COSTLY TRAPS FOR THE UNWARY HOME BUYER

UNEXPECTED costs are one of the biggest barriers to building a new home for buyers across the board, from first-home buyers to downsizers and those looking to upsize. Data from Porter Davis and realestate.com.au

shows that shifting site costs is a big issue for people undertaking a new build.

The data also shows that 61 per cent of consumers interviewed believed light fittings were included, a further 57 per cent said they thought window coverings were included and 64 per cent thought driveways were included. Alison Ryan and her husband built their first house through a volume builder in Leopold in 2011. “The thing we were concerned about most was how much money would be going into the ground beforehand, the site costs,” she said. “As a first-home buyer you are very unaware of just how much money goes into the ground.” She said when they started looking at building their second home, the land was on a slope and they looked at what the site costs would be.

But because there was no fixed price they decided to buy established instead.

Her tip for those looking to build a new house is to do as much research as possible and talk to people who have already gone through the process.

“Ask what is and isn’t included, talk to builders and find out everything,” she said.

Mrs Ryan said they did get stung when building their first house.

“After we did our driveway we didn’t realise the Telstra cable still needed to go through so we had to dig it back up … we really should have known that,” she said.

To make the building process easier, Porter Davis is offering a limited amount of fixed price site cost guarantees for those looking to build with Porter Davis early next year.

The offer closes September 30.