What to look for when comparing home builders

With many builders in the market, it can be hard to know where to start to compare apples for apples and ascertain who is going to be the best choice to build your new home. 

We've outlined the considerations that you should make when looking for a builder for your new home.  

Find the right home design

First off, it's important to work out whether the builder has a floor plan that meets your needs in terms of layout, design and suitability to your block of land. Whether you're after a single or double-storey home, a certain number of bedrooms and living areas, or you had envisioned a particular style of facade, you will need to do your research to find out if each builder offers what you're after. Project home builders tend to have a range of pre-designed floor plans and facades to choose from with varying levels of personalisation available, depending on the builder. 

Another consideration to look at is whether they have the capability and offer to build on your type of block. Typically, blocks in the inner-city suburbs of Brisbane tend to be narrower and, at times, have a level of slope to them. This will determine the type of home design you can select for your lot with some builders unable to cater to sloping block designs. If you have an irregularly shaped or difficult lot, we recommend discussing this with the builder straight off the bat. 

Don't just focus on price - look at the inclusions too

We build more inclusions into our base price to provide potential clients with a much more accurate representation of how much their home will actually cost to build, right from the outset. We're talking floor coverings, air conditioning and a driveway - things that you're going to need in your home anyway. This means that at first glance, we might sound like we're more expensive than another builder, but when you start comparing apples with apples and what we include as standard in our homes, it can be a very different story. We've developed a Builder Comparison Checklist to assist with your assessment of inclusion levels between one builder and another. 

Ask questions

Don't be shy to ask questions and lots of them - that's what the New Home Consultant is there for. They are typically well-versed and experienced in not only the home building process but also the type of home designs and layout that best suit certain block types - well the New Home Consultants at DC Living certainly are! While guaranteed time frames, fixed price contracts and standard inclusions are popular and necessary topics to discuss, it's important to also ask about builder licensing and trade certification, council and building approvals, warranties and customer service processes, and deposit requirements upon committing to build your new home. 

Look at past work 

Take a look at the homes that each builder you are considering has built in the past. This could entail visiting their display homes (see the next point) as well as checking out their social media pages such as Instagram and Pinterest. Also trawl their website for an image gallery, portfolio of homes, or any testimonial pages that they may have. You can also double this as a good research exercise and screenshot any styles and products that you like the look of and would like to be built into your home. 

Visit display homes

We highly recommend visiting a builder's display home as this is a great way to get a feel for the floor plan and layout of their home designs, as well as a close-up look at the quality of homes that they build. While visiting the display, it is important to ask what is included as standard and what are upgrade items as what you see is not necessarily what you get - there can be additional costs to upgrade to certain finishes and features. It's also a good opportunity to chat with the New Home Consultants and get a vibe of the builder. There are so many benefits to visiting a display home that we actually wrote another blog about it.  

DC Living is a family-owned and operated business. We are born and bred in Queensland so we know Queenslanders well and how they like to live in their homes. In fact, we design our homes with exactly this in mind. We put a cap on the number of homes that we commit to building each year so you can be reassured that your build will get the dedicated care and service that it requires.   

Interested in discussing your home building options further? Book a free consultation with a New Home Consultant today.