fbpx

Home builders Ipswich

by | Jul 22, 2022 | Building new, Choosing a builder

For anyone looking to build in South East Queensland, you’ve probably seen land available in the Ipswich Region. Ipswich is one of South-East Queensland’s oldest cities, found about an hour south of the Brisbane CBD and around an hour and twenty minutes from the Gold Coast making day trips to either city very doable. Famous for its rural surroundings, and heritage buildings, Ipswich is a growing region with lots of established families and newcomers. In recent years, Ipswich has been going through a transformation, with new infrastructure and facilities, bringing some new touches to this heritage city. If you’re looking for home builders in Ipswich or in nearby locations, this is the article for you. We’ll be having a look at some of the builders available and also provide some bonus tips on house and land packages, bespoke homes and split-level homes. First, let’s talk about Ipswich…

Is Ipswich the right place for me?

Ipswich has a mixture of the suburban and rural that gives it more of a town feel than a lot of suburbs closer to Brisbane or the Gold Coast. There are a lot of older, traditional-style houses in the region, providing a lot of opportunities for knock-down rebuilds if you’re leaning in that direction. It has a lot of local schools and shopping facilities that will take care of your day-to-day needs, and some nice scenic areas. In terms of entertainment, while it does have some options, for bigger events (concerts, sporting events, etc), you’re likely to head to the Gold Coast or Brisbane. As mentioned above, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are at least an hour away, and this is not taking peak hour into account. If you’re planning to work in the city, you might want to grab a go-card and take the train in.

Ipswich has a liveability rating of 56.7 out of 100 which is below both the state average (66.3) and the national average (66.1). The Ipswich job situation is not the strongest and it’s not uncommon for people to travel to Brisbane for employment. The public transport is decent with a trip to the Brisbane CBD taking around 45mins-1hr, depending on which train you catch.

Need help finding the right design and builder for you?

How We Can Help You

Building a home is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. At Buildi, we’ll be there throughout the entire building process, guiding you step by step so you can avoid any pitfalls. We will help you by following these steps.

  1. Free Consultation – We will sit with you to understand what you are looking to accomplish.
  2. Due Diligence – We work with you to ensure you’re buying the right block of land at the right price without hidden problems.
  3. Builders tender – We will take your requirements out to the market of builders, and they will bid to win your business.
  4. Present solutions – We will compile the top 3 options and present you with a comprehensive proposal on builders’ strengths & weaknesses along with prices and specifications.
  5. Contract Signing – We will work with you and your selected builder to ensure there is full transparency in what you are entering into.
  6. Building your home – We work closely with the builder to ensure all service levels are met and your project is on schedule.

Home Building Services

House and Land Packages – the building process

It’s almost impossible to research building a home and not come across house and land packages at some point (in fact, we’re willing to bet they popped up on google on your first or second search). Basically, a house and land package combine the purchase of land and the home built into one process. The deal usually involves two separate companies (the builder and the land developer) and therefore house and land packages will have two contracts.

Pros:

Can be a more streamlined process

One of the aspects of a house and land package that’s promoted heavily is convenience. It is true that a house and land package is a streamlined process, with a lot of the decisions being made for you. If you’re buying in a development estate, the house and land package options will likely include any display homes on show, so if you liked what you saw, it can be yours.

The tempting choice for First Home Buyers

Buying your first home is an exciting time, but it can also be overwhelming. Even seasoned property buyers can find the process stressful so it’s nothing to feel bad about. A house and land package therefore can be enticing for new home buyers trying to get their foot in the door. It’s worth noting that building a house is a big project, no matter what approach you take, so it’s near impossible to avoid any decisions or stress during the process.

More Affordable than a Pre-Existing house

This obviously depends on what you’re comparing, but the house and land packages can often be much cheaper than buying a pre-existing home. This is partially due to house and land packages being associated with new estates, while an existing home may be in a popular, well-regarded suburb, thereby sending its asking price through the roof. Often what you’re paying for is the location more than the house itself, and where you’re thinking of buying will be one of, if not the, biggest influence on the final price.

Cons:

Hidden Costs

When it comes to making changes to a design in a house and land package, your options are going to vary depending on who you’re working with. In general, there tends to be little flexibility from builders with a house and land package, but even when they do offer options, they tend to charge a lot. This can be bad news for you, as even a few changes could potentially lead to a cost blowout. If you’re likely to make changes to a layout, we would strongly recommend going with a different option than a house and land package.

Lack of Choice

The biggest setback with house and land packages is the very thing that’s promoted as their biggest strength. We understand how stressful and overwhelming the building process can be, with it sometimes feeling like you have a million choices to make. What concerns us, and what you should consider before choosing a house and land package, is that this lack of choice gives the builder all of the cards and that your needs won’t be met.

Split Level Homes

Queensland is a hilly place and parts of Ipswich are no exception to this. While sloping blocks can seem like a hindrance at a glance, they can have their benefits, often providing great views or being cheaper than other blocks. As with any block, it’s vital to complete your due diligence with a sloping lot to avoid any nasty surprises down the line.

Some of the benefits of a split-level home include:

  • The design works with the land meaning you could save a lot of money on excavation costs.
  • Due to the structural layout, you can achieve more house area on a smaller block of land.

There are a few potential downsides to a Split-Level Home, or at least, things you should consider.

  • Due to their unique designs, they tend to cost more.
  • They usually take longer to build. Whenever a builder has a guaranteed build time, Split Level Homes are always excluded from this guarantee.
  • Stairs really aren’t negotiable in a split-level design, so if anyone has bad knees or other mobility issues, you may need to consider another design.
  • When it comes to resell, they may have a smaller potential audience than other, more traditional designs. This is a common issue with custom homes because not everyone’s taste will be as sophisticated as yours.

Bespoke New Homes

A bespoke home is another term for a custom home. A bespoke builder offers personalised service and allows you the option to go off menu, so to speak, meaning instead of trying to make a pre-existing design work for you, you can create your floorplan from scratch. While most builders offer some level of choice, bespoke builders specialise in custom home designs and expect you to make changes.

Whether this is the way to go will depend on your plans for a home, so let’s have a look at some of the pros and cons of working with a custom home builder.

Pros:

Your choice

The obvious benefit of a custom home is you get to choose everything, from design, materials, special features and layout. Most custom builders are flexible with their customers’ involvement and will are more than willing to offer their advice. Buildi can help make sure your relationship with the builder runs smoothly, so that your home will end up exactly as you’d hoped.

A choice in materials

Along with having a wider range of options when it comes to materials. Usually, a builder will offer you a selection of materials they can use, whereas with a customer builder you can choose whatever material you like, providing you to buy the best material.

Design the perfect home

Do you have a specific vision for your home?

Maybe an unusual or unique feature like a secret room? Maybe you or someone in your home has special needs or requires specific features like rails or ramps. Some of us just know what we want and want to make it happen. Whether have a specific floorplan in mind or want a unique style to reflect your personality, a bespoke builder is the way to go in order to bring your vision to life.

Improving Energy efficiency

Though a custom home will be more expensive initially, you have the opportunity to make design choices that will help with your energy consumption, making your home both cheaper to maintain and create a smaller carbon footprint. From installing solar panels to embracing a floorplan that lets in natural light, there are a variety of little details that can add up to big savings and reduce your environmental impact in the long run.

Cons:

Takes longer to build

A custom home will take longer to build than a home based on a pre-existing design. The reason for this that a builder knows all the ins and outs of a pre-existing design, whereas a customs design could be unique and they’ll need to figure out how to achieve bringing this new design to life.

It will likely cost more initially

Building a new bespoke home will cost more initially for the same reasons it’ll take longer to build: the uniqueness of it means the builder may have to order materials, especially for you and depending on your design, they may need more time to figure out how to accomplish your design.

There is a perception that custom homes are incredibly expensive, however, this really depends on the home you’re building. For example, you can use a bespoke builder to build a simple, functional home that won’t cost a fortune. In fact, if you do your research, your influence could end up saving you money.

Not Builders are Equal

The success of your home build depends entirely on your builder, and this is especially true if you’re thinking of building a bespoke home. You’ll need someone trustworthy with whom you can trust and have open communication constantly. Quality construction and quality workmanship depend on the reliability of your builder.

Can be a stressful process.

Building a new house can be a stressful process and a custom home even more so, as you’re involved in every step of your process. Being involved naturally means more choices and possibly more pressure which may feel like too much trouble for some home buyers. Keep in mind though, that no matter what approach you take to building your home, there will be at least one moment where it all seems a bit much. This is a big project and feeling overwhelmed is completely normal.

This is where having someone like Buildi on your side can really come in handy

Ipswich Builders

The Ipswich region is quite large and there is a variety of building companies to choose from. They range from some of the biggest names in the building industry to smaller, family-owned, local builders.

Avondale Homes

Avondale Homes is Queensland builder who specialise in acreage homes. They’ve built 750 homes in Queensland and offer a lot of customisations.

Bold Living

BOLD Living is a boutique builder, which has been building homes in Brisbane since 2010. They’re not as experienced as other builders on this list with only 13 years of experience.

Brighton Homes

Brighton Homes was established in 2018 as the Southeast Queensland-focused builder of the MJH Group.

  • Fairly new builder.
  • Offer designs that are up to date with modern trends and are known to be upfront about their costs.

Coral Homes

Coral Homes is a true volume builder. They were founded in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast in 1990 and have been building homes in Brisbane since then.

  • t’s easy to get an idea of their craftmanship at one of their many display homes around QLD.
  • None of their designs are customisable, but luckily there’s a lot of them.
  • Coral will show you design plans relative to your block in the early stages and their initial quotes provide a surprising amount of detail.
  • Their build process is very segmented leaving you to feel a bit left in the dark when the build begins.

GJ Gardner

G.J. Gardner Homes is one of the biggest builders in the country and have operated in Brisbane for over 37 years.

  • One of the biggest builders in the country, with over 36,000 builds to their name.
  • Lots of variety in home designs.
  • They’re a franchised business, meaning different locations will offer completely different experiences
  • Upgraded display homes can be misleading
  • Prices can vary depending on where you’re building

Hallmark Homes

Hallmark Homes are based in South-East Queensland and build around 500 homes a year.

  • Specialise in narrow blocks and acreage properties.
  • Good entry-level prices
  • Ability to compare designs on their website
  • Use self-certified tradespeople
  • No double-storey homes
  • Basic Standard inclusions

Hontondo Homes

Hontondo Homes have a wide range of design styles from contemporary to traditional, heritage-inspired designs. They have locations all over Australia, including in Ipswich.

Metricon Homes

Metricon is a Victorian-based builder that builds around 5000 homes a year nationally. They build a large volume of homes in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast & Southeast Queensland.

  • Metricon is a big builder in Brisbane and build some of the most on-trend in the state.
  • They offer is steel frames as standard. (Steel vs timber frames article)
  • Their biggest downfall, however, is that often there are too many cooks in the kitchen, making a good site supervisor an absolute must.
  • Without level-headed supervision, their constructions have been known to get messy.

Ownit Homes

Ownit Homes is a Brisbane-based builder who has been building homes in Brisbane since 1972. One of their signatures is rooftop terrace designs.

They believe that your home should have an individual flair, meaning you can change their designs to suit you or start from scratch.

With only 4 display homes in Queensland, it’s hard to tell what they are capable of until you build with them.

Plantation Homes

Plantation homes have worked out of Brisbane since the 1990s and benefit from the financial backing of a large Victoria-based construction company.

  • Have won the Queensland Professional Major Builder Award every year since 2012.
  • They have a massive range of designs but make you wait.
  • If you have any big questions don’t expect a response for 2 – 3 weeks as everything must go through their head office. These kinds of delays also seem to apply to their tender and contract process. Whether they’re worth the wait is up to you.

Porter Davis Homes

Porter Davis is an award-winning builder that expanded into Queensland in 2016 and has steadily been building its reputation in Brisbane since.

  • Great customer-focused mantra to “respect the dream”
  • They utilise an online hub that keeps you up to date with your build progress.
  • Porter Davis is very secretive about its prices, often not revealing important fees until the very last minute. Surprises like the ones associated with Porter Davis can be stressful when building and back you into a bad spot.

Simonds Homes

Simonds is one of the country’s largest builders with 50,000 builds since its foundation in 1949.

  • The issue with a builder this size is that you’re prone to have a less personal experience with them that can lead to disappointment.
  • Many have cited issues with the build quality and post-build support.
  • With no dedicated post-build team to ensure their work stands the test of time and the size of the build, it can be easy for you to slip through the cracks.

Stroud Homes

Stroud Homes was founded by James Stroud in 2005, and they build Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. They’ve got a wide range of designs to choose from and offer a guaranteed build time.

Your dream homes

As the above shows, a lot goes into creating your dream home. From choosing where to live to the right home design, to making sure the land you’re buying isn’t a lemon. Then there’s the issue of what happens after you choose a builder and sign the contract. How do you make sure the builder doesn’t hold all the cards and you get everything you were promised? Get in touch with us today to find out how can make sure your dream home will become a reality.

Buildi can help you through the entire building process of your dream home! From the very beginning to the moment, you get your keys, we can be on your side. If you’re looking for professional guidance with your new home journey, book A Free Consultation Today!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Building a Home

Knockdown Rebuild

Home designs

Advice & inspiration

Building a Home

Knockdown Rebuild

Home designs

Advice & inspiration