Budget builds and savvy shortcuts are terms you’ve likely seen repeatedly on your search for penny-pinching, homeowner’s tips.
While going the ground-up option involves different costs, you’ll still need to brace for some bank-busting expenses to build a home right.
But don’t give up an arm and a leg just yet. There’s still hope for those looking for a thriftier path to homeownership without excessively compromising on quality!
We’ve draughted a few ideas on the cheapest way to build a house in Australia for our fellow frugal families desperate to design their own living quarters, yard spaces, and more!
Here’s what you can do:
Start with the perfect block
The dirt your home sits on could be costing you cash if you’re not careful.
Study the site and research whether it has anything problematic associated with it. This could include access restrictions, a less than desirable slope, or other geographical or locational issues.
All of this is extra work, which means more dollars to outlay before you even begin on the foundations or put retaining walls in. Unnecessary digging or other excavation works to level out the ground isn’t something you want to deal with or pay for pre-build.
Accessibility is also important as builders will likely increase fees or labour to compensate for any complications regarding transporting or storing materials. Think about where construction personnel will have to position machinery or other equipment too.
Looking at larger blocks a few minutes out of town? Remember that services such as tree clearing or earth moving might be required before even thinking about your designs.
Consider going rural
There’s more to a country lifestyle than just peace and quiet. Regional living also offers incredible savings by giving homeowners a bit more bang for their buck.
Less population and living a little more remotely usually mean lower land prices. It’s important to hunt around to find that inland or coastal gem offering all the amenities (or most) a big city can provide.
Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane housing markets are only trending in one direction with no signs of backflipping anytime soon.
You might end up several hours outside Australia’s major metropolitan areas; however, giving up the rat race might be just what your family and budget yearn for.
After finding and deciding upon a particular town, look at its suburbs and determine where the lowest median prices are. You’ll probably score a bigger piece of land and begin to appreciate how much more money you can now allocate towards the design due to choosing rural living.
Of course, you’ll have to figure out how jobs and other commitments line up with the move, but oftentimes an improved, bigger space is worth a few minor sacrifices. The cheapest way to build a house in Australia, most of the time, involves minimalisation!
Simplify your design
It’s only natural for first-time home builders to flaunt their ambitious, over-elaborate designs. Most people channel their excitement into their plans, overcomplicating them with more bells and whistles than they need.
Lowering costs even further means simplifying layouts at every possible opportunity.
We’d all love to own five-bedroom, four-bathroom multi-story homes with generous garages and balconies off every room, but is it really necessary?
Not if your heart’s already set on finding the cheapest way to build a house in Australia!
That’s all money that could be spent elsewhere, and you can still create a family home masterpiece on paper without the costly add-ons.
Stick to standard, and we guarantee you’ll notice those quotes come down in price when you compare them to previous enquiries for more adventurous plans.
What about a kit home?
Pre-fabricated home options aren’t really on the rise in terms of popularity. However, the trend never exactly diminished either. Designers are always looking for ways to introduce new kit home styles to markets while maintaining affordability.
These modular homes should be right up your alley when contemplating the cheapest way to build a house in Australia.
Kit homes are ultra-versatile, are available in a range of sizes and styles, and are connectible to form a variety of orientations. Other advantages include less construction time, package-style purchasing, and higher levels of quality control.
Modular housing can cost as little as $2,500 per square meter!
You can also always transport the entire house if circumstances change, with a dynamic and highly customisable range of fixtures for a more personal finishing touch.
Ditch those super-swanky finishes
Lavish finishes can send an already-stretched budget into the stratosphere.
Steer clear of the trends to easily avoid that typical money-wasting scenario when looking at modernising both interior and exterior features of your home.
While quality is still crucial, expensive and extravagant-looking fixtures are not.
Opt for basic finishes that are built to last or even of mid-range value to polish off the property. You want your budget to be looking positively in the green amidst the finalisation stages, not skyrocketing back up into the red.
Kitchen and bathroom fixtures are normally where budgets blow out. Cabinetry and tapware are where people become the most experimental, shelling out more than they can afford for components they don’t actually need.
Allocate a figure for finishes at the beginning, trying your best to not overspend on the less significant things right before moving in!
Our Thoughts?
Savings don’t come without sacrifice.
By now, you’ll have realised that most tips regarding economic home building suggest there’s no way around it; it’s choosing ‘what’ part of a plan to change rather than ‘if’.
On the bright side? You’re still achieving your dream home design, but you’re saving significantly in the process. Oftentimes a couple of small trade-offs are truly worth the results, keeping a bunch of common builders’ regrets way out of the question!
So, ponder our pointers, and take a few days to rethink and reanalyse each aspect of the plan before getting started.
There’s cash to be saved, and we wouldn’t want you to miss out on it!
Congrats on your decision to build, and good luck!