Organising the process ahead of time will help determine your budget. If you are planning to build with a significant other or have your parents helping you purchase, make sure that you weight out what you will need form yourself. Set yourself a financial goal, considering all the different steps of the building process, so that you ensure you’re on track for the majority of your home buying journey.

After considering your income and pay frequency, roughly calculate your loan capacity and ensure that you'll be able to afford your mortgage repayments in the near future. We suggest seeking financial help from a professional or getting in touch with a broker to ensure that your financial capacity is realistic and digestible! Speak to our loan broker here to help you with your finances:

Although you've revised your home loan payments and have been given a quote for the build of your home, there are still a number of costs that lie beneath the surface. Prepare yourself for a range of fees including stamp duty, conveyancing or legal fees, mortgage registration fees, loan application fees and council or utility rates. This will prevent you from having any bad surprises.

Negotiating is crucial when buying your first home. This doesn't only apply to lowering costs, but also includes negotiating your time and dates. This may be a very uncomfortable process if you’re a first homeowner, although keep in mind that it is your home and most likely, all those savings you've earned. We also recommend revising the quality of your home, as you may also negotiate the price if things are faulty or damaged after you have already moved in.

So you've moved into your home and you now need to start repaying your mortgage loan. It is likely that you are going to have to pay for maintenance issues that occur in the future. To avoid any late payments, we suggest creating a maintenance fund to support this and prevent finding yourself in any stressful situations. Not all builders offer a lifetime structural warranty like Domaine!

Finding a thorough building inspector will save you a lot of hassle in the future and will also give you a good idea about whether the price of the home is justified or not. If there are any faults, this can support your attempt to negotiate. Once you have moved in, they will also be able to tell you whether the utilities and other requirements such as the smoke alarm, etc… are all working.