New Home Buyers Blog

A great way to create width in a narrow building is to incorporate a corner window and by doing this it helps open the facade up. There are many different styles to choose from being aluminium or timber in construction.
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A friend of mine who is the maintenance manager for one of the major home builders in Melbourne says they have a major problem on their hands. The use of MDF skirting in the wet areas is causing plenty of trouble with swelling once any moisture comes in contact with it. This building company currently has 400+ homes that are affected and many more as time goes on. MDF is not suitable for wet area use and should not be
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How a feature tile can change the look of the whole room.  Sticking with the standard white tile is safe and with the inclusion of a feature tile running vertical in both shower and possibly around the bath is the perfect way to create interest in a wet area.
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We are finding with most of our clients lately are requesting timber windows for their front facades. I feel the reason is simple, timber windows create a warm look and are more aesthetically pleasing. By only using timber windows on the front facade and aluminium to the remaining cuts down the need for maintenance if all windows were timber.
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Many knock down rebuilds are being built without a lot of interest being shown to existing trees and this could very easily become a problem.  We are currently doing a knock down new build in Donvale and just next door I have noticed a large planting of trees some would be 30 metres tall. The trees have no under foliage and no lower support trees for wind deflection. On further investigation I found out the trees were an old planting
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A family friend of ours is the maintenance manager for a leading Melbourne home building company who build around 1800 homes a year. They have had 11 plaster ceiling collapses in the last 12 months and still they don't use battens on their ceilings. The cost of the ceiling battens for an 18 square home is around $1,400 and should be installed in all homes. So, this company saves around $2.5 million each year on not battening their homes. A
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At our local Freedom store in the Northern Homeware centre (across the road from Northland shopping centre) we have found a couch for one of our display homes and it will fit in perfectly. The leathers colour and style suits out décor in our Stockton26 display.
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We have installed some metal screen art in one of our display homes and what a difference they have made to the alfresco dining area. Creating privacy and not blocking out to much sun on those lovely sunny days. The panels are available at Bunnings, Masters, and Mitre10 stores and are very cost effective.
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Over the past few months we have been looking for suitable pieces of varied furniture and home ware items. We found Freedom Furniture a source of numerous items. They offered a no nonsense approach with their knowledge and were very helpful with our selection process of various display home items.
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Over the weekend we dropped into our local Freedom furniture store at the northern home makers centre. What a treasure chest of furniture, art, curtains and more we found.  We purchased some curtains for our new display centre and they offered a great and varied selection to choose from. I must add the staff were very helpful and knowledgeable.
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A few clients have asked lately how they do exposed concrete. The concrete mix is basically the same as standard concrete with different size aggregate. Once the concrete is laid and trowelled it is then left for several hours depending on the weather. After the concrete has had a chance to cure you use a high pressure hose and it will wash away the top layer and the aggregate is left for view.
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Many clients are requesting exposed aggregate driveways when they do a knock down new build. Here is an example of a driveway with just one of the colours available to choose from.  Costs are around $42 m/2 over the standard coloured concrete driveway cost.
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It has come to my attention that there is an estate where the developer and their builder friend have successfully sold all lots to foreign investors. The properties have been sold with the intention of all homes to be put on the rental market with all proceeds heading off shore. This type of selling and marketing has many long term effects on the surrounding estates and neighbourhood. The 200 plus properties are being built by one of Melbourne's largest house
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Many of our clients are just plain sick of coloured concrete driveways and are choosing exposed aggregate and what a difference it makes to your homes appeal. Something to consider is the cost and it ranges around $40m/2, more so not a large cost to transform your homes looks.
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A visitor to our face book page has asked the question what is a waffle pod? A waffle pod is a polystyrene product designed for the support of concrete within a concrete slab. Basically a waffle pod takes the place of the raft slab which uses packing sand to create the beams and slab support. The waffle pod system saves on time and expense of making up the beams with sand.
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Berstan Homes have currently been asked by many clients for fire pits. A fire pit can easily be made from Austral retaining wall blocks which are the perfect shape.  Bunnings and Masters also sell metal fire pits and cost around $90 upwards so they are not an expensive item and will lead to hours of enjoyment.
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Berstan Homes is currently able to offer a turn-key package in the exciting Eucalypt Estate for the low price of $290k which is ready to move in. Stockland and Berstan only offer a limited amount of these affordable homes every year and they have sold very fast leaving one package available. Located in the Northern end of the estate with easy access to Craigieburn Road.
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With the current financial climate the Reserve Bank is more than likely to reduce interest rates even further. What a great opportunity to take advantage  of these historical lows by buying an investment property. Berstan Homes currently have several properties to choose from with turn key packages starting at $290k and an estimated rental return of $300 per week. These investments are offering around a 5% plus return and a return like that won't be found by putting your money
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A great way to include a feature around your home is the lining of a fence with blue board and render. This is a simple process and is the perfect job for the home handy person. The blue board can easily be purchased at any hardware shop for example, Bunnings, Masters, Mitre 10 ,ETC for around $32 for a 2.440 x 1.200 sheet. Fixing of the board can be either screwed or nailed. Once the sheets are fixed in place
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Over the last couple of years I have noticed a large increase of phone traffic from home finance brokers offering our sale team large commissions for successful client referrals. Most are offering commissions of $1,700 average this makes me think how much are they really making out of the clients lender and of course this would not be worn by the lender but the client. I feel there should be an enquiry into this industry to sort out this practise,
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Another load of Boral concrete being delivered for our new display village in Doreen. Boral have also supplied the roof tiles for the display homes. There are three different styles of roof tiles used at the displays, Macquarie, Striata and Contour. The Macquarie is the most commonly used tile being the most affordable with the Contour closely following behind. The Striata gives the illusion of being a flat tile similar to slate and is a little more expensive.
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We have been building plenty of investment properties over the last couple of years with many of our clients building their second and third properties with us. We have found all our properties are rented within 2-3 weeks after completion and the rental returns of around 5.3%. For an investment of around $300k many are taking advantage and building very healthy property port folios with Berstan Homes.
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Over the weekend I had some clients talking about some friends that are building their new home via a marketing company builder. They explained the situation to me and what is happening to their friends first of all they answered an advert and the process began, they were then shown a display home built by one of the marketing company builders. The home was of reasonable standard and they were happy to go to the next step choosing a home
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Always make sure you allow for drains in your driveways and make sure your contractor installs them.  Over the weekend I had a very concerned home owner call me about her garage flooding. I went out to have an inspection and found the concreter had not installed any drains. The driveway slope was only slight but still required a drain and the cost of installing a drain after concrete would be around $10,000 for the demolition and re-pour. It's much
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We are currently experiencing a large increase in rubbish dumping on our sites. The dumping is not only from members of the public but trades and builders are involved. There are many reasons why this is happening  and the main reason is the high cost of tipping fees. The cost of mixed rubbish is currently around $350 per ton, so working on a truck load at $2,400 you can see why dumping is going on. I am now suggesting to
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Many lenders are now tightening up with their lending criteria and this is why you need to look at a team of expert brokers collated by Berstan Homes. We have a team of brokers second to none and are able to offer you the best deal to get your knock down new build financed. Months can be wasted with the wrong lending team and who wants to waste time!
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Over the weekend I visited the new display centre for Austral bricks and what a great example of choice. There are walls of brick exhibits to choose from and the best part it's all indoors. There are plenty of bricks available for samples and the staff are very helpful with years of experience for guidance.
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On a recent trip to one of our favourite suppliers we noticed the Matt Blatt Replica Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Armchair.  This armchair was perfect for an outdoor alfresco setting that we required for our new display village in Doreen. The chair ticks so many boxes with easy stacking plus being outdoor friendly and plenty of groovy colours to choose from.
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Berstan Homes is proud to release their brand new home, the Astoria54, a modern design with all the extras you would expect from this executive style home. Offering 6 bedrooms and plenty of spacious living zones for the whole family, this home is definitely worth looking at.
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Berstan Homes liken knock down new build to putting a large jigsaw together.  All is made easy with the right team at Berstan. We have a team of professionals available for any size project and like a jigsaw all our team work together and fit perfectly. 
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