The single biggest surprise I see new clients hit is the gap between the build cost and what their project actually costs by the time the keys are in their hand. People arrive thinking they've got, say, $750,000 to spend on a house, and they assume that's what the builder gets. It isn't.
Let me run through how it really works on a typical custom new home out here. You start with the build itself — let's say a 220 square metre home, somewhere in the order of $2,500 plus GST per square metre, depending on inclusions and finishes. That's roughly $550,000 plus GST. Already, GST has chewed through more than fifty grand of your "budget."
Now layer on the realities of an Inverell block. Site conditions matter — if you're on a slope or you've got tricky access, a good builder will allow another ten per cent of the build cost for site works. Add demolition or clearing if there's an old shed or trees. Add the consultants you'll absolutely need: a surveyor, a soil test, an engineer, possibly a bushfire report depending on where the block sits. Add council fees and any approvals. Add landscaping and fencing if you want to walk into a finished property rather than a dirt patch.
By the time you tally all that, the same person who walked in thinking $750,000 was plenty might be staring at a real total closer to $850,000 or more. That's not the builder being sneaky. That's the honest cost of finishing a project.
The cure is simple. Work out your absolute top-line figure — what you've got plus what the bank will lend on a sensible repayment, with a buffer for interest rate moves — and tell your builder the truth from day one. A good Inverell builder would much rather know up front what you can afford than spend weeks designing something you'll never be able to build.
If you'd like to talk through the real numbers for your block, come and see me at inh.com.au/Inverell.
