I’ll have a standard house, thanks

Posted on by

Sorry, but the standard house kind of doesn’t exist. The standard house is not what you could live in.

From the base price you need to add site fees (ours were $45,000) and around $50,000 minimum to put things in it.  You see, the base price doesn’t include floors, as a starter. Nor does it include very much cabinetry.  It would be a hollow shell of a kitchen.  Then the base laminates it comes with are perhaps not the ones that you’ve seen in homemaker magazines – think cardboard laminates, not a dream kitchen.

The base facades can also be a bit too much brick for our taste. The really nice facades are generally going to cost you another $7k – 30k.

We upgraded the following:

  • Added sarking to the roof
  • Upgraded ceiling heights
  • Upgraded category 2 carpets
  • Upgraded internal door quality
  • Upgraded entrance door and lock
  • Upgraded all windows and sliding doors to category 3 for durability and wear
  • Upgraded heating and cooling
  • Upgraded underlay for carpet
  • Upgraded garage roller door with remote
  • Upgraded skirting boards
  • Upgraded tiling floor to ceiling
  • Upgraded electrical (pretty much everything)

Then there are the added extras to actually live in the house and surrounds

  • Curtains and blinds $15,000 – $30,000
  • Driveway $5,000 – $10,000
  • Crossover rectification/ footpath repair $2500 – $7500
  • Front fence $8,000 – $15,000
  • Landscaping $7,000 – $25,000
  • Clothes line $300 – $1000
  • Letter box $45 – $250
  • Front path $1000 – $5000

 What did you upgrade? What did you not? Any regrets? 

2 thoughts on “I’ll have a standard house, thanks”

  1. We are adding a stack stone feature column to the front of our house. Double story and rather large this is going to cost ~$14K. The air con./heating was not included in our base price at all. Another $17K + for a double story house. We also have some “compulsory extras” to comply with 6 star energy rating – including upgrade to window glass. Extras charged by our builder total about 30% of base price. (That doesn’t include timber floors, air con, landscaping.) You are right – the base price means very little.

    Reply ↓

  2. Pingback: Questions from blog readers and via Google | E and M's Metricon Adventure

Leave a comment