Written by 
- The Savvy Promise
At Savvy, our mission is to empower you to make informed financial choices. While we maintain stringent editorial standards, this article may include mentions of products offered by our partners. Here’s how we generate income.
You may have the blueprint of your dream home stamped in your mind and the desire to build something that fits your style and needs, but when it comes to building a home the last thing that you want is for your budget to go bust midway through the project. Here are five tips that can help you build your home and avoid busting your budget.
1. Get a professional builder
Unless if you are a qualified builder yourself that has been in the industry for years, it’s advisable to get a professional builder who has a proven track record of building successful projects. Not only will they be able to give you a more accurate time frame and cost that will be involved when it comes to completing your project, but it can also save you on facing a huge price tag in unexpected costs. Always remember to compare various quotes to find the best deal rate for a professional builder.
2. Have the site you plan on building on assessed
The cost of building a house vary on many factors such as; where you plan on building your house, the material that’s needed, how big you plan on making your property and more. To build a basic project home can cost you anything between $620 – $780 square metre and for a custom built house you could fork out anything between $1,500 – $3,000 per square metre.
Before you build, you may need to call in a land surveyor who will help you assess if the land that you plan on building your house on will be suitable or will it need special treatment to make building property possible. This can help you create a realistic budget that will help buffer such expenses.
3. Get your architect and builder to work together
To protect your budget from going bust, it is essential that your architect and builder are on the same page. These are two people who will play an integral role when it comes to building your dream home. However, your builder and architect have different ways of viewing the building of estimating the costs of building a house because their eyes are trained to see costs according to their specialisations. Getting both great minds in one room can ensure that you do not underestimate the cost of building your dream house and that all aspects are covered.
4. Build what you can afford
It is no fun building a champagne taste house on a beer budget. Even if you are able to take out a home loan to cover your taste for the finer things, it is essential to assess if you will be able to afford your home in the long run. According to Macro Business, more than 966,000 Australian households have mortgage stress. Biting off more than you can choose can eventually lead to you a debt spiral.
5. Other expenses
Other additional expenses that come with custom designing your home are the cost of materials, hiring labour and a project manager to name a few. Also, consider the time frame in which it will take to complete the building of your home. The longer it takes the costlier it will become. Therefore, it is vital to hire someone who will have an accurate time frame and sticks to it.
Did you find this page helpful?
This guide provides general information and does not consider your individual needs, finances or objectives. We do not make any recommendation or suggestion about which product is best for you based on your specific situation and we do not compare all companies in the market, or all products offered by all companies. It’s always important to consider whether professional financial, legal or taxation advice is appropriate for you before choosing or purchasing a financial product.
The content on our website is produced by experts in the field of finance and reviewed as part of our editorial guidelines. We endeavour to keep all information across our site updated with accurate information.
Approval for home loans is always subject to our lender’s terms, conditions and qualification criteria. Lenders will undertake a credit check in line with responsible lending obligations to help determine whether you’re in a position to take on the loan you’re applying for.
The interest rate, comparison rate, fees and monthly repayments will depend on factors specific to your profile, such as your financial situation, as well as others, such as the loan’s size and your chosen repayment term. Costs such as broker fees, redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, aren’t included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts may result in a different comparison rate.
