People are starting to discover new build homes as the property market blooms.
Generally new homes are more efficient in terms of heating which allows you to live in better conditions. You can choose what will suit you, your price range and because it’s a new home, there will be minimal maintenance.
Making Plans For Your New Home
We are fortunate that there so many companies that can build your new home for you.
When you start looking at a new home you may see something that you like, or you may work on something that is unique to you.
Companies Known As Group Builders
There are companies known as “group builders”. They design and build homes that are almost indistinguishable or alike. They have a selective range which you can choose from, a range of pre-designed houses. If you decide to go with a pre-designed house, you may make some changes to the plans and also to the section that you are building on to fit your needs and your lifestyle.
Pre-designed homes is not for everyone as some people may not like the plans that group builders have and they are often targeted at the “average family” which may not suit your requirements; however generally houses built by these types of builders are more cost effective as they reduce the planning costs and can buy materials in bulk as they all use the same.
What normally happens is, group builders will purchase several sections and will sell as a package (house and land packages) which they may offer with a turn key or a progress payment contract.
KiwiBuild was a Government concept that was based on the same philosophy of building at scale; however it’s not proven successful due to poor planning and a lack of expertise.
Builders
Here in New Zealand there is a group of independent builders. Independent builders work on plans by architects and drafts people, these plans are often one-off designs. This way you can purchase the house that is designed for you also the section that is built on. You can still design a simple house that is cost effective too.
You need to make sure that you are comfortable with the section, the house plans and the builder that you choose. The recommendation for a builder is that they are either a Master Builder or Certified Builder and uses their build contracts and guarantees too.
Building a new house is a big task and it needs to be planned well to ensure that things go smoothly and that both the quality and the costs are delivered.
Organising Finance
There is a misconception when it comes to getting finance for new build homes. Many believe that getting finance for new build homes is tough (including bank staff and some mortgage advisers); however those advisers that specialise in new build finance say it’s not any more difficult than your standard home loan. The main thing is making sure that finance goes smoothly, the planning and the build contract.
It is vital that your planning is thorough and that you know what the specifications within the house are. Bigger things to consider is the building materials used, the dimensions and the of course the budget. Then there are the smaller things that you also want to research and consider such as the toilets, the carpets and even how many power plugs there are. Often people will focus on the larger things and forget the smaller things, but it’s often the small things that cause the most problems.
The most important document is the build contract. Most banks like to see a fixed price contract and it ensures that you know what the total cost is too.
There can be some flexibility even within a fixed price contract, but the bank will tend to match the loan approval to the contract so while you may be able to make changes you may have to pay for those changes from your own cash reserves.
You need to ensure that your finance matches the requires of the build contract, and of course your financial situation too.
A specialist new build adviser can help you with the finance that you need.
