Building your own home is certainly a major part of the Aussie dream and almost always makes the list of New Year goals. However, amidst all the excitement, building a new home can be an extremely overwhelming and challenging experience. Unless you are a builder yourself, how much you don’t know about the process can be daunting.

As such, we have put together a list of answers to some of the most common questions posed prior to and throughout the home building process to give you some confidence and insight on where your expectations should lie when building your new dream home.

What factors determine the costs associated with building a new home?

 When pricing a new home, builders evaluate the cost of labour and materials, coupled with the overheads of running the business to determine the price of the home, in line with competitors.

However, there really isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to costing though. Most home builders will start at the base, and work with their clients to determine the final cost in line with their budgets. However, you need to really be firm with yourself from the beginning about what your budget is whilst taking into account a little wriggle room for unexpected things that could potentially pop up during the process.

What are the simplest ways to avoid budget blowouts and keep costs down during a new build?

Some of the easiest ways to keep your costs down during are new build are as follows:

• When selecting fixtures and fittings, go for more conventional options. Your home building consultant will be able to provide you with a range of options that are within your budget, yet will compliment the overall look and feel you are going for.
• Avoid building on sloping, rocky or unstable sites as it can require additional piers, stronger slabs, retaining walls and additional drainage. Areas where large trees are present can also represent a problem. Removing large trees cannot only be costly, but illegal. You need to make sure you do your due diligence ahead of time.
• Don’t make major variations to your design full stop! This will cost you both time and money and a lot of excess stress. Major amendments usually require new plans that will require building approvals through council and developers and can be very expensive. Notwithstanding, additional labour and material costs also add up very quickly. It’s one thing to change the colour of your paint in the bedroom, but it’s an entirely different process to alter your building plans. The general rule of thumb is to finalise all plans before you sign!
• If you can, do some of the minor things yourself such as rubbish removal and minor landscaping and/or gardening. It can end up saving you thousands and can be quite therapeutic in the process.

What is the most expensive type of build? 

Custom, architecturally-designed homes are always going to cost the client more for a variety of reasons aside from the fact that anything bespoke is usually a lot more expensive. First of all, one-off pricing can never match volume pricing, so you are going to see a significant increase there. Secondly, top-of-range fixtures and fittings, swimming pools, landscaping and other major features definitely add to the budget. Finally, often custom homes are larger and more complex than volume builds and require more intricate details and planning, meaning more labour and more expensive materials.

What’s the most budget-friendly build?

 Volume builds are by far the most budget friendly. Menangle Park works with a large variety of home builders who have multiple designs that can be tailored to a wide variety of budgets and life stages.

Furthermore, most major home builders will run multiple promotions throughout the year that you can really see some major savings from especially in terms of upgrades, so it’s good to keep an eye on these as well as you can really save yourself a lot of money.

Will I need a solicitor or conveyancer?

 Absolutely! When commencing your home building process, you will most likely need to engage a solicitor or conveyancer to certify your land and building contracts and the corresponding legalities associated with this. They will also be able to advise you on rules, regulations and processes associated with filing DA’s and any other relevant applications.

Who do I deal with during the build process?

 In most cases, a dedicated customer service consultant will filter enquiries through the team, who will be allocated to the client after they have transitioned from the sales office team.

The client will also have ongoing contact with the supervisor of their build site at their scheduled building inspection meetings.

Is my new home covered under warranty?

All new home builds in New South Wales are covered by Statutory Warranty, which is six years for the structure of your new home and two years for defects. A guide to what constitutes as a defect can be found via the Fair Trading NSW website.

For further information on Menangle Park’s trusted home builders, contact our friendly team at sales@menanglepark.com.au or drop by the sales centre at Macarthur Square (opposite Coles).