1. Reach Out
First things first, you need to make the decision.
As soon as we have adequate information from our prospective customers, we put together an Estimate of Costs, which includes both what’s needed for the site and what’s requested by you. This Estimate should fall within the budget requirements provided. Once aligned, we move on to the Initial Design stage.
Say yes:
You need to say, “yes! I’m excited to finally press the ‘go’ button on building my dream home”. That’s a big deal and if you need a hand to hold, inspire and motivate, the Australian Heritage Homes team (AHH) is ready.
Answer the important questions:
Once you complete your enquiry, we kick off by learning more and more about the dream vision of your new home – including questions like:
Is it an extension?
Is it a renovation?
Is it a new home on a vacant lot?
Is it a full knockdown and re-build?
We’re here for all of them.
Refine your vision:
It’s important to us to hear your opinion on where you’d like your home to live on your property. We greatly respect a ‘wish list’ of what you’d like to see in this new build. The list could include photos, magazines or links to your favourite websites – we’ll take them all.
Invest the right amount:
Cost is important, and we know that. We will always be sensitive to your planned budget, just make sure that you have one and buffer a little bit for any additions that you get excited about along the way.
2. Let’s Design
With a small deposit prior to this stage, we start a lot of important work. Here are some highlights:
- A Meeting with our House Designer
- Preparation of Preliminary Plans, where you are able to provide input on the design of your future home
- Site Investigation
- Soil Report
- Site Survey Plans
- Working with local councils on items like zonings, government restrictions and confirmation of what the mains water, sewer and stormwater situation looks like
- Wind Zoning Assessment
- Bush Fire Assessment
- All Land Titles, including plans of any necessary subdivision
Steps needed can differ greatly on where you live, so while we don’t make blanket success statements, you can assume you’re in good hands. Similar to every other one of our process steps, if you see anything that raises a query, you can always reach out to our team for a solution.
Planning & Architecture:
Once this Initial Deposit has been received, the AHH team will arrange a visit with our House Designer. You will be contacted and a meeting will be set up to discuss all of your ideas, requirements for a house design that best suits your needs and the existing land conditions. The AHH team will also comply with council requirements specific to your area. With early visibility, we always identify if any additional permits or compliances are required, depending on where you live.
Once the House Designer has covered all building requirements, we arrange and share a preliminary design and floor plan of your proposed home. This is one of our favourite parts, checking all of the boxes and knowing that we really have designed a home that you’ll be proud of.
Once the initial design is completed and signed-off on, we complete an updated Estimate of Cost. Remaining within your budget is extremely important to us.
All items signed off on? We move on to the next stage of the process.
3. Complete all Working Plans and Share any Final Documentation
This next Stage will require another small deposit, while we finalize all working plans. We then obtain a Full Structural Design and Energy Assessment Report.
Once completed, our team will provide all of our current or prospective customers with a full and final quotation, which will include all your preferred inclusions and requirements previously discussed.
We’re frequently asked, “What’s a preferred inclusion or requirement?” This can mean everything from a certain type of flooring to a specific tile or electrical layout. We’ve seen it all and we’re ready for the challenge.
When all of the right conversations have happened, we proceed to the contracts process. We only use H.I.A. Contracts as they are proven to be the most accurate on the market.
Good to go? We next move on to the process of obtaining all the necessary homeowner warranties, construction insurances and finally a building permit.
Let the fun begin!
4. It’s Time to Work During the Construction Phase
Your new home will take approximately six to nine months to complete, depending on many different factors – including the size of the build, the type of terrain on the land and the inclusions requested.
We know that opinions and requests change. Having our prospective and current customers on the ground of the property allows them to make adjustments to the design of the home or the inclusions inside. The AHH team will always be immediately available to offer alternatives and talk through costs, look and feel.
In the spirit of transparency – a value that we hold in high esteem – we kick off the process with projected start dates and completion dates. While we know these may shift slightly, we find it very important to share all of the information we have with our customers, as we have it.
Having you involved in the process is important. During construction, we always like to invite our clients to come out and see the progress onsite, keeping in-line with workplace safety measures. It’s one of our favourite parts of the process to see the reactions of our customers as the work comes together.
5. Your Dream Home is Complete
Once we’ve finished our work, we invite you again to the site, where you can confirm that everything is exactly what you were looking for.
Happy? (All of our customers are…) Then we celebrate the “Hand Over” – a celebration where all documentation is completed, you receive your keys and your six-year warranty immediately is in place for anything that you may need.
Congratulations… You just worked with the Australian Heritage Homes team to design your dream property.
Welcome home!