New Home Buyers Blog

Berstan Homes in the last couple of months has noticed a larger volume of investor activity in the marketplace. The Reserve Bank holding interest rates and the possibility of lowering rates further is great news. Lower rates are not only good for investors but home owners as well. Home & Land Packages is a great way for investors to get a better deal with stamp duty, because lets face it who likes paying it. Existing properties attract full stamp duty
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Berstan Homes has just been awarded a knock down rebuild in Seaford. The Home was extensively damaged by fire prior to Christmas and will need to be demolished, luckily no on was hurt.  The home we are building on site will be a custom design with some unique requests by our client in regards to acoustics. An only true way to have a design you can call your own is a custom designed home.
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I have been advising a few clients lately to make space at the rear of their properties to fit another dwelling in the future. Some of our clients have been a little tight for finance lately to complete a two home build with their knock down rebuild project.  So my advice was to build one home as close to the front boundary with enough space for a rear access driveway for easy second home access. By doing several simple items
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Sales at the Highlands are now entering their 11th year and stronger than ever and currently selling 600 lots per year. This year Stockland hope to sell 900 lots in this master planned community and are well on their way to this sales achievement.  Berstan Homes are working closely with Stockland and are offering home and land packages starting at $297k up to $550k for the Astoria32. The highland estate is filling nicely with varied size of homes with people
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Many people make the mistake of trying to do the pre-works and council liaison for a knock down rebuild on their own and most find out the hard way these works are not for the inexperienced.  I strongly recommend all knock down rebuild pre-works should be handled by the experts and ultimately the whole process will be relatively effortless. The best way to deal with council planners is to employ a company that uses planners to do all the dealing
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Thanks again Mark and Paul for the quality and speed that you guys built my units in Blackburn they all sold well. As you both know it was the second time we have built units together and there will definitely be a third time if I can find some more land. Regards Damian L Doreen
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I recently was at  a Developer Function talking with some other builders and they were expressing concern about a particular Melbourne home builder's dubious method of financing homes. They are promoting and advising First Homes Buyers to take out credit card debt as part deposits for their home loans. This practice is a very poor form of advice leading to many First Home Buyers being in financial hot water before they even move into their home .
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I recently was at a Developer Function talking with some other builders and they were expressing concern about a particular Melbourne home builder's dubious method of financing homes. They are promoting and advising First Homes Buyers to take out credit card debt as part deposits for their home loans. This practice is a very poor form of advice leading to many First Home Buyers being in financial hot water before they even move into their home .
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Very often asked the question is, should we build a development with a party wall or not. There are many advantages to building homes with a party wall, however something to consider is your potential buyers may not be so happy with having one.
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Consideration needs to be applied in regards to the location of a knock down rebuild before purchasing the land. The is no point having the best house in the worst street and the surrounding homes in the area will just detract value from your build.  When selecting a location for a knock down rebuild I always advise clients to consider areas that have already had some similar developments. By applying this strategy your knock down rebuild will have a better
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Signage is now up for the great value Berstan Homes and Stockland home and land packages, starting at $289,500. The home and land packages are a turnkey product with everything you would expect from a quality Berstan home.  The locations of these packages are selected by Stockland & Berstan Homes for easy shopping and public transport convenience. The packages are suitable for first home buyers or down sizes and retirees looking for a quality home. 
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One factor many seem to overlook with a knock down rebuild site purchase is the areas growth,  An easy way of checking the growth of an area is to join up to a company such as RP Data, of course there are many others.Companies like RP Data specialise in providing growth statistics of areas.  An area with steady growth is in my opinion the best area to consider a knock down rebuild instead of an area with high growth. 
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Many First Home Buyers are becoming more interested in purchasing an Investment Property. This can be a sound idea and able to set yourself up well for the future. With many First Home Buyers still living at home this gives a great opportunity for saving and investing. Berstan Homes have investor packages starting at around $290K and well worthy of investigation with rental from these properties around $320 per week makes them a sound investment.
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Many First Home Buyers are becoming more interested in purchasing an Investment Property. This can be a sound idea and able to set yourself up well for the future. With many First Home Buyers still living at home this gives a great opportunity for saving and investing. Berstan Homes have investor packages starting at around $290K and well worthy of investigation with rental from these properties around $320 per week makes them a sound investment.
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Stockland are celebrating the opening of their sensational million dollar recreational park at Eucalypt Estate Wollert. A great opportunity for families to see this wonderful park and the numerous facilities throughout this great Stockland Estate in the north.   Location: Corner Vanin Street and Weerona Parkway Wollert. When: Saturday 14 February 2015 Time:  12-2 pm. Family Fun: Free ice-cream van and BBQ.  Fitness sessions,  Yoga sessions fun for the kids: Featuring Disney's Frozen, Live Karaoke experience.  Free face painting, Balloon
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The sign has been erected on Epping for the Third place cafe at Eucalypt estate and it's now open for business. I dropped in there over the weekend with some clients and what a coffee they make! Both the clients and myself stayed on for lunch and we weren't disappointed, the food was fresh and very filling.  
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  Many new home builders are not designing facades unique in style and many are starting to look the same. The over use of stack stone on new homes springs to mind another 3 small vertical windows.  New home builders need to pick up their game and design new homes that wont date.   
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Forecasting what to expect in the property market in 2015 is a matter of looking at the economy. The economy is growing not as fast as many would like it, however it is growing and this creates wealth.  The best news for property buyers is that interests rates will stay at current levels and some leading financial forecasters predicting a fall in rates.  Most of the country is experiencing a healthy upswing in real estate price with Melbourne and Sydney
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I having noticed lately many new home builders are not doing any landscaping in their home and land packages.  This leaves the landscaping to the home owner with many significant problems about to arise from this.  Many landscapes I have seen lately are installed incorrectly and will cause many serious problems for all concerned in the not to distant future.  Some of the issues are listed below:           -  Sloping towards the home.      
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When considering knock down rebuild multi-site development research needs to be undertaken as to what is selling in the area. This can save a lot of additional holding costs by building a market fit property. Many areas have different builds and designs that are unique to that particular area.
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A small fortune can be made by doing a knock down rebuild with the right size land. With a shortage of home units in the Diamond Creek area it makes sense to do a knock down rebuild.  If you have a right size land you can build home units and sell them for profit or rent for an income. With an ageing population home units are in high demand and with Berstan Homes we can make it happen.  Berstan Homes
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Timber window frames are not used very often in the housing industry with aluminium taking over for various reasons. Initial costs of the aluminium framed windows is less and no need for painting or staining. We now use very few timber framed windows on our projects with the odd exception. However we do tend to use timber framed windows for our front facade details for a sense of warmth and blending with the timber look panel lift garage doors. 
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Many issues need to be considered when doing your budgets for a knock down rebuild I have listed some below: Location Land size  Street setbacks  Cost of land Area growth Tax implications Finance Council Street scape Market These items are all pivotal components in the knock down rebuild process to returning you a profit.
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Berstan has experienced strong sales in the last month at the Eucalypt estate Wollert. Strong sales are probably because Eucalypt is definitely the premier estate in the area. Stand out features include the landscaped gardens to the surrounds of the  Findon Creek reserve. Another would be the view to the East of the open pastures creating a feeling of space and tranquillity.  
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There are many reasons you should consider a sloping home site in lieu of a level home site.  - Custom design to suite your needs. - Views are better. - More inspiring landscaping. - Land is always at a discounted price due to the slope. - Visually more appealing home.
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Over the weekend between sales, I dropped into the Third cafe located on Pine Park Drive in the Eucalypt estate and had a wonderful lunch and cup of tea.  What an asset for the estate to have a fully operational eatery of this calibre within the estate. A great meeting place for business and social events or just catching up with friends and family over a fresh brew. 
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To the team at Berstan, Berstan builders have been very professional and whilst my project was quite complex in nature they were able to work through all the issues with a fantastic result. I would highly recommend them – Paul (the director of construction) is always responsive, always answers his phone and follows up on everything. He has great attention to detail and experience. I am very grateful and very happy with the outcome! Thanks. Joanne Essendon
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Is your family sick of that old home? Knock it down and build a new home with Berstan Homes.  We can design your new home with every detail you and your family could wish for. Instead of moving out of the area you know and love, stay there and let us build your new dream home.  At Berstan Homes we have and offer the complete knock down rebuild package from start to finish. We have a team of professionals to
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New offer for a limited time only, Hazelcroft is offering a $5,000 land rebate of all lots to assist new home buyers to get into the market. The $5,000 is given as a rebate at settlement and can be used to pay the stamp duty and other fees like conveyancing, mortgage establishment fee and so on. This is a great help and should be taken advantage of while it lasts. Berstan Homes has a good selection of home and land
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Knock down rebuild land cost Buying property with the intention of a knock down rebuild needs to be carefully thought out and here is a handy tip.  Do not over spend stick to your budget; this can be harder than most would think when in the heat of the auction battle.  
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