The good news is that you already have! You’re on the Compass Homes website, you’ve thought about building – but more than that, you’ve taken some action to move your ideas along. Now it’s time for the next step - call our New Home Consultants for an obligation free chat, or pop in to one of our many showhome locations.
We’ll discuss the options available to you, from house and land packages, ‘off the shelf concepts’ to developing unique plans on your own site. We will assess your needs and take you through the decisions you’ll need to think about at this early stage. Bring your scrapbook, wish lists and ideas.
There are three main aspects involved in planning your dream home.
1. Section
Your entire design will revolve around the land that you are planning to build on.
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Orientation - where is North facing?
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Access – where does the driveway enter the section,
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Slope – does the land slope?
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Services – where is the storm water or waste water located?
Once these have been defined you have the basis to put a concept plan together. For example, a north facing section with the road and entrance on the south side is a completely different proposition to a north facing section with the entrance on the north side.
2. Your needs, wants and likes.
Once you have your land, it is important to decide on your list of ‘needs’ (things that we must have), ‘wants’ (things we really want) and ‘likes’ (things that we would like to have once we have all our ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ fulfilled). How can you do this? Simple: write it down! This forms a list with your highest priorities, your needs, coming first.
The process of defining what you want in your Compass Home may take a few days to refine, however that’s OK, as any time spent at this stage is well spent. You will find that some things on your list are definable, and some aren’t. For example, definable outcomes are measurable things like 4 bedrooms or a double garage. Some things that aren’t measurable are items such as ‘more sun’ or ‘better privacy’. This is OK, you can probably have everything in your ‘needs’ list, as Compass Homes has a large variety of plans that include almost every need you have.
3. Budget.
Obviously you need to know how much you can spend on a new home. Your bank, or our building finance specialists will be able to assist you in determining what your building budget will be. Once you have a good idea of your section, your needs, wants and likes, and the budget you have to work within, you’re in a good position to start getting lines on paper and planning your Compass dream home. This is the time to browse through our plan section.
You’ll no doubt have a short list of 3 or 4 plans that would meet your requirements. Print these out, draw on them and write notes. Alternatively visit one of our showhomes and talk to our staff. They are very experienced in matching your needs, wants and likes list to your section and specifications. When you visit one of our showhomes we can also show you options for interior and exterior colours and textures, carpets, bench tops, window joinery, roof lines and tile finishes.
Once you have these three aspects defined you will be able to decide on a floor plan that best suits your family's requirements, provides privacy, achieves good sunlight and takes advantage of any views. You can then start to make decisions around the style of the house, including roof lines, window sizes and cladding. Houses can be any colour with a multitude of exterior and interior products available. Use your Compass Homes colour consultant to help you make those fun decisions. Then all you need to do is sit back and watch your home come to life!
Compass Homes don't just build our own designs, we can work with you to come up with a suitable plan, or work with an existing plan.
Depending on what the conditions of the building consent are, you may have to do things to the house or site which council have specifically requested, but it is unlikely we would be able to know what it is in advance. There are other factors such as earthworks that are not included in the website price (as each section is different).
Sites that are a long distance from services (power, water, phone, sewerage, etc.) and sites that are sloping or require extra earth-works will be more expensive to build on.
There may also be regional variations in labour costs, materials, and local council building requirements, and specific product choices can have an influence on the price too.
It’s always best to contact us directly for an estimation of your build cost – we’re always happy to discuss the actual details of your site and needs, which will give you a good idea of what your individual cost will be.