build a new one. I am exploring what budget suits my requirements.

I love open space,modern & compact houses. I would love to live in a City like Ann Arbor close to facilities. Now I know, Ann Arbor is very expensive, I am ready to compromise on a different area too. I came across a couple of modern modular builders, who are design/develop/build firms for a cost of ~150/sq feet (This excludes land of course). I would like to know the possibility of finding a small piece of land here in the outskirts.

I find it hard to compromise on the style of existing houses, but if budget doesn't approve me to build a new home, buying an existing property is fine.

I am an Analyst & I want to start real estate investment. My this year's goal is to buy my own house, next year, it would be to start investing on existing ones.

My questions:

• Best possible & trusted source to buy lands
• Would love to know how I could find a mentor who could guide me in identifying good/ bad 
• Need help in comparing the cost of buying an existing/ building new

I am open to reading, scheduling visits & networking. Any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks.