10 reasons why building a new home makes sense - 5 min read
- Posted By Katrina Gaviola
10 reasons why building a new home makes sense
A home is likely the single largest financial investment that you will ever make. The most obvious, and certainly most exciting advantage of building a new home is that you get to design it, craft it, tailor it and personalise it to fit your families everchanging lifestyle needs – and this is just the beginning.
We’ve done the research, asked our experts and polled our happy homeowners to compiled the top 10 reasons why building new ‘just makes sense’.
So, come on a building journey with us, from generating the plan, right through to exploring your after-sales warranty. By the time you get through our top 10 you’ll be well informed and ready to make the right decision and start building your new dream home.
Design it, craft it, tailor it and personalise it to fit your families everchanging lifestyle needs – and this is just the beginning.
1. Design it to fit your lifestyle
Let’s be realistic… our families all work in different ways. Some of us are entertainers and like to think we’re master chefs at heart, while others are rarely at home as travelling is more the focus. Building new means you can design your home to fit your lifestyle.
The master chefs may choose to opt for some home upgrade to spec up the kitchen appliances and use some home options to personalise the floorplan extending the alfresco to suit a larger entertaining area. While the traveller might be more focused on a home with fewer features that creates a smaller footprint and lower cost.
There're no rights or wrongs when designing your home, it’s all about you and your ability to choose your fit. So be brave, be empowered, and start designing your new home.
2. Match it perfectly with your block of land
We often get asked; do you buy the land first then choose the home or is it the other way around? Egg-chicken, chicken-egg… who knows. If you have your land, then it’s all about making sure the shape of your home fits right.
You should take into account what you plan to do in your backyard. For example, if your planning on adding a pool later you might need to leave access down the side for a digger.
Failing to plan is planning to fail, so take control and create the perfect fit
Maybe feng shui is important to you and the flow of the home matters, or perhaps you are Gardening Australia’s greatest fan and want to surround your home with rare and beautiful gardens. The key here is making sure you plan not just your home but how your entire property will flow, now and later.
Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail. So take control and create the perfect fit.
3. Personalise it with inclusions, fixture and finishes to your taste
This is where things really get personal…building new means you get to pick all the finer and important finishing items. From the basics of wall colours and wallpaper through to your style of tapware.
If you’re a trendsetter, then brass tapware might be a must-have, or maybe a cooler matte black will tick your boxes. Perhaps you’re all about the tech in the home and everything needs to be Wi-Fi enabled to control from your smartphone.
Your home can truly reflect who you are. Flooring, lighting, window coverings, letterbox, clotheslines, colours, textures and finishes – it’s all about you (and your family ).
4. Invest in it with financial confidence with fixed price contracts
We’ve all heard stories about bad budget blowouts – typically common with those choosing to share their renovation stories. When it comes to building new, it’s all a safe bet and risk-free as contracts are all fixed price these days.
This means no budget blowouts and what is detailed in your contract is delivered to a set price giving you a level of reassurance that makes building new a risk-free exercise.
A big tip from us – look for Home & Land that offers you fixed price security like ours. You’ll know exactly what’s included in the final package price and get a great idea of how much money you will need to budget for. This starts you on the right
5. Play with it with brand new everything
This is a super obvious benefit – building new means everything is bright and shiny new. You get the latest technology, newest features, best efficiency and all the benefits that come with “new”.
This means your air conditioner is more efficient and whisper-quiet, your oven might just have a self-cleaning function, your clotheslines don’t sag, and your shower should definitely have that massage feature built-in.
So, you can spend more time playing with the kids and less time repairing what is worn out.
6. Relax in it with warranty reassurance
A hugely undervalued benefit of building your own home is the fact that you have a new home warranty. It covers you against structural defects in work and materials as well as non-completion of work. So, you are literally guaranteed to have your home completed and built to today’s strict building standards.
The warranty period in Queensland is for 6 years and 6 months. Of course, let’s not forget the warranty that comes with everything – generally at least 3 years on most major appliances, a year on most fittings, and some items even come with lifetime warranties.
A new home warranty secured by legislation - plus the warranty that comes with everything from fittings to appliances.
7. Save with it with energy-efficient design and fittings
New homes today are required to meet very stringent energy ratings, 6 Stars is the standard these days. This means your home needs to have a lower demand for energy consumption than existing homes, and this clearly translated into much lower energy bills.
There’s also the benefit of safer materials that reduce the risk of fire and structural damage, which keeps your home and family safer. It’s hard not to place value on family.
8. Bank on it with growing community resale value
We looked to our inhouse property valuers and asked them for their qualified opinion… and while they can’t offer ‘financial advice’, they were comfortable in saying that:
“Typically, as new communities are established and start to increase in population, on average and over time, property values in emerging suburbs increase at rates faster than similarly located established suburbs”.
So, in short, there is value in investing in new and emerging areas.
9. Grow with it and plan around your changing family
Life is forever changing and right now, as a young couple, you might not need a huge 5-bedroom home…but what are your plans for the next 5 to 10 years? Future family planning is important to allow for room to grow.
What might seem like an unnecessary spare room can easily become a home office or media room right now.
Even plan for your potential kids exiting and convert the Bedroom 3 into a sewing or craft room. Future planning creates efficiencies and longevity for your home, so you don’t outgrow it in just a couple of years.
10. Secure it with great financial bonuses or incentives
The housing market is one of our economic key drivers with Stage and Federal Governments constantly looking to ensure it’s stable and growing.
Of course, there are often economic stimulus packages that are dished out to get thing churning along. The tip here is to take advantage of these are secure some great financial benefits.
These typically include first home buyer grants for new homes and reductions in stamp duty. Terms, conditions and eligibility apply of course but it’s worth looking into. Missing out on an easy $30,000 would certainly be a shame.