First home buyers

Building Your First Home in Victoria: A Step-by-Step Guide

Buying land and building your first home is one of the biggest decisions you'll make. Here's how the process actually works — and how to keep it simple.

1. Get your finances sorted first

Before you fall in love with a floorplan, talk to a broker or lender about a construction loan — they work differently to standard mortgages, releasing funds progressively as your build reaches each stage. As a first home buyer building new in Victoria, you may also be eligible for the First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty concessions — check the State Revenue Office Victoria for the current rules, as they change over time.

2. Choose land with building in mind

Not all blocks are equal. Orientation affects light and energy bills; width determines which floorplans fit; soil type and slope drive site costs. Before you sign a land contract, have a builder assess the block — it can save tens of thousands in surprises.

3. Pick a floorplan that fits the way you live

A first home doesn't have to feel like a compromise. Our standard range starts at 13 squares, and every design can be mirrored, stretched and tailored to your block. Think about how you'll live in five years, not just today — a study nook or second living zone costs far less to plan now than to add later.

4. Understand what's included

The biggest trap in first builds is the gap between a base price and a finished home. Ask every builder for a written inclusions list and compare line by line: site costs, flooring, driveway, blinds, cooling. Our inclusions are specified item by item before you sign.

5. Stay close to the build

From slab to handover, a well-run build keeps you informed at every stage. Every Brooklyn client gets a dedicated project manager and access to our client portal — a live timeline, weekly photos from site, and every document in one place — so your first build feels guided, not stressful.

Dream home

Knockdown Rebuild vs Renovation: Which Is Right for Your Block?

Love where you live but outgrown the house? Here's an honest comparison of renovating versus knocking down and building new.

When renovation makes sense

If your home has solid bones, heritage character worth keeping, and your changes are contained — a new kitchen, an extension at the rear — renovation can be the right call. It preserves what you love and can be staged over time.

When knockdown rebuild wins

Renovations become risky when they get structural. Underpinning, re-stumping, rewiring and reworking a floorplan around old walls often costs more per square metre than building new — with more unknowns. A knockdown rebuild gives you a modern, energy-efficient home designed around your life, on land you already own, in the street you already love. No leaving your suburb, and no compromises inherited from 1974.

The numbers to compare

• Renovation: cost per square metre is usually higher than new construction, and quotes tend to grow once walls are opened.
• Rebuild: demolition is a known cost, the build is a fixed-price contract, and a new home carries a builder's structural warranty and modern energy standards — lower running costs from day one.

What the process looks like

A typical knockdown rebuild runs: feasibility and site assessment, design, planning and permits, demolition, then construction. With one dedicated project manager across all of it, our clients stay in their rental for the shortest possible window — and follow every milestone through the client portal.

Not sure which way to go?

Bring us your address. We'll assess the block, the existing home and what you want to achieve, and give you a straight answer — even if that answer is "renovate".

Dream home

10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Custom Home Builder

The right builder makes a custom home the best experience of your life. The wrong one makes it the most expensive lesson. Ask these ten questions before you sign anything.

1. Are you a registered building practitioner? In Victoria, your builder must be registered with the Victorian Building Authority. Ask for the registration number and look it up.

2. Who actually runs my project? Some builders sell you a director and deliver a rotating cast. Ask who your day-to-day contact is. At Brooklyn, every project has one dedicated project manager from first conversation to handover.

3. What exactly is included? Ask for the full inclusions list in writing, and compare it line by line against other quotes. A cheap base price with thin inclusions is the oldest trick in the industry.

4. How do you handle site costs? Ask whether site costs are fixed after soil testing, or open-ended. Open-ended site costs are where budgets die.

5. How will I know what's happening on site? Weekly updates? Photos? A portal? If the answer is "call the office", keep looking. Our clients follow their build live — timeline, photos and documents in one place.

6. Can I see a build in progress? A display home shows you the marketing. A site at frame stage shows you the workmanship.

7. Who are your trades, and how long have they been with you? Stable, long-term trade relationships show in the finish.

8. What happens if I want to change something mid-build? Ask how variations are priced and documented — before you need one.

9. What warranty and insurance do you carry? Domestic building insurance is mandatory in Victoria for work over the threshold; structural warranty periods matter too.

10. What happens after handover? Ask about the defects period, maintenance support and who you call if something needs attention six months in. A builder who plans for life after the keys is a builder who stands behind the work — our support continues long after handover.

Investors

Dual Occupancy, Granny Flats and Multi-Units: A Practical Guide for Victorian Investors

The smartest yield plays in Victoria right now aren't about buying more land — they're about making the land you have work harder.

Why density is the investor's friend

Land appreciates; buildings depreciate — and depreciation on a new build is a tax deduction worth modelling with your accountant. Adding a second dwelling to a well-located block can transform its income: two rentals on one title, or a subdivided pair sold separately.

Granny flats: the fastest path

A self-contained secondary dwelling adds rental income with minimal disruption. Because they're small, they're quick to build, and the yield-on-cost is often the strongest of any residential addition — while preserving the main home and yard.

Dual occupancy and multi-units

Side-by-side dual occupancy, or townhouses on a larger block, is a bigger commitment — feasibility, planning permits and construction staging all matter. The difference between a profitable project and a stressful one is almost always the feasibility work done before purchase. We run feasibility on investor blocks as a first step: yield, build cost, planning risk and timeline, in one document.

Build for tenants, spec for resale

Investor builds succeed on durability and appeal: hard-wearing floors, stone benchtops, low-maintenance facades. Our investor-focused inclusions are chosen exactly for this — durable, tenant-ready, and specified up front at a fixed price, with delivery timeframes designed to keep your holding costs contained.

The numbers that matter

• Yield on total cost — not just purchase price
• Depreciation schedule on the new dwelling
• Holding costs during construction — a faster, well-managed build directly improves your return
• Exit options: hold both, sell one, or subdivide

Building 101

From Slab to Handover: The Stages of Your New Home Build, Explained

Knowing what happens — and when — turns a mysterious nine months into a journey you can actually enjoy. Here's how a Brooklyn build unfolds.

Before site: design, permits and approvals

The quiet phase. Design is finalised, engineering is done, selections are locked in, and permits are issued. It feels slow from the outside, but decisions made carefully here are why the build itself runs fast.

Stage 1 — Base: site cut and slab

The block is cut, services are laid, and the slab is poured and cured. Your home now has a footprint.

Stage 2 — Frame

The skeleton goes up in weeks and suddenly you can walk through your rooms. An independent inspection checks the frame before anything gets covered up.

Stage 3 — Lock-up

Roof on, walls wrapped and clad, windows and external doors in. The house can now be locked — hence the name — and interior trades begin.

Stage 4 — Fixing

Plaster, cabinetry, benchtops, doors, skirting, tiling, painting. This is the stage where the weekly photos get really good.

Stage 5 — Completion and handover

Appliances, fittings, final finishes, and a quality walkthrough with your project manager. Then the part we never get tired of: the keys.

How you stay in the loop

Every Brooklyn client follows all of this in real time through our client portal — a live timeline showing exactly which stage your build is at, weekly updates and photos from site, and every document in one place. No chasing. No wondering.