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Okay, so I have Maddie here with me today. Hello. Thank you for joining me, and today we're going to dive into pre-start and pre-start prep. So really getting into what that part of the process looks like with Builder and how. Preparing and setting yourself up for the best results will get you the best thing for your build and what we do through, , our pre-start prep to help our clients.

So first, let's start with what is pre-start. Well, so many different things. It's a really important meeting in your pre-construction phase. So the pre-construction phase is a lot of different things, but this is the main meeting that everyone looks forward to. It's very exciting. It's where you pick all your colours, you select all your materials, your finishes, all your inclusions outlined to you.

You get a really good look at your plan and all the internals go through basically everything. We'll try to, and then at that point you sign up from your variations. And off you go into final plans. Now, what do you think? So with Pre Start, what are like some of the things like to basically db it down really simply are the things that you change and look through at pre Start?

Well, the main thing will be things like your cabinetry layout. So if you want drawers, if you want cupboards, how high do you want things to be? Do you want splash backs? Do you not want them? That sort of component. A lot of it will also include your electrical. So lighting positions where you want your PowerPoints, how high up, how low, those are probably the main ones going things, going through things like your tiling heights as well.

So again, okay. Do you want full height in your en suite, but half height in your bathroom? Those are what I would consider the main components, yeah. Of pre-start, but there's a lot of little things mm-hmm in between that actually enhance the whole experience. So in a nutshell, we're talking all your non-structural things and in your phase of where you sign off your prelim paperwork, you have to sign off and you can't make any more changes on your structural items.

Roof, walls, windows, doors, layout, everything else outside of the bones and the layout of the house. You can change at pre-start. Yes. Why do. We do, I guess pre-start like this in the sense of it does seem very confusing and backwards that you do part of your plan and at the. Initial sales stage, you obviously only have like a bird's eye view of your floor plan.

You don't have your elevations, and when you get your elevations, you can see your cabinetry and you can see all those things. Why is the pre-start process the way it is? Well, I would say one of the main components is actually for the builder, so it gives them the time to put you in their queue to get all your internal layouts actually drafted.

So that's a really important thing. They don't wanna be rushing through this process. 'cause that's when mistakes can happen. They also need to fit a lot of people into this to you, mind you. Mm-hmm. So I would say a lot of it's actually due to the builders processes in terms of it's actually, when you think of it, it is a little bit backwards.

Why would you wanna sign off on a contract without saying, oh, that's where my tap is. Like, yeah. This sort of thing. It's also, which I think is what a lot of people get stuck on, so stuck on. But I mean, those things do make sense in the fact that they can be easily changed. Yeah. It's about locking in the structure first.

, but I would say also as well, it's a cost thing. Yeah. You spend a little bit more money at preset, there's a little bit more time involved in this to actually make these important decisions. Yeah. At the sales process, I wanna get you in. They're getting you in the signing you are. They're going, come on, come on, come on.

They've locked you in as a customer, you can't go anywhere. Mm-hmm. So it's about also time, affordability and time is money. Mm-hmm. So if you are taking eight months at the sales stage, they could have sold. How many homes in that time? Yeah. So a lot, a lot of it, I would say would be to do with that. , but there's also too many components to sit and think about at the sales stage.

This is why it's in pre-start. Yeah, and that's what I always like tell. Our clients that we work with is if you split the process into two, the whole thing becomes slightly overwhelming. 'cause if you are thinking about taps and baths and tiling heights at the initial stages, you're gonna forget about a window or a door or something, and then you can't change it later.

But if you split the process, two, you manage to do everything. With the process of how it is set out with the builders and the building industry and stuff. So I do find that is always the best result. Always. Yeah. Because yeah, it can take, if you start to think about everything, you could take four to six months going back and forth and then, yeah.

And you'll find a lot of it can be disjointed. So in real high spec builds when they builders where they do, let's just say four homes a year. Yeah. They do the pre start ongoing. Yeah, the whole entire process. So yep. Now comes the time that you need your tiles installed. Go pick your tiles. But before you've done that, you've chosen your paint colour.

Before you've done that, you've chosen your stone, and before you, it's, yeah, it all becomes a little bit too disjointed, so doing it all at the same time. Sort of eliminates or alleviates the risk that you're gonna choose something that doesn't fit in with something else. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. What are some common mistakes that people make at Pre-Start?

Oh, that's a real loaded question. I mean, look, there are so many, I would say. One is not coming in with any idea of what you want. Mm-hmm. Not looking into your developer's guidelines. So already pre choosing colours that they're not going to accept. Yeah. Also not thinking about your electrical layout. So your everyday items, like plugging in a phone, like thinking of yourself, where do you charge your phone?

Those sort of ideas, which can really hold up. Oh, I, I don't really wanna do that. Design fatigue. Oh. Just say yes. 'cause I, I wanna move on. Yeah. Those sort of things. And I would say a lot of it is no research. So in terms of when, when I say research, I'm talking about your suppliers. Yeah. So your builder would give you a list of their suppliers and actually not going and seeing them, not seeing the tiles, not seeing your flooring, or not going to beacon and having a look at the downlights or the colours or things like this.

So having no prior preparation makes a really. Piss poor results. Yep. And I guess that kind of takes us into our next question. What is our pre-start prep consults that we do for clients? Well, it's to hopefully eliminate all that I've just talked about. , it is a wonderful meeting you get to spend.

Upwards of four maybe sometimes five plus hours with me, and we go through absolutely everything, or we try to as much as we can. And we actually go through your entire floor plan. So when I say floor plan, we're going through your first page, which does your floor plan layout. Looking at things like your garden taps, going through your air con location, your gas hole meter, your actual meter box where they need to be locked if you want locks in your doors.

Security screens, things like this. These are the little things that I was talking about previously that really become, I would say. The last resort. People don't tend to think about these items until you get in the house. You go, oh crap. I can't put a security screen on my door anymore. Yeah. So we talk about all these little things that really make your house liveable.

We go through your full electrical plan. I used to work in lighting, so it's my bread and butter. I absolutely love it. Considering things that you can or cut do after handover. So things like PowerPoints, wall lights, conduits. Home security, you name it. We also go through all your colours, all your features, your materials.

We go through your cabinetry, layouts, tiling, plumbing. We honestly, there is not one thing that we cannot touch. Yeah. Pinterest Mood boards. Oh yes. Colour selections. Colour selections. It's my favourite. We go through your portal, we go through all your items that you can select. We. I can give you advice, things that to do in handover or not.

And this is a lot of the times also based on my own experience from building and living in my house and having to do things myself. 'cause let's be honest, we all do not want a list that's a mile long. Yeah. Sometimes it happens. But it's just about giving you a good foundation for the pre-start meeting itself, but then also a good foundation for your home once you are in it.

Yep. Yeah, definitely. And how do you think, like most clients come in. Before pre-start prep and how they're feeling and some of the struggles that they're having at the start, how they're feeling and what they're struggling with at the end. I think a lot of people come into this meeting nervous. I mean, obviously you're going through a major stage in your life and in this particular build where you're finalising everything.

But the most important thing that I tell people is. This is nothing to be locked in. Yeah. We are narrowing down your whole selections to have real minimal points that when you actually do go into pre-site, you're not feeling so overwhelmed and you're looking at the laminates board and going, oh my God, there's a hundred different laminate colours.

Yeah. What do you mean I have to choose one? So it's about narrowing down your selections so that you're not going to design fatigue and going, oh crap, I, I can't, I can't picture that. I'll just choose that instead. So it's eliminating the stress. , and making sure that you are making good decisions based off one, what you want, what's gonna be functional, what's gonna be liveable, and how well it's going to.

State, essentially. Yeah. In your home. Yeah. So, yeah. Very. Yeah. It's like everyone at the start, but great leaving. Yeah. Obviously feeling very like, oh yes. Like we've done that, and just feeling confident. Yeah. Would say. Yeah. That's the big thing. Yeah. Yeah. That people feel like a relief when they're leaving.

Yeah. Yeah. Because yeah, you get to brainstorm ideas or struggles that you're having, or, yeah, I dunno about this. Or narrow it from 10 down to two. Yeah. So you're doing 70% of the work, and then when you get to pre-start, you're gonna have to do. 30% of it, but you've done the hard decisions. Yeah. You can go away and think about it for two weeks.

Whatever the difference, like wait until you  prestart and wake up one day and be like, I hate those tiles. I need to change my mind. And then go and change your mind versus going to pre-start picking something and then not being able to change your mind. For sure. And I mean, look, I can't say this on behalf of every pre-start consultant, but I would assume most of the meetings that.

Builders will go through in their presets are at a time slot. Yeah. So most of the time they allow for three hours and when you actually get down to the brass tacks of things, that's not a lot of time to move out every single selection of your home. Yeah. There are people who, like designers are out there who go through this for months.

Yeah. So it is a very intricate. Appointment. There's a lot of stuff involved and you need to be told things about these materials or these items or things that you're choosing. So as an example, if you're choosing like a black laminate for your kitchen, I would be here saying, please don't do that to me.

Yeah. But the presale consultant might just go, okay, cool. And note it down. Yeah. But she's not actually telling you about the product. She's just listing it. Yeah. So. In our appointment, we actually go down to the real nitty gritty of things. Yeah. And I actually tell you a bit more behind the product and how it's going to live in your home and then making informed decisions, which won't lead you to going, oh God, I hate that type colour.

Like a really cliche, choose something else. Like, you know, it's just about avoidance. Some of these sorts of problems. What would you tell someone if they came to you with the Black Laminex example? Uh, I would look at them and go, are you sure? I'm, look, it really does depend on the actual type of laminate to start off with, but I would be saying.

Please don't, because you are gonna be one of those people who will be cleaning your cupboard doors every day 'cause of fingerprints showing on it. Yep. Fingerprints, even wiping over it with like cleaning solutions sometimes won't cut through grease. Grime, oil, even my cupboards, there are wood, so can't really tell because of the pattern, but in certain lights, like in, if I've got the range going on, I look underneath and I go, oh my God, that's a lot of grease.

That's, yeah. Yeah. So it's about making sure that it's going to look good, but actually clean. Well, yeah. And so you're not spending every moment of your time going, oh crap, my kids would just lick their hands and plastered their hand on the door. I can see it. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. Look, no. Yeah. And in a three hour meeting, you're not gonna be able to have those conversations.

For someone to be like, and look, you could still continue to go with. Black cabinetry, which is Oh, you do you both your house. So you do. Yeah. But at least you've been able to have the conversation. Have you thought of this? Yeah. Where in those conversations, in pre-start, there might be not a lot, not a lot of time to bounce those questions and Yeah, if you don't know, you don't know.

And you need someone who knows those things to be able to Oh, for sure. Yeah. Functionality will trump design and aesthetics. All the time, something can look beautiful and be absolutely horrible. Where to the point that you fall outta love with it. Yeah. And these are the little things that people will say to you like, oh, what do you regret about your build?

Oh, I really regret choosing that plumbing colour or that tap, or you know, that tile. Like, these are things we don't want you to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are, have you found that there is something like, something that a lot of people come in with that you say you then give. Your opinion. Yeah. Yeah. And they will be then be like, oh, or change their mind, or something like that.

Like what's something you that comes to mind? Other than the black? Other than the black cabinetry? Black cabinetry. Black plumbing. Look, black has its place. I would say a lot of it actually has to do with flooring. Yeah. , choosing a floor that is either too busy, too much of a yellow or a red undertone.

It's, I think. My understanding of tones and colours really helps our clients because it's about making sure that it's uniform. Mm-hmm. Not necessarily you're going with a red floor and then you're going with a really cool base ca like cabinetry colour. Yeah. And these are the things that, as a designer, I really help to shape.

So sometimes clients come in with their flooring colour and I'll try as hard to work around that. Yeah, but it's really good to be able to give the advice and say, I would actually choose this over this because of the pattern and the undertone and the colour. Yeah. All these little bits and bits and pieces that make up a whole Yeah.

You're like work shopping. Oh yeah. The selections with them to get them to make an educated and informed decision rather than a pre-start. You're just making the decision, but you don't have time to like workshop through that. Yeah, I would say that. And actually roof colours. Yeah. Roof colours is a very.

Hard choice. Yeah. Why? Well, you can't get a true representation of a roof colour in this environment, in a studio under artificial lighting. You actually have to go outside, see the colour in the sun, different times a day, and you don't have the time to be out there every single hour going, oh, what does it look like now?

Oh, what? What about now? So, yeah. Different in the morning, different in the afternoon. Yep. Yep. colours will fade with sunlight. Obviously there's a lot of emphasis on solar absorbency. Yeah. In terms of houses absorbing heat, retaining heat, all that. So there's a little bit more science behind just going, oh, I like the colour.

Shale Grey. So I'm gonna choose that there's actually a little bit more to it than just going, ah, yeah, I like that. How's it going to cope with the heat in terms of, okay, where's your solar orientation go? What colour's gonna look best with this? Is it a cool undertone, a warm undertone? There's so many different properties that will affect, affect it.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good point. But you just. Wouldn't really think of that. I mean, I, I definitely didn't think of that when I built, I mean, even your developer guidelines. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sunk Most developers in Perth do not like dark colours. Yeah. So when I see someone pick a night sky or a moment, a little part of me goes, oh crap.

Can we do this? Yeah. So, yeah, it's. Also read your guidelines people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. Read your own, your OA. Yeah. Which is your offer and acceptance of your land contract. Yes. It's cool. Well, I guess that kind of takes us a little bit into, so obviously we have pre-start prep for our clients, which we had as our boss service, which our clients get included when they build with us, and we've recently excitingly.

Opened up 'cause we had quite a few requests for people who had picked different builders that wanted, , help with pre-start prep. So we've opened up our books for non boss clients, which is very exciting. Very exciting. Yeah. Which from memory was 1000. 300. I think it might've been one, two. I actually cannot remember.

I think that, think it might. I think that might be the , sale offer that we did. I think that might have been one eight. Yes. For a house under 300 square meters. Yes, that's correct. And. 2000 something for a house over 300 square meters. So you've got a farm house? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then big house, that's what it is.

So, but I'll put the information and the link in the show notes so you guys can jp on and have a look. And if you are building with a different builder in Perth and not through Boss, you still have the opportunity to message us to , book in for pre-start prep and that way we'll be able to help you and Maddie will be able to help you.

Book, prepare for your pre-start, for your builders meeting. Yeah. So exciting. Yeah, very exciting. Worth the investment. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. How much do you think, like out of stress and mistakes and all of that, that like doing that helps? I mean, even I think back to when I was in the industry building at the same time, and I was a consultant at the time and I thought, oh, I know everything this is, I've got nothing to worry about.

Yeah. And even then, I was not prepared for the hurdles that you could face. I wasn't prepared for how much things cost. I didn't know in terms of how. A particular material would look once it's built. Yeah. , having also the construction knowledge at that point to aid me. So if I was to build again, knowing how things are constructed in a home really would help make a lot more of important decisions at the sales stage.

So I. I truly do think investing a lot of your time, your resources and your planning into pre-start will make an overall just a much better experience in terms of being fully aware of what's going on, knowing how you're going to live in this home. Yeah. And how things will. Move how things will function, how the versatility and the functionality of the product will help you.

But also just making sure that you are informed with all your decisions and you just feel good. You just feel feeling really confident. Yeah. You going into this process going, I'm not second guessing my colours, I'm not overthinking things. I'm not waking up at two o'clock in the morning going crap. Did I choose that right?

Like and. As a person who also did that. I worked in the industry. Yeah. I was a pre-site consultant, so if I was doing that, I would imagine circumstances people who aren't in the industry would feel that even worse. Yeah. So I really do think investing in a pre-site experience that's going to be really beneficial for you and make really good informed decisions later on, it's gonna really be worthwhile.

Yeah, absolutely. How much do you think people upgrade roughly? At pre-start meetings and talk me through the how long pre-start bills, and I know it's a very hard question answer how piece of strength? Yeah. I would say the median price I would see coming through just with our clients alone probably sits anywhere between 20 to 25.

Mm-hmm. I would say that's a good sort of benchmark in terms of how. Quickly things can also add, but that's a, I would say a good benchmark for upgrading the main things. Yeah. And leaving things that are just way too expensive. Let's just say, for example, like putting in paving to, you know, 80% of your landscaping, like, look too expensive.

Leave it for later. But I often see as well a lot of people talking and saying that. This should already be done. Yeah. I constantly see on social media, in building groups saying that you shouldn't be choosing this now. You shouldn't be paying for it now. You should have already thought about this. No.

Yeah. We are all not made of money. Unfortunately. It is. The pre-site is a time for a bit more in-depth research and thinking in terms of what you want from your interiors. Like we said before, it's too overwhelming sometimes to do it at the start. We don't have the time, but, and it also depends on your finance, finances, like specific situations.

Are you going under schemes? Do you have to stand under caps and eligibilities? And pre-start is a way that you can do things without, with staying, making sure you're alone and everything. 'cause there definitely, and it just allows a little bit more freedom and that's. The real key thing here is having the time and the freedom to make informed choices rather than just going, okay, now put it all into my loan.

I can see the method to the manners of doing that, but it's just not feasible for the everyday job work. Yeah. But then even doing that, if it's more like the money in your loan. 'cause the way obviously pre-start, you. Pay is your variation. You pay the builder cash at the start of construction, unless it's in your loan.

But you can put into your building contract, let's say $15,000 allowance for pre-start, and that will give you $15,000 in your loan that the bank will pay the builder to cover that, and you pay the difference with cash. But most of the. Budgets these days, and with affordability and the price of land and house, it actually does not leave a lot of room for people to be adding pre star budgets in.

It's definitely on some of our bigger jobs, but they're more like 800 to over a mill house and land. Yeah. Which is a different ball game compared to your first homeowners getting in at that 600 to seven 50 K and depending on the location. Yeah. But it is just that reframing of you do, even if there's ways to allow for it in your loan, but to still make the choices and have the freedom of doing it later.

Yeah, and it actually works. If you make the process work with you, you don't have to work against it. Exactly. It really does work. I mean, every house is different, so why should everybody, in terms of their loan be the same? Yeah. Every person has a different set of circumstances. That's why I often say sometimes it's not feasible to actually do all that at the sale stage.

Yeah. Putting in some key items, or like you said, a pre-start budget allowance in your contract is a great way of doing it if it's actually accessible. Yeah. Some people unfortunately just don't, can't get to that point. Yeah. So it's not to say that you are doing it wrong or you're not allowed to do it, it's just making sure that it's actually.

Good for you, your budget, your time, and your loan. Some people find it a lot easier to have to spend $25,000 that they can save up, rather than going, oh crap, I need to have this as a part of my mortgage and pay for it over the course of 30 years. So yeah, there's lots of different ways to look about it.

Yeah. But. I mean, for the average person who asked me how much everything costs, I would say 20 5K is a good, a good way to sit around. If you're going into , pre-start, I would be saying that's 25. Very normal. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess it's different, even like with building, I mean there's so much how you mentioned before on like.

Online and Facebook groups. There's actually not one right answer for building because every home's different. Every loan's different. Every bank's different. Every builder's different. Every rep's different. Every broker's different. Every client's different. Every family's different. Yeah. All different.

Mm-hmm. You even if you ask a question. About something or an opinion, the answer that you're getting online is based on someone's experience, which their experience might not be the same as yours, so therefore it's completely different. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, and I get a little not, I would say get a little bit funny.

I get worried when I start seeing pre star pricing being thrown around. Like around, yeah. On the internet as well. 'cause as you just mentioned, everything is different. One person's house might look physically the same as yours, but the internals might be different. The ceiling heights might be different.

Mm. There is just too many variable components to make assumptions about pricing. I might give roundabout pricing based on all the years that I've been in the building industry. , but things rise all the time. Yeah. So they still are Even things that I purchase from my own home. I built three years ago are completely different to now.

Yeah. So a lot of these people might stay in these groups for years and go, oh, well I paid. $500 for my bin insert and I'm here going Uh hmm. Great for you. Yeah. But now it's 1200 bucks. Yeah. Like, and unfortunately there is no apples and apples. There's always apples and oranges. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely.

What is a pre-start variation? Ah, pre start variation. It's one of those lovely builders, jargon, variations of words. , it's essentially just variation, shortened down. So if you see your building rep, your sales consultant say VO, it's your variation. Yeah. So this is essentially. I sort of think of it all like an instruction manual.

So your variations are basically the instruction manual to your build and literally telling you what you have paid for, , and what you have included as a part of your pre-start. Yeah. And now to wrap up, what is your one most important bit of advice for someone who has pre-start coming up? Booking with me.

That's a good one. Thank you. Thank you. , I mean, look, obviously I really did mean that. , but if booking with me is not an option or you're just unsure about anything, it is to do your research into your actual builder spec, like what you have included and not saying, go on Pinterest. Look at these houses that are.

1.2 million above. 'cause that the reality is you need to be able to emotionally Yes, go right. I really love that. But logically go, can I afford this? Yeah. Is this achievable? And I think people really, there's that blurred line between emotion and reality. You need to sort of sit somewhere in the middle.

So managing your expectations about what you can achieve for your home, what your home is going to look like, and what you want out of it is going to best prepare you for all the challenges that you might face during pre-con budgets. Finance going through the build itself. , expectations have to be, yeah.

Very level. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. That was a great bit of advice. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for joining us today. Oh, and I will put the link in the show notes below to book in for pre-start prep. If you are not a boss client. If you are a boss client, you do not need to worry about this because it is included with our service.

It's. No extra charge for you. So it's all included in what we do from start to finish. If you are not a boss client, you can book in on the link below on Calendly, find a date. Just need your builders working drawings. Yes, before you do pre-start, , but you can jp on there and then book in and find a time with Maddie.

Sounds good. Thank you. Thanking you. Thank you so much for tuning in to the home building like a Boss podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something new. Remember, you've got this and I've got your back. Until next time, stay inspired, stay informed, and stay confident on your building journey.

I can't wait to chat with you on the next episode. Don't forget to check out the show notes for more information and free resources if you have. Haven't already hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode of the home building like a Boss podcast.