Looking For That New Home

A lot of thought went into what type of house we wanted built. There were so many things we had to consider, it really is like a maze. Everyone we have spoken to has said the same thing that you want to get everything perfect. And I mean perfect. Everything from choosing the right colours to the right finishes.

Two of our main drivers to consider were cost and size. Nowadays the quality of house materials used for the basic house construction is pretty much the same for the everyday type of standard home. It’s just the house finishing which is different. Unless the builder makes a big deal in promoting the materials that they use to build we found there all pretty much the same.

We did see some homes that could be built using fancy or new type of construction methods, but for some strange reason they were always more expensive. The majority of people don’t care how thick the beams in the roof are or the distance of the of the studs in the walls are, for two reasons which are most people have the intention of later buying a better house and second because they know that they will not be in the house for a great many years they're not really concerned about the building materials used.

Major builders are not stupid. They keep track of the changing tastes and the demographic of their customers. People’s lifestyles now are busier than ever before, so a growing number of people want a home that has that extra room for them to relax in, say maybe a theatre room, parents retreat etc. Things that the previous generation could only dream about are now becoming the normal situation. Another noted change is people’s desire to have homes that require less maintenance. Who really wants to spend 2-3 hours cutting the grass on a Saturday or Sunday morning when you could be doing the things you really like?

Houses on average are getting bigger, but how about the size of blocks? Well there not getting any bigger in fact there are actually getting smaller (great, less grass to cut). The quarter acre block (if you were lucky enough) residence that your (baby boomer generation) parents bought as their first home is now pretty much extinct. Unless you’re prepared to either pay more or travel further to and from, they’re not the standard anymore. You’ll be looking at around 500-600 square metres or about half of that quarter acre block I mentioned earlier.


As I mentioned earlier in my other post Home Remodel that the size of house was our main criteria, we never did look at town houses, units or apartments. It really is a personal or financial choice of the type of dwelling that you choose and that suits the individual. It wouldn’t be fair for me to comment on them as we didn’t look at them. So to be fair, I won’t comment on them.





My next post will be on the choice of land, which ties very closely with the type of house that is chosen.