As the property market booms people are starting to flock to new build homes.
With a new build you can select something that suits your stage in life, is within your price range and it’s going to be new with minimal maintenance.
New homes are also generally more efficient to heat and cool which means better living conditions.
Planning Your New Home
There are a lot of building 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.
Group Builders
Some of those companies are what are known as “group builders” and they tend to design and build quite large numbers of similar houses. You will generally select from a range of pre-designed houses and may then make some adjustments to the plans to suit your lifestyle and the section that you are building on.
Some people do 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.
Often group builders will buy multiple sections and sell 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.
Independent Builders
There are also a lot of independent builders in New Zealand.
Independent builders will generally work on plans provided by architects and drafts people, and often those plans are one-off designs. This way you can get a house that is designed for your lifestyle and the site that it’s being built on.
You can still design a simple house that is cost effective too.
Many of the independent builders belong to groups which gives them similar buying power to the group, building companies.
It’s important that you are comfortable with the section, the house plans and the builder that you choose.
It’s recommended that the builder is 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.
Getting Finance For New Build Homes
Some people (including bank staff and even some mortgage brokers) think that getting finance for new build homes can be difficult; however those advisers that specialise in new build finance say it'[s not any more difficult than your standard home loan.
The key to making sure that the finance goes smoothly is the planning and the build contract.
You need to ensure that your planning is thorough and you understand exactly what the specifications within the house are. There are large things to consider like the building materials used, the dimensions and 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 build contract is the most important document.
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 broker can help you with the finance that you need.
