while it is always a dream to have a home that matches your "dreams and desires" sometimes budgets must come first. Do you really want to splash out a lot of money on a look that you may not be able to afford. With mortgages so expensive and eating into our everyday lifestyle costs and jobs no longer guaranteed, I think your priority should be to put as much money into your mortgage while you can and just have a comfortable home where you can afford to be happy, healthy and free.......... don't burden yourself with additional costs just because it is "trending" at the moment. Trends change and so do your wish lists as time goes on. Think Comfort and Affordability.

Yep, it sure adds up doesn't it! It's a lot of money for perhaps not an equivalent amount of value gain. But it's not necessarily the builder's fault or issue here. Their pricing here is not surprising, but to clarify not sure how you can isolate the kitchen or what exactly does 30K mean? Is it joinery only, is it including fittings? Is the balcony upper or main level. The question is, is this actually the best way to spend your money? Considering how much you're spending, should you be considering getting proper value for the money and getting more for your money with potentially a different design?. Are you happy with the design? It's going to be super? Is it worth $400K to you for what you're going to get? If the answer's no then a design rethink is possibly in order. Where are you at in the design/doc process? have you used a drafty, designer, architect to help you with the process? What people often get quite wrong with renovation projects is the distribution of budget in regards to HOW it's being spent (you WILL spend it one way or the other), and it always comes back to the design/layout as to how well or not it's spent. Really need to see actual plans to be able to assess and comment further with more accuracy otherwise just speculating on in all. Depending upon your finishing decisions this sort if thing could easily nudge the $450K mark.

Hi Steph O, Looks like you are pretty well prepared and know what is involved. Do ask for an estimated program so you know when it is likely to be finished. That way you can have that to check actual progress against. I presume you have all the plans and it is ready to go? To ease progress, if you want to make any changes, try to make it 'small stuff', i.e, it wont cause delays for additional approval or ordering time for alternate materials etc. Have regular site meetings set up with the builder (weekly should be enough) so you know that he has it all under control in terms of what is happening next and how his supply chain is going. Site visit regularity may change over the period of the building but don't get under your builders feet by being there every day. That is just annoying to them. Let them request extra visits if they need it. Covid has caused a whole lot of issues with supply of materials giving builders major headaches, though this seems to be easing now. Some of these issues are completely unpredictable. We had a small delay on locally produced joinery because one of the components of the paint came from Portugal!!!! Make sure the builder or yourself is in regular contact with the subcontractors to avoid delays for these and other issues. If they know when they are supposed to be there or supply their components, this will give them little reason for delays. Good luck. C.

Archicentre publish a cost guide but it’s just a guide. If you already have the plans done I’d pay a builder or quantity surveyor to price the plans. It’s not something you want to guess at at the start of a project.