10 Things to Remember When Choosing Your First Home Builder
How to Choose a Home Builder
As with most things in life, home builders come in all shapes and sizes and picking the right builder for you is an important decision. To help you out we’ve gathered 10 top tips for finding your perfect home builder:
1 – Get your finances organised: Work out your budget, what you need to save for a deposit and any other outgoings and what your borrowing capacity to purchase a home will be. Talk to an experienced financial advisor who has experience in working with home builders, and who can fill you in on details you might not otherwise consider. For more information on what to expect from this process, see our Introduction to Financing Your First Home.
2 – Write a list of must-haves, would-likes and don’t wants in your home design. For example: must-have four bedrooms, would-like a butler’s pantry, don’t want stairs. This will help when you start the next stage of the process which is…
3 – Do some online research. Check out builder products, reviews, designs and offers online to see what’s out there.
4 – At the same time…ask friends and relatives for recommendations. If you know someone who has built their own home, pick their brains. They’ve got experience of what worked for them and what didn’t work for them and word of mouth reviews are extremely helpful in choosing your first home builder.
5 – Visit a Display Village such as the 33 home Display Village at North Harbour – the largest on Brisbane’s northside. We have 17 of Australia’s best home builders on display with designs including double and single storey, Hamptons style and more. To learn more about North Harbour’s Display Village click here. Display Villages show you what’s possible and is a great place to meet builders face to face and discuss your options.
6 – Pick a shortlist. Once you’ve visited some Display Homes and found some designs you like, make a shortlist of builders and home designs. These might be in house and land packages such as the ones North Harbour creates with our builder partners (for more on House and Land packages at North Harbour see here) or design only.
7 – Then the all-important – Get some pricing! Ask each builder for a complete turn-key price to build the design to the specifications you want. Make sure you understand what the price does and doesn’t include. For example, some builders include aircon as standard, some don’t. Some include landscaping, some don’t.
8 – There are no stupid questions. If you don’t understand something, ask! What might seem simple to someone who builds houses for a living might not be obvious to someone doing this for the first time. Much better to have a complete understanding of the process first up.
9 – Weigh it all up and make your call! When you’ve picked your perfect design, and you’re happy with your home builder then…
10 – It’s time to visit the North Harbour Sales Team and choose your perfect block of land and start the process of building your dream home.
Find North Harbour
North Harbour’s Sales and Information Centre & Display Village with café and two playgrounds is open seven days a week, 10am-5pm. Located on the corner of Buckley Road and Fraser Drive, Burpengary East, the Display Village showcases 33 brand new Display Homes from 17 of Australia’s best home builders. If you’re looking for land for sale near Brisbane, please contact us.
To keep up to date with the latest news and info, including our regular events, sign up for our email updates and find us on Facebook and Instagram (@northharbourliving).
About North Harbour
North Harbour is a unique residential development in the northern corridor between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, located along 9km of direct river frontage and 10 minutes from beautiful Moreton Bay and surrounding islands.
North Harbour boasts amenities which are truly 21st-century with access to the fastest residential broadband connection in Australia and reticulated natural gas to every home. Well located for easy access to the Bruce Highway, Morayfield train station is just 10 minutes away and nearby North Lakes, Burpengary and Morayfield shopping centres, as well as Costco, Bunnings and IKEA are within easy reach.
North Harbour differs from similarly sized southeast Queensland developments in that on completion it will offer a huge 1000 acres of open space and parklands (even larger than Central Park in New York) including environmental corridors, river access and a unique $3m heritage precinct (currently under construction).
The proposed 1000 acres of open space and parklands include walking and bike tracks, lots of trees (almost 60,000 have already been planted) and plenty of play equipment for young and older kids, BBQs, artworks and picnic areas as well as exercise equipment. North Harbour has three parks open already, another two will open later this year.
Features:
- Variety of housing choices ranging from affordable Premium Villas to larger Traditional lots
- 33 Home display village with the latest designs from 17 national and local builders
- Fibre optic broadband capable of speeds matching the fastest broadband in Australia
- Reticulated gas to each home
BITE Markets at North Harbour is a brand-new destination within the growing North Harbour community which has transformed weekends on the Northside! It’s the perfect place to eat, drink, spend time with friends and family, a place everyone is welcome, full of colour, adventures, wonderful food, entertainment and all sorts of flavours celebrating produce from the Moreton Bay region! Located at exit 150 off the Bruce Highway on Nolan Drive, open from 4pm-10pm every Friday and Saturday night. Click here to see Bite TV!
North Harbour parkrun: 7am, every Saturday. Free 5km cross country run/ walk around the future Heritage Park.
Sunrise Yoga in the Park: 7am every Sunday. Free yoga class to suit all levels in Reflections Park.
North Harbour Café is also open every weekend including Friday Burger Nights.
