First Home Buyer Advice
A Practical Guide to Building Your First Home

At First-Place, we recognise that navigating the real estate market for your first home can be both exciting and overwhelming. As an established building company with over 40 years of experience, we understand your challenges and concerns.

Read more

How Much Does it Cost to Build a House in Melbourne?

How Much Does it Cost to Build a House in Melbourne? Are you considering building a house in Melbourne but unsure of the associated costs? While constructing a house can be an exciting and fulfilling experience, it's essential first to understand the expenses involved. In this guide, we'll explain the ...
Read More

Building a house with friends — can it work for you?

Building a house with friends - can it work for you? We live in an age where there are more possibilities than ever, and sticking to ideas about how you should do things, like buying your first home, is unnecessary and can often hold you back. Black-and-white options are the ...
Read More

Building new or buying an established home — benefits of building new

Building new or buying an established home - benefits of building new All purchases aren't equal when it comes to property. Your first home will probably be the largest investment you've ever made and maybe ever will make. It'll be where you create lots of those laughable and loveable memories ...
Read More

Don’t Wait for Your Dream Home — Build Now

Don't Wait for Your Dream Home - Build Now If you know any other aspiring first-time buyers, you're probably familiar with the stories of their hunt - the extra full-time job they've embarked on to search every website, view every suitable listing and the continuous real estate phone calls in ...
Read More

Choosing a Location to Build Your Home

Choosing a Location to Build Your Home Location is the first point of call for aspiring homeowners on the hunt for their first abode. It's also an old cliché in real estate we're sure you've heard before, but because its importance is multi-layered, including meeting your needs, preferences, cost and ...
Read More

What to Consider When Saving for a Deposit

What to Consider When Saving for a Deposit Swapping your daily coffee for an instant might taste a little bitter now, but putting those five bucks towards your dream home makes it a lot sweeter in the future. But cutting back on coffee while you're saving is an old trope, ...
Read More

Are Homes Better Than Apartments and Units?

Are Homes Better Than Apartments and Units? Choosing whether they want a house or an apartment sits at the top of first-home buyers' decisions. That makes sense - the two types allow for different preferences and needs that are thrown into the mix of finding the perfect first home. Apartments ...
Read More

Benefits of Building an Investment Property

Benefits of Building an Investment Property Building an investment property is one of the most popular investment assets in modern Australian society. If you're considering joining the 20% of Aussies that own an investment property, you'll have to make some decisions on a few critical details to make your money ...
Read More

What Do You Need to Know About Rentvesting?

What Do You Need to Know About Rentvesting? First-time home buyers have traditionally had to sacrifice the bones of their lifestyle to build a home in an area they can afford, uprooting themselves in the suburb they've rented and built a life in. For those struggling to break into the ...
Read More

Everything You Need to Know About the Government’s Plan to Help First Home Buyers

Everything You Need to Know About the Government's Plan to Help First Home Buyers Entering the property market for the first time is a commitment and comes with unique challenges beyond deciding on your dream floor plan and location. When you're competing with investors and current owners expanding their portfolio, ...
Read More

Building supply shortage — how does this affect you?

Building supply shortage - how does this affect you? Watching your new house grow from the ground up is the exciting part of the first-time home buyer journey. The current building supply shortages hitting the country are causing several issues in the residential construction roadmap. This may halt you from ...
Read More

How to plan for an interest rate rise

How to plan for an interest rate rise Have you heard about an interest rate rise and wondering how it will affect your property plans? Our guide will provide you with a forecast for interest rate rises. Knowing when to expect interest rate rises in Australia and how to prepare your ...
Read More

Tree Change — An Opportunity For You?

Tree change - an opportunity for you? Are you thinking of making a tree change and moving to the country? Our guide will give you everything you need to know about the benefits of a tree change, so you can decide if it's right for you. But first, what is ...
Read More

What to expect in the next 12 months

What to expect in the next 12 months If you are thinking of buying or building a home in the next 12 months, it pays to be prepared for what lies ahead in the Melbourne market. So if you are looking for a Melbourne property market forecast, look no further. ...
Read More

Is Renting A Waste Of Money?

Is renting a waste money? If you have been paying attention to the local property market you'll know that Melbourne house prices have boomed over recent years. So you might be wondering: is renting a waste of money? Many people argue that renting is a waste of money because you're ...
Read More
The Changing Face of Australian First Home Buyers Image

The Changing Face of Australian First Home Buyers

The Changing Face of Australian First Home Buyers With the rising cost of supply & materials and titled land shortages effecting affordability across the home building industry, the 'Great Australian Dream' of home ownership has become the 'Great Australian Challenge' for future first home buyers. If there's one thing that ...
Read More

What we do with your deposit

What we do with your deposit (and why it's important) Building your new home is a two-way relationship. As much as you want to have trust and faith that your builder will construct a quality new home for you, your builder will want to have trust that you are committed ...
Read More

What are site costs?

What your site costs say about you. What are 'site costs' and how do they work? More often than I'd like, I've had clients walk into a display home looking to fit the home of their dreams on the amazing new block they just picked up at an incredible price ...
Read More

No such thing as a free upgrade

There's no such thing as a free upgrade. What your builder isn't telling you about their promotion Promotions in of themselves are not evil. They're a way of the builder getting your attention in a sea of 'front door and floorplan' marketing campaigns, and an incentive for you to build ...
Read More

Questions to be asking your builder

First Home Buyer? Here are some questions you should be asking your builder. For First Home Buyers the process of building a new home can be daunting. There are so many moving parts in and around purchasing your new home that you can easily feel overwhelmed or unsure if this ...
Read More

Avoiding the red pen

Avoiding the red pen - Picking the new home designs that's right for you. In new home construction you really have two choices - engage a custom builder to design something just for you or go to a volume builder and select from a series of floorplans and options that ...
Read More

SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST NEWS AND EXCLUSIVE DEALS