Why Waiting to Buy Your New Home Costs More

February 7, 2024

Tips from one of North Harbour’s wonderful Australian Builders Burbank. 

You can find out more at www.burbank.com.au

Many of our customers ask us questions regarding the home and build prices rising or decreasing and when should they start looking to purchase their new home. 

In a process where you need to involve both the land, build, and lenders– the timing of some of these decisions can play an important role.

To support you in understanding your options and the ramifications of holding off, here are 5 reasons why you should take action now and take the leap to purchase your new home.

1) Price protection periods: The good builders will look after you and will provide price protection guarantees or price freeze periods. At Burbank, we know how important every dollar is to our customers and believe there’s no need to gamble on price movements. Unlike other builders, we offer our customers a Price Protection Guarantee which means there is no need to ‘time’ when you commit to your home as you’ll always end up with the cheaper price if it rises or falls in the future. 

How our Price Protection Guarantee works: For up to 15 months, Burbank can guarantee the cheapest future base price you will be paying on your home. Meaning you can rest assured that you’re getting the best deal. 

2) Avoid paying interest on your land after it settles – When your land settles, you’re required to pay interest therefore the longer you wait to select your builder, the more interest you’ll be required to pay a $350,000 land purchase with a 5% interest rate this will be costing you around $1,468 per month while nothing is being built on it. Plus place your current rent/mortgage expenses on top of that for your total cost of not acting sooner.

3) Preparation is required before a build can start (which takes time). There is a misconception about building, is that it’s not like most other things you go and buy. Planning a new build can take months and is a process that involves many stakeholders outside of just the builder. That’s why it is better to get started right away so that you aren’t waiting on things like council approval, developer covenant applications, bank approvals, and more while you’re also paying interest on your land as well as your current rent or mortgage. 

4) Understand all the costs related to your block and avoid any surprises – Burbank will be able to check for things that sometimes the land developer may not advise you on at the time. Things like additional costs for site conditions (slope, soil type, rock), planning requirements (bushfire, acoustic), site access, and more. You don’t want to be stuck owning the ‘dud’ block in the street that may cost you thousands more to build on than something else down the road. 

5) Don’t be rushed, give yourself time to make the right decisions for your future home and investment – As mentioned above once your land is settled each day you delay things is a tangible cost. So you’re better off starting earlier and taking your time deciding the exact floorplan that suits your family, all the inclusions that are on your must-have list, and the colour scheme you want to select. Rushing these items once your land is settled leads to many people forgetting these key items when it is too late to change once the builder is started on site.