New Home Buyers Blog

New kitchen styles are embracing sleek, neutral designs with clean lines. The colour palette is mostly soft greys and whites for cabinetry and contrasting dark benches. Granite and marble replica surfaces are now available in thin benchtops with sharp edges. Scandinavian minimalisms give an understated elegance to a kitchen and can be combined with Japanese elements such as timber contrasts. This creates texture and an earthly peacefulness to one of the busiest rooms in the home. Appliances are mirroring the
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Do some lazy laps at Carlton Baths this Sunday to the sound of laid-back soul and blues music. The Teskey Brothers are a group formed on the banks of the Yarra River, in the small town of Warrandyte. The band consists of brothers Sam and Josh Taskey and also features Brendon Love on bass and Liam Gough on drums. Their music is relaxed, fun and nostalgic and is the perfect backdrop for your Sunday afternoon swim or gym work-out at
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New home exteriors in Melbourne this year are trending towards subtle colours with texture from raw and natural materials. Austral Bricks is one of Berstan Homes’ preferred suppliers for exterior brickwork. The company has been around for more than 100 years, and is now in all six Australian states. A new Melbourne range offers traditional character restyled for today’s modern homes. The range reflects established Melbourne suburbs, such as Brighton, Canterbury, Hawthorn, Newport and Windsor. Current on-trend colours are sunrise
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It’s well known that dark colours absorb heat and light colours reflect it. Colorbond Thermatech steel roofing goes a step further and actively repels the sun’s rays with highly reflective paint. There are now 21 colours in Colorbond’s standard steel range which optimises its solar reflectance properties. So you can choose from a wider range of colours and still enjoy a thermally efficient roof. Not only does the roof and its supportive structure last longer but it can be an
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At Berstan Homes, we are often asked for a base price for a new home build. But we don’t have a base price. We find out exactly what the client wants in a house and then we will give them a detailed quote, with no hidden extras. Many large volume building companies give what we call a “teaser price”. This is a very low, too-good-to-be-true price designed to attract clients. They are then hit with huge price increases for extras,
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What would a Melbourne summer be without a trip to an outdoor cinema? You don’t have to head into the city if you live in the Eastern Suburbs, just head for the hills to the Cameo Outdoor Cinema in Belgrave. The cinema features new releases such as Jasper Jones and Logan, as well as some classics. There are even some canine-themed films where you can bring your dog along as well! Grab your picnic blanket or hire deckchairs and bean
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The Lonsdale St Greek Festival celebrates 30 years in 2017. Melbourne’s biggest Greek street party is on this weekend for a festival of Greek culture, food and entertainment in the city’s historic Greek Precinct. It features three stages of free entertainment, children’s rides and activities, and more than 60 food, drink and craft stalls. Legendary performers such as Glykeria and the Stratakis Brothers from Crete will entertain the crowds. The annual singing competition, Magic Mike, is open to anyone who
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A frustrated couple walked into Berstan Homes display today absolutely sick to the teeth having to deal with Sales Staff at Display Homes. They had been to a number of display villages of major Builders and not one Sales person could give them a price on their build. The fact is these Sales Staff are basically trained to sell the name of that particular Building Company. When asked for instance, about the Site Costs related to the build it was
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So many clients have been coming to us telling the same story. "We went to a volume Builder the prices were so cheap, and then came the extras!"  Extra for flyscreens, extra for the slab, extra for site costs, extra for garage door, extra for lights, extra for power points, extra for NBN, extra for permit and the list goes on and on. One client said he was given a quote from a major volume Builder of $280k for a
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Are you in your thirties with a family and still renting? Do you feel home ownership is out of your grasp because of the current high price of houses? It is possible to save money when entering the home market by choosing a new home build in Melbourne. You get exactly what you want with a brand-new house by Berstan Homes. There is also a substantial saving on stamp duty when you buy land rather than an existing house. First
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Berstan Homes Co-founder Beryl Bryson has been awarded an Appreciation Award for her 30 years of community work within the Doncaster district. Beryl was presented her award at the Doncaster police station in a special ceremony recently. Beryl has been a member of the Manningham Neighbourhood Watch group for the past thirty years, and has faithfully delivered the group’s newsletter every second month to all the houses involved. She said when the group was first formed, residents paid $5 to join
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You’re building a new house. You’ve chosen a land and home package through Berstan Homes. Or you are contemplating a knock down rebuild of your house and you know Berstan Homes are the experts in this field. Now you need to decide which cooling system to install. There are three main choices on the market – ducted evaporative cooling, ducted refrigerated cooling and single room refrigerated cooling. How they work An evaporated cooling system draws warm air from outside through
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Mr and Mrs B were looking for a new home. Their current home was tired and needed work, their children had left home, and they wanted something to reflect their change of lifestyle. However, they couldn’t find anything that suited them. They wanted fewer bedrooms, and larger living areas, so they could entertain more and indulge in home-based hobbies. They wanted a modern kitchen and bathrooms, and an established garden with mature trees. A house and land package didn’t appeal
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Are your bedrooms stifling in the evening from too much sun? Is the view from your lounge an uninspiring wall? You know your home is wrongly situated on your land, but you like the garden and the neighbours - and don’t want the hassle of moving.  The answer is knock down and rebuild your home with Berstan Homes, the experts in the field. You get exactly what you want in a modern new home, but don't have to do the
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Christmas is over, 2017 is well underway and everyone is back at work and school.This is the time to make your New Year resolution come true and build that home you are always talking about. Summer is the perfect season to start a new custom-built home, or knock down rebuild in Melbourne. The weather is warm, dry and settled and will stay that way for months.With builders back and stockists reopen, the build will go smoothly and quickly at this
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We all love our mattresses, but they’re also a big investment, which means that they’re not the type of thing you want have to replace on a regular basis. So, if you’re renovating, you’ll want to make sure that you can safely store your mattress so it’s ready when the renovations are complete.  Cleanliness Is A Must Before you even think about storing your mattress, you should give it a good clean. By a good clean we mean getting a vacuum
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There’s nothing quite like the excitement of renovating a home. It’s the time where you finally get to put all of your dreams into action and turn your vision into reality. It’s not all fun and excitement though, you have to carefully manage the project and a big part of that management is figuring out where you’re going to put all of your things while renovating. Storage is the best option for renovators, but if you’re going to put your
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I have found my experience with Berstan Homes has been a positive one. It started back in October 2015, where Mark made me feel confident and at ease about the biggest decision of my life so far. I did not feel pressured to sign a contract I wasn’t comfortable with, and all the details were explained clearly before I signed. Mark was prompt with his replies to my email queries, and never made me feel as though I was taking
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Stop buying properties with part planning permits if you want to make money on investment! What is happening? Investors are buying properties with planning permits thinking that they can go straight to a builder and start construction soon after. This is definitely not the case, nearly all properties sold with planning permits are not supplied with completed documentation. Items that are in most cases missing are the following: water retention systems designed by engineers, landscaping planning, and energy rating reports.
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Most builders install power points into the side of a kitchen bench. Even though this is easier and simpler to fix, it can prove to be a big mistake. A power point fixed to the side of a kitchen bench is at eye level for children, where it is tempting for them to play with. Creating a possibility for them to pull an appliance onto their head or worse, to play with the power point and electrocute themselves. To avoid
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With so many homes being built fast and cheaply these days, we are often spotting design oversights that can really effect the quality of a home. For example Standalone baths look fantastic but can take up a lot of room. Many builders solve this problem by building the baths very close to walls. It might make the bathroom look bigger but they are nearly impossible to clean behind, especially a water spillage. Any water that is not removed will ultimately
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Are you a lucky candidate? – Decades may have passed, and the property you’ve been calling home for a long time may no longer be as functional as it used to be. Its structural integrity may have degraded and the design will more than likely be out of date. Maintenance is usually high and it could be the wrong size for your needs. Many older homes bought 25 to 30 years ago have been paid off by their owners and
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Did you know waterproofing wet areas is one of the largest problems home builders face and can be the single most common area for problems down the track. How do Berstan Homes over come this? Simply by constructing wet areas properly the first time, avoiding issues and expensive problems for the owner in years to come. We have a process that uses a combination of Mapei products, waterproofing, adhesive and epoxy grout. The Mapei epoxy grout has many standout features
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Most double story homes have their staircase positioned at the front of the home and usually the first feature when entering the home. Stairs can be an opportunity to make a statement. They add light and open up the house, so it’s worth putting some extra time into the design and style to make sure the entrance has impact. There are so many different styles of staircases and making them a main feature of the home is not as expensive
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Create a focal point. such as a fireplace or piece of art. All other items in the room should be smaller and complimentary. They should not take away from the main center piece.
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A stone bench top can increase the appeal of your kitchen, with a little imagination and a good stone mason you can turn your kitchen bench top into a stunning feature of your home. Granite and Marble are natural stone materials commonly used for bench tops. However nowadays, composite (engineered) stone is regularly used, it is manufactured in a factory comprising about 95 percent natural stone and 5 percent resin. Natural stone crystals are ground and blended together and then
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Having double glazing installed is one of the key ways of achieving cheaper energy bills. Double glazing not only reduces your energy bills but also provides a more comfortable and quieter home with fewer condensation problems and heightened security. As much as 50% of the heat lost from your home is through windows. This could cost you hundreds of extra dollars every year in heating and cooling bills. Double glazing is extremely energy efficient, cutting these heat losses by up
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Several years ago National tiles imported some timber look alike tile and what an amazing effect they can have to a home. In this case we have used these tiles as a splash back creating a very impressive feature to our kitchen finish.We have also used these timber look tiles on floors very great results and best the best part is the tiles have come down in price from $115m/2 to only $39m/2 plus laying.
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Stunning and warm are the words that come to my mind when visualizing a Bamboo floor. Bamboo has so much to offer it’s easy to clean, comes in many different colours and cost effective in comparison to other timber flooring. Bamboo is very easy to install and is harder than most timber flooring alternatives. Bamboo is less likely to split and warp in comparison to other timber flooring options. A major advantage with Bamboo is it comes fully finished without
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What great news for home buyers the reserve bank has lowered the interest rates yet again. The interest rate cuts are making home loans more affordable and there are still plenty of cost effective homes in the market place.  Apartments are not the flavour of the month at the moment with more home buyers purchasing standalone properties. One reason for the move away from the apartment option is the ongoing body corporate fees and these fees can become very expensive. Home and land
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