To Build or to Buy?

It is finally time to buy a house! I am so excited. All of our hard work finally paid off paying off credit cards, going to school, saving money, and improving our credit scores . Our lease is up on our apartment at the end of July. We were going to try to buy a house buy then, but we decided that we really need to spend time looking for the right house. We started searching but then discovered that if you get a builder to build for you it will cost about 80-90 dollars a square foot. When you buy a house after the building process is complete it cost 100-110 dollars a square foot. It would be quicker to buy a house instead of build one. We aren't sure what we will do at this point. Next week I think that we are going to talk to builders. One thing when we found out when we were getting approved for a mortgage was that you have to have above a 620 to even get qualified for a home loan. The mortgage companies pulled both of our credit and they said above 700 is A plus credit score. This meant we qualified for a lower interest rate. We have been talking about buying an acre in Greenwood, which is right outside of Midland. We get to have some land and get to be out in the country. We had been figuring that 200,000 dollar house would cost us 2,000 dollars a month with taxes and insurance. It is going to be cheaper then that about 1,600 dollars a month. I don't think we want to spend that much on a house but who knows. We just want a newer house because of all of the allergy issues. One negative thing is that you have to have a lot of money saved anywhere between 10,000- 20,000 dollars for all of the closing costs and down payment. I knew we had to pay a down payment but I didn't know that closing costs are that high.