Things you really should do before you even analyse a single house. Set aside several days (preferably work-free says such as weekends) for visiting display homes. This is not a decision to be made in a hurry or when you're exhausted from doing other things. If you already have some idea of the features you want, make a note of them, and don't waste time analysing houses that don't have these features. A display village is generally organised into sections by builder. Each builder will have not only display homes, but an office where you can ask questions. Be sure to check whether that builder will build in the area you have chosen. If possible, show the builder a plan of the block and mention which of their homes interest you ask if they see any problem with building any of them there. This means you should have a few possible blocks of land in mind already. See the page on Choosing a Suitable Block of Land for more information. Also note whether the builder has any houses available that would suit not only the dimensions of your block of land, but any landscaping you have in mind. A display village can easily contain over a hundred houses to look at. How do I make sense of it all? Most people seem overwhelmed by the notion of visiting every house in a large display village. How could it be possible to do that and narrow the choice down to only a few? It really is possible! And if you do this in a systematic way you will be sure of having made the right choice. Here is how. For every home you consider, ask yourself if the cost is within your limit. Be aware that the price you are quoted is unlikely to include various features that are shown in a display home - see the page on Deciding Between Builders for more information. A display village is generally organised into sections by builder. View the houses one section at a time. You will see that houses built by the one builder have many similar features - you can use these features to help you narrow down your choice to a only a few builders. Builders provide brochures about each house they have available. These include floor plans. Take brochures of houses you like - you may collect quite a few! Be prepared to visit some houses more than once as you gradually narrow your choices down. Once you have narrowed down to only a few houses, say 2 or 3, you may need to visit these several times. The manner of most people we have seen viewing display homes is disorganised and vague. They walk around noting a few nice features that stand out for them but don't consider what it will be like to actually live in the house. Consider how you would use the house if it was yours. Would the size and shape of the rooms force you to buy a houseful of new furniture? Are you the sort of person who absolutely must have a large laundry? In the case of formal and informal meals areas, which would you use most often and how much walking will you need to do to take the meals to the table? Are you really prepared for the extra heating costs that can be associated with an open-plan house? For every house you enter, note down the things you like or don't like. Pay particular attention to layout and room size. Things like brick colour or benchtop materials are things that you will be able to choose later. A factor very easily missed when considering a house to build is the amount of available space. For example, a large lounge room may have doorways placed in such a way that only half of the room can have any furniture in it at all. Instead of using the floor area of the house as an indicator of space, draw a grid over the top of the floor plan to mark square metres, then shade out unusable or "walk-through" space - that includes corridors. Add up the remaining (usable) space and use this as a basis for comparison. Keep a list of all the houses you have seen that you think might be the house you want. As you view more houses, you may very well extend your list of the features you want in a house. Keep a note of all these to help you narrow down your choices. Once you have narrowed your choice down to only a few houses you can start to compare the details of what you are getting for the price. See the page on Deciding Between Builders for more information.

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