To Renovate or to Build a New Home?

To Renovate or to Build a New Home?

It’s a common scenario. You’ve got the land with a bit of a fixer-upper of a house on it.

If you are considering whether to renovate or demolish your existing home and start over, there are some important factors to keep in mind.

UNIQUE BUILDING HISTORY AND VISUALS

If you’re considering rebuilding an existing property, it’s essential to check the local council development website first. This can help identify any overlays affecting the property, such as character overlays or overland flood zones. These overlays could prevent a rebuild altogether or add significant costs to the process.

HOW TO AVOID HIDDEN SURPRISES

Upon initial investigation, most believe renovating your existing house would be a better choice financially. “We’ll just renovate the kitchen and extend a bathroom”. It isn’t until the work begins that realisations come to light on the condition of the “bones of the house”. These often need more work than expected, increasing the cost of renovating.

Have you ever noticed that after renovating a part of your home, the rest suddenly looks outdated?

For example, after renovating your kitchen and making it look brand new, you might notice that your old bathroom no longer looks up to scratch, and this feeling might continue into the bedrooms and lounge halls.

Before you know it, you’ll fully renovate the house within the existing room sizes and layout restrictions.

It has worked out to be the same or even higher cost as a brand-new home. However, a new home comes with the added benefits of a blank canvas, with no restrictions on design or size.

After 15 years of experience, I strongly recommend opting for a complete rebuild rather than a renovation. With a rebuild, you can work outside of a pre-existing space and have the freedom to create something entirely new. This allows you to create your dream home at a fixed price with no hidden surprises.

HOW TO UNDERTAKE A KNOCK DOWN AND REBUILD

When building a new house from a knockdown, the first step is to have a budget figure in mind. It’s always a big help to have finance pre-approval as well. At Resi Homes, we have a mortgage broker who can help with this critical step.

Once you have finalised your house design and contract, obtained all the required permits (including the demolition permit), disconnected the necessary services, and engaged the demolisher, you’re ready to go.

If you use Resi Homes for your rebuild process, you can be in your new home within an average of 14 weeks from the commencement of demolition. You would live in your house during the pre-build construction and must only vacate the week before demolition commences.

REBUILD BENEFITS

After we hand over your home, you can sleep easily at night, knowing you have a new home warranty lasting seven years.

You can enjoy the capital growth from your brand-new home. If you’ve been dreaming of a new home, now may be the perfect time to take action. With home prices steadily increasing, act quickly and make your dream a reality.

Selecting the right builder for a knockdown rebuild can be difficult because of the sheer number of builders out there. If you’re trying to decide on a builder, doing a QBCC licence search can be helpful. This will help you determine if the builder you are considering has any marks on their license, enabling you to make an informed decision. You can also see the amount of work that this builder does, which will give you an idea of their experience and buying power.
Although housing awards can sometimes be controversial, they are still a good indicator of a quality builder. Recognising their achievements throughout the industry ensures they constantly do things to a high standard.

Talking to previous clients of a builder can be helpful. It’s also a good idea to tour the builder’s current projects to check the cleanliness of the site and the quality of the structural work, before it is plastered and painted. This will give you an idea of the true quality of their work. Not all builders will be open to this, but it is common practice here at Resi Homes.