There can be an overwhelming amount of questions that arise before the big adventure of building your first home.
Have you worked out what you need to know? We’ve broken it down and answered some common questions that will help you when meeting with a builder.
Who should I talk to first?
We recommend that the first person to talk to is a financier, which might be your bank or a broker. Meeting with them will help you understand what your pre-approval of a building loan will be and set you on the right path to evaluate your budget moving forward with your new home build.
What are the benefits of building a new home over an existing home?
Building a new home gives you a great sense of accomplishment and delivers exactly what you want. There are also numerous long term financial gains to building a new home. These include tax benefits - which can be up to 20 years of depreciation on your new home and saving on paying the stamp duty on the value of the property. With an existing home, you may be required to conduct renovations in order for the home to meet your needs and wants. With renovations, you can be limited with what you can do as you cannot typically make major structural changes. Renovations tend to be quite expensive as many unforeseen costs pop up along the way as additional issues are uncovered as the renovation progresses.
How does a House and Land Package work?
Financing for a house and land package usually consists of two steps:
- Buying the land
- Building the house.
While the loans can be arranged separately, they are usually bundled together. Once the land is secured your builder can understand the site and suggest the best floor plan that suits your lifestyle and needs. This saves you from having to seek your own block and you will have assurance that the builder has taken in all the considerations for variable costs of the site. A house and land package is typically full turnkey meaning everything that you need in your home (i.e. floor coverings, a driveway, fencing and landscaping) is built into the total price so you know exactly how much your home will cost.
How do I get the best mortgage?
Talking to your bank or broker is an excellent start for working out the various mortgage options available to you. Canstar is a reputable industry leader for comparing and rating financial institutions.
