What are the different options for owning a brand new home?

Whether you’re investing in your first or next home, one of the up-front decisions you’ll probably be faced with is whether to buy a new house or an established one. Weighing up the pros and cons of each option can help you work out what’s right for you – and if you decide you’re definitely in the ‘new-build’ camp, welcome! Nice to meet you … and we are excited for you to call one of our communities home.  

Now you’ve got a few other things to consider because just like there’s more than one way to peel an onion, securing your future in a freshly built, never-been-lived-in-before house is absolutely no different.    

Chances are you might already know this, and as a result, have found yourself mulling over questions like ‘what’s the process of buying land and building a house?’ or ‘how do house and land packages work?’ lately.  

Good news. We’re here to help and can shed light on the three pathways to owning a brand new home so you’re armed with some need-to-know info about each one.  

This is undoubtedly the most flexible option because once you’ve bought the land, you can choose both your builder and your preferred house design as well as the fittings, finishes and features that make your heart sing.  

It does pay to remember though that if the lot of land is part of a masterplanned community, like the 15 Lendlease communities dotted around Australia, homes are typically required to comply with community design guidelines, which exist to protect your investment by ensuring that all homes in your neighbourhood are built to a consistent standard. This is in addition to the development approval that’s required from local council or a private certifier before building can begin.  

Various Lendlease communities have land lots available for sale right now. If you decide that buying land is the best way to go for you and your family, it’s a good idea to register your interest for the next land release due to current high demand. This way, you’ll be among the first to know about new releases so you can quickly secure your ideal lot.  

If buying only land is the most flexible route to your new home, a house and land package is the simplest way to make your dream home a reality. Why? The house design you choose has already been paired with the perfect lot of land, which drastically reduces the number of decisions you’ll need to make throughout the process.  

While you won’t be able to change the floorplan of the house in the package you choose, you can usually ‘tweak’ finishes or upgrade from the basic package when it comes to inclusions because house and land packages are always yet to be built so there’s some wriggle room. 

Regardless, as well as delivering a low-stress building experience, the predetermined nature of house and land packages may even shrink the ​time it takes to build your new home once the lot of land has undergone the construction process required to make it build-ready.  

Often called ‘spec homes’ – because they’re built on speculation by a builder – the benefit of this option is timing. By the time you buy it, the house build is usually already underway or may even be fully completed. While this is obviously the least flexible of the three options in terms of being able to make design decisions, it can be a great option for people who, for whatever reason, can’t or don’t want to wait for a house to be built. Once the purchase is completed, you’ll be moving in sooner than later.  

Whichever option you feel – or know – is right for you, choosing to build or buy a new home that’s part of a ​​masterplanned community delivers a variety of benefits above and beyond the pleasure of knowing that a house is brand new.  

With welcoming communities all over Australia, now is a great time to explore the possibilities.