Building your home is a wonderful experience. The opportunity to finally address all those little things that have bothered you about all of the homes you have lived in or replicate those you have loved. From your childhood home, to the first home you moved into when you left the nest, there’s so much to reflect on and get excited by. Not to mention all the beautiful homes you dream about when scrolling through Instagram or watching The Block. So, how do you build this home you have been dreaming about whilst sticking to your budget? Here are our three tips!

# 1: Tell your builder your budget..

It’s important to be upfront with your builder about your budget. Being upfront will allow your builder to work with you to help you reach your ultimate number. A good builder will have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the cost of building and will always have creative ideas to help you meet your budget.

As with any great relationship or creative partnership, trust between you and your builder is critical. If you’re not feeling comfortable to be transparent with your builder about your budget, it’s time to ask yourself if you’ve found the right builder. You should feel confident that you can tell your builder your budget and they will work with you to help you get there.

#2: Write your wish list for your home and then be prepared to prioritize…

Writing your wish list for your home is great fun! This is an important exercise to do, but also one to tread carefully with. Once you have written your wish list, list them in order of priority. What are your non-negotiables, and what are the nice-to-haves? Share your list with your builder and talk it through with them. In some cases, your builder will have creative recommendations to help you get a similar look and feel without blowing the budget. Great communication upfront will get you the best outcome in the long run.

#3: Put your investor hat on

It’s so easy to get emotionally charged when designing and building your home. This is understandable, a home is of course highly personal to you and your family – the place you feel safe, celebrate, rest and live out the highs and lows of daily life. But it’s also one of the biggest financial investments we make during our lives. Putting on your investor hat can help take some of the emotion out of the decision making. This is particularly helpful if you have to let go of some of your wish list items. Considering re-sale can be a really helpful filter to determine what is most important.

Enjoy the ride! Building a home is a special experience with such a great reward at the end and building to your budget will help add a lot more joy to the process!