The 8 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Building A House

THE 8 BIGGEST MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN BUILDING A HOUSE

with advice on how you can avoid making them brought ot you by the team at MyBuilder Canberra www.mybuildercanberra.com.au

So, it’s time for a new home? How exciting!

Soon, you will have the stunningly beautiful home that you’ve always wanted and you’ll be living the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed about.

You start telling your friends and family that you’ve decided to build a house.

They start telling you horror stories.

Stories about “This bloke I know” or “This lady at work” who experienced building delays, budget blow-outs, dodgy builders who built a house that wasn’t what they wanted and all the little things that are now popping after they’ve moved in … long after the builder has finished.

It all sounds very scary and costly. You start thinking about whether it would be easier to not build a new home.

The bad news is, those stories are real. They are real because people make mistakes. They are, however, mistakes they didn’t have to make.

The good news is that you don’t have to make those mistakes. That is what this book is all about.

MyBuilder Canberra is a group of professional builders with over 100 years of combined experience in building in Canberra. Furthermore, each one has a minimum of 10 years experience in building in Canberra.

That means they know what they are talking about. Still, they see people making mistakes day in, day out. Best of all, they know how you can avoid being just another horror story about “This bloke I know” or “This lady at work”.

That’s why the MyBuilder Canberra team have identified the most common mistakes they see people making when building a new house and have provided straight forward advice on how to avoid them.

You have a vision of what you want your new home to be.

Realise it. Easily.

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WHAT MISTAKES ARE INSIDE? Selecting The Wrong Block For Your House / p. 4 Not Understanding Site Works / p.6 Thinking Everything Is Included / p. 8 Not Knowing The Rules Of Building / p. 10 Substituting Quality Products / p. 12 Listening To Google Builders / p. 14 Not Fully Thinking Out A Design Before Speaking To A Builder / p. 16 Not Creating A Wish List / p. 18

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#1. SELECTING THE WRONG BLOCK

A square peg won’t fit in a round hole

No one falls in love with a block of land. Not really.

Instead, you spend lots of time viewing stunningly beautiful homes that you can definitely see yourself living in. You’ll create a vision of your dream home in your head and you will love it. You will think about it all the time and imagine the time, when it comes, when you will be living in it.

Excitedly, with a design in mind and a block of land to build on, you tell a builder you are ready to start.

“I can’t build your dream home on that block” they say “It’s not possible with the design you want. You bought an unsuitable block.”

But you need a block to build on.

No problem, just go buy one.

You feel sick, however, you convince yourself you can try and make the house design fit the block. Unfortunately, buying a block of land that isn’t actually suitable will almost definitely lead you to having to compromise on your home. You don’t want that.

Problem is, with land hard to come by, you snapped up a block because you didn’t want to miss out and be forced to delay months or years in building your dream home.

That’s why you should do some important ground work before committing to a block because you want it to be able to accommodate your dream design (and budget).

You get that feeling of excitement in your stomach and you want to satisfy it as soon as possible.

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To avoid this, you should speak to a few builders about what type of home you are wanting to build. You don’t need to go into the fine detail, but a good builder will arm you with lots of important things to consider before you commit to a block.

They’ll speak to you about what type of home you are wanting to build and what your budget is (or at least a ballpark). With that, they’ll be able to tell you what types of blocks would suit what you are looking to achieve.

Things like: • • • • • •

site conditions; site soil; site contours; orientation (North or East is best); mandatory driveway positioning; and slope.

OUR ADVICE Involve builders early. They’ve been there, done that, many times before and they’ll help you avoid buying an unsuitable block where you’ll need to compromise on your dream or blow your budget out.

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#2. NOT UNDERSTANDING SITE WORKS Don’t blow your budget

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House and land packages can be a great way for you to get a ‘package deal’ that includes both a new home and the land on which it’s built.

While any standard home design can be adjusted relatively cheaply, blocks of land can be a different story. Blocks of land come in all shapes, size, orientations, restrictions and unique challenges.

What that means is that a block of land may need significant work before your home can be built. And that significant work isn’t always included in the ‘package’ price.

Some builders are a bit shy in telling you that fact until you’ve already committed to them and that can cost you dearly. For example, a block with a five-meter fall (the distance from the highest point to the lowest point) could need as much as $35,000 worth of site works just to get the block ready to build on.

That’s on top of your ‘package’.

OUR ADVICE So, how do you avoid that? First off, ask any builder who you are considering buying a house and land package from, “Are site works included?”. Secondly, when you are discussing blocks, always ask, “How much fall is on this block?”.

That should be enough to get the conversation started and tease out whether any additional site works costs are in order.

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#3. THINKING EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED

Compare apples to apples

Walking around display homes is great. It is easy to see yourself living in such a beautiful home; especially when it is so well presented and all the little things and attention to detail catch your eye.

Things like the top of the range appliances, the fulltiled walls in the bathrooms, the amazing ceilings or floor coverings, the must have double glazed windows, the stunning lighting in the open living areas or the magical, very sheik, black tap ware in the bathroom.

Thing is, all the homes are beautiful and well presented, however, there can be big differences between prices for what seem like comparable houses.

That’s why you might think to yourself “That builder over there is just charging more because they think they can.

We won’t be ripped off. Let’s go with the cheaper builder because their display home is just as good and we will save thousands”.

Then, as you start building, and all those little luxuries, the attention to detail, the inclusions, aren’t actually included like you thought.

What the hell happened?

You didn’t compare apples with apples.

It’s not as simple as a builder saying “Yes, I can build you that house for $350,000”. In fact, any builder can build you

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a house for what seems like a cheap price. One reason is that they’ll cut back on the quality of the inclusions and not tell you.

It can be hard to be concrete on prices sometimes. That’s why a good builder will incorporate an allowance into the overall price. Not all builders do that. Some will just exclude it and when it comes to having to action that item they’ll come and ask you for more money.

The end result is often that you end up paying more to the builder that you thought was cheap than you would have going with the builder you thought was a bit expensive at the start. When that happens, you can expect to spend an extra $20,000 to $100,000.

OUR ADVICE Our advice is to always ask why houses that seem comparable actually differ in price. Do understand that you should start by looking at the inclusions and asking some questions.

That way, when you get the keys to your new home, it will feel just like the display home you walked through. In fact, it will be better because it’s yours and you got it at a great price.

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#4. KNOWING THE RULES OF BUILDING

Don’t get caught offside

There are a lot of technical elements that need to be considered when building a house and the ACT Planning Authority are very strict on enforcing these being met.

That’s a good thing because it helps ensure that people get quality, fully compliant, homes.

It’s a bad thing because you don’t understand them. In fact, you probably have no idea just how much needs to be considered and how it may impact your build.

Just like site works, and selecting a block suitable for your home, there are considerations around what can and can’t be done on blocks of land.

There are rules around setbacks, easements and the position of driveways, just to name a few.

There are even rules around shadows that construction can cast! While some of these rules and regulations are standard, they can differ from suburb to suburb. So, even if you have a general sense of what you are dealing with it may not be technically applicable to the suburb you are looking at building in.

Put it this way, there are 47-odd pages that are involved in the single-dweller building code that your new home has to adhere to. And the block can severely impact on that with the result being you having to compromise on your dream home or spend more money realising it.

OUR ADVICE Involve builders and draftsmen early. They are very experienced in complying with the rules and regulations and will be able to help you understand what sort of block you need or, in a very short period of time, they can give you some indication of what it’s going to cost.

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#5. SUBSTITUTING

QUALITY PRODUCTS The sum is greater than the parts

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There is no doubt about it; building a new home is probably going to be the biggest purchase of your life. It is an exciting time as you work through all the awesome designs and features to create something that you will love.

In isolation, the cost of the beautiful oak door, or the aluminum windows, or the skylight don’t seem big. But when they are all added up it can almost by death from a thousand cuts.

You wonder how you’ll build your dream home, which you can already envision yourself living in, without catching the bus to work every day and eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.

That’s when it can be tempting to find cheaper alternatives for the door, the windows and the skylight.

Look, there is nothing wrong with cutting costs, in fact, you may need to, but make sure it doesn’t actually end up costing you more.

How could that possibly happen? They are cheaper alternatives.

The first place you are going to go to look for inexpensive alternatives is Google. And you’ll definitely find what you are looking for; sometimes that will mean importing them.

There are three potential issues with that.

1. What looked good online doesn’t meet your expectations when it arrives.

2. What arrives doesn’t meet Australian standards and you may need to pay for testing.

3. You compromise on after sales service and warranties.

Whether one, two or all of those potential issues are relaised, the result is the same – you’ll end up spending money fixing them and that may result in you spending more than the original option that you thought was too expensive. This can be in the range of tens of thousands of dollars for something like imported windows.

The result is you have to spend more money finding something suitable (which, in the end, could cost you more than sticking with the original option.

OUR ADVICE Don’t be embarrassed about having to stick to a budget; it’s what any builder, worth their salt, is good at. So just have an open conversation with them and they’ll use their knowledge and experience to help you determine where you can save money and still build the home you’ve always wanted.

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#6. LISTENING TO GOOGLE BUILDERS You can’t trust everything you read online

Builder Google is your worst enemy. Just like when you are ill, you shouldn’t self diagnose yourself by Googling your symptoms, you shouldn’t simply be informed by what you read on the internet about building.

Of course, there is some great information and advice online but there is also a lot of rubbish.

That’s why it is important that anything you read online is vetted and dissected so it can be properly understood and applied to your situation. Most basically, whatever you read online needs to meet Australian standards

and local building codes and regulations.

to an awesome idea only to be told you can’t do it in Australia.

Using the internet for research is important. There is a lot of inspiration and great new products that you can find. So, by all means, surf away.

However, we have very strict standards in Australia and they are there to protect you, the home owner. Don’t start putting together a dream home with information that is wrong for your situation. It can be very, very costly to undo or, at a minimum, you will become frustrated with the whole experience of becoming attached

All you have to do is ask a builder. A good builder will normally be able to tell you straight away whether an idea you are thinking about can be achieved in Australia. All you have to do is ask their opinion.

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A good builder will want to have those conversations with you.

They want to talk through the project, your vision, your needs and your inspirational ideas for your home.

OUR ADVICE Involve builders early. They’ve been there, done that, many times before and they’ll help you avoid buying an unsuitable block where you’ll need to compromise on your dream or blow your budget out.

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#7. NOT FULLY THINKING

OUT A DESIGN BEFORE SPEAKING TO A BUILDER Builders have been there, done that

You have a block, you have a great design by an architect and you engage a builder. The paperwork gets submitted and approved; the construction phase starts.

Then you think to yourself “Wait, maybe we’d like a bit more segregation of living space?” Or maybe it is a study or another quiet outside area. Whatever it is you think you want, it is outside of the scope and what was approved.

If you really want those changes then you’ve got to go back and do the submissions and get approval again. That costs money and adds time to the project. And no one wants that.

The mistake you made was that you got caught up in the romance of your beautiful new home and didn’t fully think out your design and your needs. You may even have engaged an architect who doesn’t have the skill set and experience to design the type of home you want. In other words, they don’t know residential houses inside out.

The key here is not to rush the design phase. Don’t rush to the construction phase. It is also critical to speak to builders who have experience in building the type of home you want.

Simply slowing down a little, taking your time, and talking to builders can be hugely important to building the home you’ve always wanted. It is also the key to not having to compromise or spending additional money.

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Sometimes, it is something really small. Something you would probably never think about in a design. For example, bedrooms quite often have swinging doors. The issue is that swinging doors means you have to have extra space for the door to swing. That means wasted space.

Instead, by using a sliding door, you can cut down wasted space. It might only mean half to one meter of space but it can add up throughout a home and can improve the livability significantly.

Builders spend a lot of time and money coming up with great designs to meet a wide range of lifestyles and budgets. The idea is to make it easier for you to settle on a design because the builder knows it is approval ready, exactly how much it will cost to build and how long it will take to build.

Also, all the little kinks and issues, like swinging doors, are already ironed out for you because they already know what they are.

Avoid going straight to an architect to design your home and then approach builders with a completed plan. Instead, get around to display villages and have a look at what products are out there that builders already have designed, have actually built and know intimately. Pick the features that work out of those homes and try and combine them into your design.

OUR ADVICE Have conversations with builders about why rooms are in certain places, why a design has certain features and who would be ideal for the home. Talk to them about things you are thinking about having in your new home.

At a minimum, you’ll be able to pass all the builders great knowledge onto an architect and ensure you don’t make mistakes. Best case scenario, the builder may be able customize an existing design to meet your needs.

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#8. NOT CREATING A WISH LIST

You know what you want; write it down!

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In can be a bit confronting to be asked “So, what do you want in a home?”

While it is easy to verbalise what the home will feel like, it can be difficult to explain the elements of a house that would contribute to that feeling.

The risk is getting caught up in conversations, with a builder or architect, where you are telling them what you want in a house but haven’t really thought deeply about it all that much.

So, before you speak to anyone, your first task is to create a wish list.

Your wish list should break up the features of your new home into critical, very important,

important and nice to have. It is also important to prioritise the list under each heading.

The result should be the most important thing at the top and the least important thing at the bottom.

That way, when you talk to builders or architects they will be easily able to look at your list and, at any item listed, draw a line and say “Your budget will need to be $X to include all the things above”.

This exercise will useful if you already have a certain budget in mind but it is also useful if you are looking to settle on a budget based on what will go into your new home. You might even need to reevaluate your list a few times.

One of the reasons for taking this approach is that you will end up with a home design that not only meets your needs but also your budget expectations.

The other reason is time. If you think deeply about what you need, past simply “An integrated audio visual system”, and instead think about what you want it to do, then it will be quicker and easier for a builder to source quotes for inclusion in the design.

Finally, cost is a factor. If you’ve thought deeply about what you need then it will eliminate the need for any costly variations once construction starts.

OUR ADVICE Bottom line is, you need to do some homework first. So grab that pen and paper and start!

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ABOUT Established in 2012, MyBuilder Canberra was established by a group of professional builders with over 100 years of combined experience in building in Canberra. They established the Molongolo Display Villiage and took on the MyBuilder and Guild Builders Australia branding for the Canberra area.

The builders who are selected to join the GUILD Builders of Canberra have a minimum of 10 years experience, have commercial open office space, display homes, are fully insured, are award winning builders and are all current members of HIA or MBA. What is a Guild Builder?

My Builder Canberra provides a smart, free way to help people find the right builder.

Whether your looking to build, buy or seeking advice - My Builder Canberra aims to provide you with complete peace of mind for building or buying your dream home, or buying investment properties in Canberra.

My Builder Canberra. Dependable. Innovative. Committed. www.mybuildercanberra.com.au

10 years trading experience from a commercial office, display homes and fully insured.

MEET THE GUILD BUIDLERS TODAY / www.mybuildercanberra.com.au / / 02 6103 0959 /