Working Out What You Can Actually Spend (Before You Talk to Anyone)

The most common reason a build goes off the rails has nothing to do with bricks, timber or trades. It's the budget — and not because the budget was wrong. It's because the homeowner didn't realise everything that had to come out of it.

So here's how I reckon you should work it out, sitting at the kitchen table before you ring a single home builder. Step one is the absolute ceiling. What you've got in cash, plus the biggest mortgage you could comfortably service if rates went up another point or two. That ceiling is not what you spend; it's the line you absolutely cannot cross.

Step two is to peel everything else off that figure before you even think about the build itself. Council fees, GST, demolition, soil tests, energy ratings, surveys, landscaping, fencing, driveways, the lot. On a typical custom new home in the MidCoast, those bits and pieces can add up to tens of thousands of dollars before a hammer swings.

Step three: site costs. A flat block in town is one thing. A coastal style home on a sloping bushfire-prone block with limited access is another. Same house plan, very different price.

Once you've stripped all that off, the leftover is your real build budget. That's the figure to bring to a MidCoast builder. And here's the bit that surprises folks — tell us what it is. The whole figure, honestly. A good home builder isn't going to push it up to meet your number. We're going to use it to design something that actually lands inside your wallet without compromise stacked on compromise.

Hiding the budget never helps. It just leads to plans you fall in love with that you can't afford to build, and a year of redrawing them.

If you'd like a hand pressure-testing your numbers before you commit to anything, that's exactly what we're here for. Have a look at inh.com.au/MidCoast and let's talk it through.