It's always heartening to hear stories of people achieving successful and great value outcomes. My comment above was however not for standardised design or DIY scenarios, rather responding to an urban scenario with split level. The work we do is by nature customised and we deal with this sort of thing regularly & yes it (usually) involves a lot of money..as a flagfall and the sky's the limit. It's not however necessarily about bells and whistles and being fancy for the sake of it either. Rather it's about quality and long term value. You can spend a lot of money that lasts a long time which ends up being a more cost effective option than spending half as much but not lasting nearly as long. It's all relative and it depends of course also on land value, what is being proposed and the capacity for a proposed project to be financed. It's always a balance across a number of factors. We can rarely pin down a specific number either. It depends on specification and the design detailing. DIY construction is a completely different kettle of fish to a contracted build, as is a more simple, standardised design & construction/ specification to a more complex and customised multi/split level scenario with intricate/unique detailing...as is also rural scenarios to tighter inner urban situations. It really is a case of how long is a piece of string and it will range dramatically depending on how you are going about it. I had a client once who similarly was a DIY Owner builder with a trade background who did most of the work themselves. They similarly achieved the construction for a dollar amount far less that what it would have otherwise cost in a commercial contract. The design was also for mirror imaged connected townhouses so there was an economy of scale there as well, as well as being a compact and efficient design with certain details standardised to make the construction more efficient and materials relatively minimised with essentially 2 houses fitting within the size of a standard house, so they got 2 for the price of 1 essentially (good result!). BUT when you factor the practical hours "donated" or performed on the project for "free", including every hour of labour, construction management etc, supply and handling etc and apply a reasonable dollar value to it, as well as GST and builder's margin (or a construction management %) on top of the total, it's pretty much a resulting cost in the ballpark of what I was indicating.

Hi Deanne, When you say you are doing the kitchen, does that mean you have to do the planning (design) and specifying of it also? I would have thought Storybook supplied a home with the (kitchen) plans included? If not, your builder will be able to guide you, however here are a couple of tips... 1. Choose your appliances early AND STICK WITH THEM. Often individual appliances have specific needs outside of standard eg power requirement (over 10amps), rangehood ducting direction and type, clearances to overhead cupboards, water to fridge etc. 2. Using the appliances, work out the layout (design) of the kitchen and where you want the cooking, cleaning, fridge etc. From there you need to work out power point locations for all appliances (many people forget the microwave) plus the everyday items like phone chargers, toaster, kettle etc. 3. Go to kitchen display showrooms such as Laminex. They have completed kitchens on display where you can understand the difference between a waterfall end (benchtop style), a shaker profile door (Hampton's style cabinet front) and play around with colours and finishes. 4. Put it all together in detail and you have created a specification! Re finding a builder, I agree with the above. Get a couple of names from Storybook as you don't need beginner mistakes, and go with the builder you guys are COMFORTABLE with. Price is only part of the journey. Good luck with the build.

thanks for your information which complies with our recent experience ..our mid range kitchen was just over $40,000 with custom designed cabinets to suit specific personel needs, mid range appliances and basic laminates...stone benches for my kitchen would have added an extra $7000 but i chose the custom sized cabinets and extra shelves in all cabinets...: so much detail to consider

Not much different cost wise for slab or bearers and joists. Depends on the site a bit but they're very close with slab a bit more. If you can do a slab then than is the preference. Scyon over timber frame is cheaper than brick veneer. Cladding needs painting but painting isn't that expensive. Bricks range in price but even a margin basement face brick is still a little bit more expensive. Project home builders build in volume so they get great prices on everything including labour costs that other builders can't even compete. You get brick Mcmansion's really cheap for that reason, as well as your chosen plan has been built many times before so the plans are also already done aside from some minor amendments to suit your site. Never seen a custom home cheaper than a volume builder's home. You could use a volume builder to build your custom designed home however as there are a couple that will do this for you.