Tips for building a house on a budget

Tips for Building a home on a Budget.

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How to make a budget for new home build

To create a budget for your new home build, follow these steps:

1. Confirm your Entire Project Budget - this is how much you can spend on everything to do with your build and is usually your savings plus what a lender will provide.

2. Now that we know your Entire Project Budget, use a % based formula to figure out the budget for each expense you’ll come across on your new home build. A breakdown of the different budgets to consider is:

   1. Build Budget: The budget available for construction of your home.

   2. Variation Fund: This is your contingency fund for extra costs during the build

   3. Site Setup Expenses: Land Costs & Consultant Fees (e.g., Soil Tests, Legal, Conveyancing, Building Inspector, Surveyor)

   4. Design Fund: This budget will cover your design fees, which may include Architects, Drafting or Engineering.

   5. Approval Costs: Council Planning and Building Permit Fees

   6. Utility Connections: Service Connections (Electricity, Water, Telecom)

The “Build Budget” might not be as high as you expected. When home building clients assume their entire project budget is the same as their build budget, they inevitably get overwhelmed as other costs start to come up during the build process. This misconception is a common reason for budget blowouts on new home builds and something I’m determined to help you avoid!

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Biggest costs when building a house

The biggest cost when building a new home is:

1. Materials and Labour costs

2. Variations - extra costs during the build

Hidden costs when building a house

Along with your build price, there are other costs to plan for, such as:

• Site setup costs

• Utility connections

• Permits

• Design fees

Make sure you have a plan for these expenses to avoid stress later on.

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Tips for Building on Budget

One strategy to stick to your build budget is to use a wish list.

This is a list of things that are ‘nice to have’ but not essential for your new home.

If unbudgeted costs come up during your build, you can use the wish list to offset costs so your overall build budget is never blown.

How to save on building materials

5 things that clients commonly decide to do after their builders complete to save on building materials are:

• Outdoor living areas

• Barbecue areas

• Skylights

• Fireplaces

• Window dressings (e.g venetian blinds)

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Know exactly what you’re signing — before you build.

Protect your dream build with a Building Contract Health Check:

• Avoid budget blowouts before they happen

• Lock in a quality control processes from the start

• Save your future self a huge amount of stress

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Happy building! 💚

Thanks for reading and catch you on my next post :)

Annelyse

Construction Management | M. Construction Law

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