The Various Types of New Homes Available to Build

We all know that builders have a variety of different floor plans and facades available however, what you might not have realised is that some builders also offer a range of different homes for different purposes.

The most commonly thought about homes are likely your average family home and a fancy architecturally designed custom home, but this is really just scratching the surface. So today I wanted to run through some of the other options available to you in the hopes that perhaps with the information learnt here, you’ll find a slightly different path than you otherwise would have taken that might lead to a better end result for your new home.,

Some of the types of homes that I’ll break down for you below will include the following:

• Wholesale homes purposely designed to be rental properties;
• Base range Project Builder homes designed for owner-occupants;
• Customisable Project Builder homes designed for owner-occupants;
• Custom homes;
• Transportable prefabricated homes (prefab homes);
• Kit homes.

Mentally Framing the Journey to Maximise Fun and Excitement

In the market for a new home?

Congratulations!

In the content below I’ll provide a rundown on the different types of homes available for you to consider building.

Before diving in, know that this journey can be truly rewarding. I want to give you a clear picture of what lies ahead, so you can fully embrace and make the most of the experience.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that in almost every article I read that relates to anything to do with buying blocks of land, finding the right builder or anything to do with new homes, the articles almost always start talking about how daunting the experience is and why you need not worry, because said article has come to save the day.

Personally, I totally disagree and that’s because it’s all about how you mentally frame it.

For me, planning a future home is a fun and exciting experience. It’s something I’m always looking forward to, it’s an experience that allows us to tap into our innermost desires and then take incremental steps towards bringing them to life.

This is just one of the many great ways we can achieve feelings of fulfilment and accomplishment in our lives.

Just imagine, on the day when you’re finally passed the keys to your new home, you step inside and get that feeling of deep satisfaction knowing that this home has your blood, sweat, (not tears) all running through the veins of your home.

It’s apparent in how the home looks when you approach from within your vehicle; and how it makes you feel when you park your bum after a big day of getting s*** done.

There’s really nothing quite like it, and now you get to create it.

How exciting, this is what life’s all about if you have the right framing.

With that said, let’s get into your options.

Option 1: Wholesale Homes Purposely Designed to be Rental Properties

Wholesale homes, also referred to as rental properties or investment homes are a range of home designs that come with pre-determined standardised inclusions set by the builder. Generally, the only optionality offered to the buyer is the ability to select from five or six different pre-set colour schemes as this allows the builder to more efficiently process all the applicable information required to begin construction than if a client were making individual selections for each aspect of the home. It can also lead to quicker build times and fewer headaches for you and the builder due to increased production efficiencies of these home designs.

Why you might consider a wholesale home?

You might consider having a wholesale home built if you’re looking to put some funds to work and don’t care to; or have a great deal of time available to consider and think about all of the different variables that are modifiable with a project builders’ customisable home. It’s a time-efficient approach to building a new home however the trade-off for efficiency is the inability to make changes.

There might also be tax offset incentives for choosing a newly built home over an existing home, but I feel these kinds of incentives change regularly so you’d have to do your own research on that one.

If a wholesale home is of interest to you, drop me a line through our contact form, let me know your location and budget and I’ll track down some options for you to consider.

Option 2: Base Range Project Builder Homes Designed for Owner-Occupants

Next up is your run-of-the-mill project builder-style homes. The builders that bring these homes to life generally have a variety of different floor plans to choose from, they also likely have a design studio which you can make various selections from however, where they lack is that they might restrict you to only making selections from items within their design studio, thus hindering your ability to really add your own touch of personality to your new home.

Ultimately these kinds of homes fit a specific target market, and that’s anyone who’s determined to have a new home built but needs to do it on a price-sensitive budget.

The upside to these base range project builder homes is that; as they are similar to wholesale homes with limited modifiable inclusions, builders can offer better pricing because there is less administration work for the builder’s team to break down the file and process all the required materials and labour costs.

These homes also get built much more efficiently than that of modified or custom homes; as the plans have generally already had all the issues ironed out when they were built previously for other clients.

Like all things, these base range project builder-style homes have their place in the market and you just need to determine if they’re the right fit for you.

Looking to really add your own flare of personality and taste to your new home?

This next section is for you.

Option 3: Customisable Project Builder Homes Designed For Owner-Occupants

Similar to the base range project builder homes mentioned above, the builders that provide customisable project builder homes like to provide their clients with added flexibility, allowing their standard home designs to be heavily modified. This flexibility allows you to really customise a builder’s standard design and tailor it to your personal needs and preferences.

This is where new homes really start to become quite interesting as this is where individual flares of personality start to become intertwined with a home; setting it apart from the cookie-cutter homes that get mass-produced with little or no changes.

How Do I Know if I Should Customise a Home?

If you look at a builder’s floor plan and one of the first things you think is,

• ‘It would be cool if the kitchen was instead over here’ or
• ‘I’d much prefer to not have a wall there, let’s open this area up’ or
• ‘Let’s extend this external wall out to make this area here much larger’

Then a customizable home is what you need. To facilitate this, you’ll need to ensure from the get-go that your builder is happy to allow changes like the examples listed here.

When it comes to pricing, builders who are flexible about modifications will provide detailed pricing within your quote for each change you request. This transparency ensures you understand the cost implications of every alteration. Remember, structural adjustments such as extending homes and relocating walls will entail more administration, estimation, and potential engineering modifications. These complexities arise from altering standard floor plans, and it’s reasonable to expect additional costs for such changes.

Ultimately, finding a builder who will allow structural modifications to their existing home designs can be a cost-effective alternative for getting a home that’s tailored to your needs and is actually one of the key focus points that we at Foresight Home Planning look for when we are seeking out builders for our clients. Discover our ten-point selection criteria for our Foresight Select builders; that ensures you’ll have a leg up when deciding who to build with.

You might have thought that a builder’s standard floor plan is locked and can’t be changed, but when you have the right builder, a floor plan can become whatever you want it to be.

Option 4: Custom Architecturally Designed Homes

Looking for a home that’s truly a one-off?

Architecturally designed homes are just that.

These homes typically come into existence when someone can’t find a home with a project builder that they would like to build so they decide the only way forward is to have an architect or a building designer draw up a set of custom plans from scratch to suit their specific block of land and design aspirations.

Typically the architect or building designer will be provided with a budget, inspirational images that the client wants the home to resemble along with specific requirements that are to be incorporated into the full set of construction plans.

The architect or building designer then takes this information and produces a set of construction drawings (aka floor plans & elevations) for you to review, ensuring the plans meet the local council’s building code and that the plans can be approved when processed by certifiers and the council.

Once the first draft has been completed you’ll get to review the plans, provide feedback, and the architect or building designer will then work with you to get the plans to a point that you love and are happy to proceed with.

But wait, there’s more.

Once the plans are drawn you’ll need to have a structural engineer provide a set of engineered drawings to suit the home. The plans the engineer will create provide detail on all aspects of the home including but not limited to structural footings, bracing requirements, beam layouts, and fixing requirements (plus more). These engineering documents are required by the builder for both quoting purposes and are heavily required throughout the construction of the home as the home needs to be built in line with the engineering otherwise it won’t obtain certification or be structurally sound.

One such building design service that we’re familiar with is BYO Floor Plans, which operates out of the Gold Coast. BYO offers a comprehensive range of services, including project briefings, site analysis, two concept designs, working drawings, tender packages, and construction support. With BYO’s expertise, your chosen builder can commence construction as soon as you sign a contract with them.

You may also consider collaborating with an interior design agency to envision the finishing touches for your home. Interior designers assist with selections ranging from bricks, wall and floor tiles, and paint to curtains, blinds, and other decor elements.

In my experience, interior designers are highly recommended for this type of home as they can help you create a theme to carry throughout the home which in turn helps achieve the best finished result possible.

They are much more likely to have a deep understanding of the level of finish your home should have and can help you achieve that by presenting various options that you wouldn’t otherwise be aware of to consider for your architecturally designed project.

Building an architecturally designed home is the pinnacle of new home construction, it provides the most flexibility for the client as it allows them to have a say in every aspect of the home, from deciding what materials are to be used where, to experimenting with design ideas that require custom engineering requirements to achieve the finished result.

If you’re considering progressing down this path feel free to utilise our IdeaDrop tool to collect inspiration for your new project. It’s Free to use at your pleasure.

How much do custom architecturally designed homes cost?

How long is a piece of string?

There are so many variables that come into play with custom homes that it’s really not an easy question to answer and ultimately comes down to how intricate and detailed the home is that you are asking to be designed and built.

Now I’ll touch on construction costs in just a moment but for now, let’s begin thinking about the costs that go into creating a set of architecturally designed plans.

In my personal experience, the architecturally designed plans that I’ve crossed paths with and have worked on throughout my career have ranged in price from $18,000 right through $200,000 or between 5 – 15% of your total construction contract value.

Yep that’s right, it’s common for the architect’s fee to be a percentage of your home’s total construction value.

This can drastically drive up the cost of your project and is one of the main reasons why our preference at Foresight Home Planning is to help you create a vision for your new home and then find a builder who can bring it to life by applying structural modifications to their standardised home designs as we can eliminate these huge architectural fees this way.

For the actual construction of the home (excluding land purchasing costs) it is my experience that homes that were architecturally drawn, when quoted worked out to cost around the $3400/m² mark.

Realestate.com.au have indicated in this article that “While the cost of building is influenced by many factors including location, site, finishes and design, you can expect the cost to be between $620 -$3900 per sqm. However, this figure doesn’t include design, decoration costs – such as painting, planning permits, any site works or any cost blow-outs.”

Disclaimer: I don’t believe it’s possible to build a home for $620/m2, that’s likely a typo in the above-mentioned quote.

As you can see, the costs associated with architecturally designed homes are not even close to being comparable to working with a builder who will allow modifications to one of their standard floor plans. I hope this section has been enlightening for you.

Thinking about building an architecturally designed home? Start saving your new home inspiration with our free-to-use IdeaDrop tool now.

Option 5: Transportable Prefabricated Homes (AKA Prefab Homes)

Ever see those homes getting around on the highway on the back of a truck?

These homes are typically built on a large property or warehouse and then delivered to the buyers address.

They’re generally quite small due to the requirements for them to fit on a truck in order to be delivered however, some builders do have larger designs where they join smaller sections together on site in order to create larger living spaces.

As per the other homes discussed above, these homes still require engineering, plumbing & building approvals, and certification in order to have them erected on your property. They also need qualified tradesman to connect the power, water, stormwater and sewer lines.

The benefits of choosing a transportable style home is that you can drastically cut down the time it takes for a completed home to be available on your block of land as some of the builders who supply these will have stock in their yard readily available, whereas a new home built from scratch on your block of land can often take in in excess of 6 to 12 months depending on the complexity and size of the home.

Where this style of home really excels is that in some cases you can place one in your back yard which can then be used for friends, family or potentially for renting out through sites such as Airbnb. Ensure you double check with your local council prior to purchasing one to ensure you are complying with the legal requirements of short term rentals in your area.

Option 6: Kit Homes

Fancy yourself as a bit of a handy man or puzzle extraordinaire?

Got a year of free time up your sleeve?

This could be just the project you’re looking for.

Kit homes are a type of home where only the materials to build the home get delivered to your property and the rest is left to you. This might be a suitable option if you’re a carpenter and all round handy man otherwise you might end up with a building site that looks like you were trying to play pick up sticks with construction materials.

Jokes aside, these homes really do serve a purpose for certain buyers. If you’re someone who feels up to the challenge of finishing a construction project without a professional builder, managing the daily tasks on-site might just be your calling.

As an alternative, you could step into the role of an owner-builder. This approach involves hiring the appropriate qualified tradespeople to either quote each aspect of the build or work on an hourly basis, effectively replicating what a builder would do.

Please bear in mind that there are different requirements for owner builders in each state so please seek out personalised professional advice from your local council and Kit home supplier before committing to a Kit home yourself.

Summary

There you have it, if you’re in the market for a new home; there’s sure to be a specific type of house that’s perfect for the result you’re trying to achieve.

For those of you who do take the journey to really create a vision for the perfect home you desire and then having it built, the end result can be one of the most satisfying things you’ll ever do. It may even be on par with raising a child, and lucky for you this one never gets lippy and talks back!

When exploring the various types of homes on offer, it helps to visualize pricing for new homes on a spectrum. Builders who don’t provide much flexibility tend to be more affordable. However, as builders offer more adaptability, their prices typically increase. This uptick in cost accounts for the added overheads: from administrative tasks to the extra materials and labor required to accommodate customizations.

With that in mind, the cheapest builder isn’t likely going to be the builder you are looking for if tailoring a home to your personal needs is your desired outcome.

If you’re at the beginning of your journey and still figuring out which direction you’d like to take, feel free to utilise our IdeaDrop tool to capture all your inspirational images and ideas for your new home so they’re ready to go when you find the builder you want to proceed with.

Also, dont forget to check out our free ‘Get Builder-Ready‘ educational resource if you’re looking for some insights into how your journey ahead might unfold.

Best of luck on your journey, I hope this article has helped you to identify which direction you should be heading.

**Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is based on publicly available information. While we strive to ensure the accuracy of this content, Foresight Home Planning Pty Ltd does not guarantee the completeness or reliability of the information. This article is intended for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Foresight Home Planning does not accept liability for any loss, expenses or damage incurred as a result of reliance on the information contained herein. Readers are advised to conduct their own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions related to property purchases, contracts with builders or investments.

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