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Spring the best time to start planning a new home

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Arylene Westlake-JenningsWestern Suburbs Weekly

SPRINGTIME brings with it the start of the warmer weather, fresh blooms and festival season in WA, as well as the best time to start planning your new home.

Some of the many benefits of looking to build now include skipping the summer rush of enquiries and less issues with wet or inclement weather halting the building process.

“Whilst building at any time of the year is acceptable, planning and beginning the construction of your home during the warmer months allows your builder to complete the works on the home that can be affected by winter rain before the rain comes,” Coast Homes general manager Dean Harris said.

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“By getting the roof on your home before the rains starts, the works to the inside of the home can progress without any delays.

“For example, on a two-storey home the rough rule of thumb is that it takes 6 months from slab to second-floor roof cover, and then another 6 or so weeks to ground-floor roof cover.

“So taking this into consideration, starting your home in the months before Christmas, your home will be at a stage when the July/August/September rains will not be as much of an issue as the majority of works to the home happens inside.”

In-Vogue general manager Jim Ilias said planning a new home well before Christmas and the New Year was always a good idea.

“The process of designing a new home and the stages of administration and council approvals required before your build gets underway will take some time so planning for your new build in the months before Christmas ensures this phase gets well underway before the new year,” he said.

“Furthermore, January and February are the months builders receive a lot of new enquiries, so planning your build ahead of this time will see you avoiding this peak period and you can spend this time taking advantage of the January retail sales while you enjoy the process of sourcing the furniture and fittings for your gorgeous new home.”

Building and designing a new home also allows buyers to get exactly what they want in their home.

“The obvious benefit of building a home is being able to design it to perfectly suit your tastes, your lifestyle and your budget,” Mr Ilias said.

“From the layout of the home to the style of the exterior elevation and the internal fit-out, your home will be unique to you and your family and can be designed to suit your needs.

“Designing and building a new home enables you to maximise the benefits of current building guidelines in the area you love and to make the most of what the block, and area, can offer you.

“One example is the number of homes we are designing and building for clients with upper-floor living areas, which is ideal for blocks with a park or water aspect.”

Coast Homes’ Mr Harris said buyers often chose to build because they could not find something established they were happy with.

“They are not willing to settle for outdated colour schemes and home layouts that do not suit their lifestyles,” he said.

“The desire to build a new home and get exactly what they want is a big driver in people who go down the path of building a new home – why settle on an established home that doesn’t reflect your tastes or needs?

“For other people, they are living in an area that they love, with their kids in the local schools, but their home no longer suits their requirements, so the option to demolish and build a new home that suits them is also a great idea.”

In addition, with the recent announcement the state budget will continue to include the First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty concessions for first-home owners, there is plenty of incentive for the younger generation to start building now as well.

“Although the first home owner’s grant has reduced back to $10,000 from $15,000 for new builds, WA first-home buyers do not pay stamp duty on land up to $300,000 and new homes up to $430,000, which is of great benefit,” Housing Industry Association WA executive director John Gelavis said.

“Also, other states do not have such a strong finance program such as Keystart, which assists first-home buyers with finance on 2 per cent deposit and shared equity.

“There is a great opportunity for first-home buyers at present, with the government stimulus in place, an extremely competitive market, fast build times, good trade availability, Keystart finance and low interest rates.”

Master Builders WA said it anticipated about 6000 new homes would be built by eligible first-home owners in the next financial year.

“It is pleasing that Treasurer Ben Wyatt recognises the importance of the building and construction industry to WA’s economy by not imposing additional taxes around its neck,” Master Builders WA executive director Michael McLean said.

Mr Gelavis agreed building a new home was also a great way to help boost the state’s coffers.

“It is vitally important to understand that the housing industry creates local jobs and feeds strongly back into the WA economy,” Mr Gelavis said.

“Stimulus for the industry housing will enable a much-needed recovery and drive employment in the Western Australian economy.”

In-Vogue’s Mr Ilias said making contact with a builder now was the best step to getting the planning stages underway.

“A builder now may even assist in helping you to find a block as many have great relationships with real estate agents and may even have access to land in the areas you are considering,” he said.

“Your builder can start taking your brief and wish-list of what you would love to see in your finished home, ensuring they are ready to get the ball olling on your home design once you have a block shortlisted.”

Mr Harris said, first and foremost, buyers should do their research.

“The web is a great place to start,” he said.

“You can review the available builders in your price bracket and decide which builders you want to talk to, and visiting display villages can give you a ense of what is available, and the quality of the builders you will engage.

“Building a new home can be daunting for some, but working with a builder that is open to your ideas, and is collaborative, helps make the process exciting and fun.”