How did you decide when to stop spending??

"How much is our house going to cost?" seems to be the same as "how long is a piece of string". It can be as expensive or budget as we want.... so it's difficult to know how to set a figure we need to aim at for the whole build budget.

It's difficult to know where to stop with the upgrades/additions etc. Obviously the bank will lend us waaaaay more than we're comfortable repaying but it's very tempting to go oooh only $7k for high ceilings, or only $8k for an extra room.

How did you do it?? Any tips??

What things will add value?? One day you may want to sell. Will a $2000 bath add value (I think not). Will an extra room (you betcha and hell of a lot more than $8K).
Last year I wouldn't have thought high ceilings were worth the extra but I've just moved to a house with normal height ceilings and really noticing the difference.

We used the same logic as above. For us we looked at what we would pay extra for, and also asked friends. We also each made lists - a must have list, a really want list, and a hate list .... We then compared our lists and kept them in mind when upgrading.


We upgraded to floorboards, high ceilings, gas log fire, added an extra room with ensuite, ducted vac, walk in robes instead of built in ones and also an extra living space for the kids upstairs

We decided against upgrading the bathes to spas, the style of sink (however they are all porcelain not plastic), 2pac cabinets, the taps, going overboard with the tiles (just got ones we liked), all internal door handles, skirting boards

We did upgrade to square set cornices and ducted refrigerated air ... knowing that neither would possible add value, but were things were our must have list items. Everything else off our lists we decided to scrape thinking we could either live without them or do them later.

I think the simple answer is to set a budget that you are comfortable with, and a maximum point you will go to (to give a little wiggle room) then starting working out what you do and don't want. If you start going over budget, remember that you set a budget for a reason.

As mentioned previously, work from lists. We had " must have", "would like to have", "dream". And be flexible with those lists. Some things become less important, some things increase in importance, as you go through the process. High ceilings would have been a take it or leave it for me, but we included them and three years later I don't think I could live in a house without them.

The simple rule is to prioritise structural things first, particularly those that are virtually impossible to alter later, eaves, ceilings height, etc. Anything cosmetic that can be altered or updated is of lower priority.

Another issue is space vs finish. Which is more important? Some people prefer a smaller home that is very high spec, others prefer a more spacious home of lower spec for similar cost.

It is easy to just keep spending, so reviewing why you set the budget in the first place is always a good way to pull back.

I have this conversation with my wife all the time. I'd say there are two points to consider:

1. The resale value added by the spend, as others have said above.
2. The value to you of the spend, which will be a lot more if you stay for a long time.

In theory these two points need to outweigh the cost of putting something in. However if you (like we are) are planning in staying in the house for a long time, then a strong #2 may outweigh a weak #1. For example - having extra tall doors might be of value to me (my Dad is 6'7"), but not add much to the market price. This is something that might not be worth doing if we are only staying 5 years, but if we were staying longer (20 years?), it would make sense.

The other way to think of it (and this is what I say to my wife), is "would you prefer the gold bath, or would you prefer a holiday to Bali every x years". Obviously "x" will vary based on the cost of the feature. I find this really helps crystallise the value discussion.

Cheers,
Dim