4 Important Points to Consider When Choosing a New Home Builder
Building a brand new home is a property dream for many Australians. It may be your very first home or it may be the culmination of your gradual progress up the property ladder to your forever home. Whichever the scenario, it's a big and sometimes stressful undertaking and something you will no doubt put a lot of time and thought into.
One of the most important parts of the process is finding the right new home builder. With so many different building companies offering their services, it can be difficult to know who to work with. To make the choice easier, here are four points to consider.
1. Customisation
An important point to consider when you're deciding on a builder is how much, if at all, do you want the ability to customise the design of your new home. Some companies work from a range of standard plans which don't provide many options for changing things that you don't consider ideal. Other companies provide a lot more flexibility and let you tweak the plans to better suit your needs.
2. Your property
Another variable which will help you to narrow down your choice of builder is the block of land you have chosen to build your new home on. If you have a fairly standard block that is level and has easy access, you'll be able to opt for a high-volume builder that can build you a cost-effective and quickly erected home. If your block has a slope, difficult access or any other unusual features, you'll need to find a builder who can cater to these issues.
3. Inclusions
When you're deciding on a builder, it's also important to find out what inclusions they offer on the finished home. Many people fall in love with a display home from a specific builder, only to disappointed when many of the features they loved weren't actually automatic inclusions. Features that may not be inclusions may be pools, decks, air-conditioning, high specification finishes and window dressings.
4. Sustainability
All newly built homes in Australia are now required by law to meet minimum energy efficiency standards. However, if superior sustainability is important to you, or you live in a very hot or cold region, you may want to build a home that exceeds minimum standards. In this case, you'll need to choose a builder who can add more insulation and use materials that are sourced and manufactured with sustainability in mind.