Securing your new build

T H E U LT I M A T E G U I D E T O

SECURING A NEW BUILD

From finance to finished build – we’ve got you covered

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Welcome

People are increasingly turning to building new – and for good reason. There are often more financing and government funding options, interest rates are lower and it’s a great way of securing a home that’s more in tune with your lifestyle and budget. But, how do you know if it’s the right property path for you? To save you countless hours of research, this complete guide covers everything you need to know about buying a new build.

We look forward to helping you into your new build soon.

The team at Signature Homes.

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

FINANCING A

New Build

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Let’s talk money Whether you’re building a first home forever home, there are multiple finance options available to help fund your new build. Even better, Signature Homes offers Fixed Price Contracts as part of our independently bonded Building Guarantees programme, a marketleading offering that has seen 1,000’s NZ homeowners protected throughout their build, journey and into the future.

Deposit: how much do you need?

To buy a new build, you’ll need to take out a construction loan (rather than a typical home loan). Deposits for this type of finance can start as low as 5%. Find out what your options are with a free, no-obligation chat with our trusted financial partner Lifetime.

Lower interest rates Interest rates are constantly moving – recently they’ve hit record lows, but a predicted OCR increase will change that. Either way, interest rates can be lower for those buying new builds, with several ‘new build’ rates that make getting into a new home even easier.

Government funding for new builds The NZ government is working to increase the supply of housing – that means more new builds. For people looking to build (rather than purchase existing property), there is additional lending support – especially if you’re a first home buyer.

Find out more about the KiwiSaver HomeStart Grant.

Build with a Fixed Price Contract In a market with much uncertainty, Signature Homes provides confidence where needed the most. Our Fixed Price Contract is part of our guarantees programme and means that any price increases to materials and services that may occur throughout our client’s build are not passed on to them. We guarantee it! - see pages 9-12 Learn more about our guarantees here.

Work with the experts You’ll want to work with a financial advisor to figure out what the best finance option is for you and your family. The team at Lifetime will review your current financial position, provide guidance and shop around for the best interest rates – all free of charge.

About Lifetime Signature Homes has partnered with Lifetime, an experienced team of financial advisors who provide financial services to our clients, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free build process right from the word go.

Fill out their enquiry form here

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

First Home Grant If you’ve been contributing to your KiwiSaver for at least 3 years you may be eligible for a First Home Grant of up to $10,000 to top up your deposit.

How it works?

You can apply for either: • a pre-approval before you start looking for a property to buy – this gives you certainty around eligibility and how much you may qualify for or; • a grant approval if you’ve found a property and have a signed sale and purchase agreement.

If I am eligible what can I get?

If you buy a new home or land to build on, you can get $2,000 for each of the 3 (or more) years you’ve paid into the scheme. The most you can get is $10,000 for 5 or more years.

Next steps Check you are eligible for First Home Grant here.

Check property criteria here See house price caps here.

Apply for the First Home Grant here.

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Pay now or pay later - what are your options?

Now that you’ve got your deposit and finance sorted, the next step is building an instalment payment plan. Most people think they can’t afford to pay the mortgage repayments for a new home on top of rent (until the build is complete), but with a construction loan – you have options:

Pay in instalments With a construction loan, you can pay during the build for your new home. The payment schedule is set out in the building contract so you can plan for the payments as they come up.

Once you’ve found a new build option, Signature Homes and Lifetime will work through a progress payment plan with you, before you sign on the dotted line.

Pay at the end Alternatively, with some finance options (like NewBuild), you don’t need to start your mortgage repayments until you move in. That way, you don’t have to worry about paying double or missing the due date on any payments.

To make your financial planning even more manageable, Signature Homes provides a guarantee completion date, so you can schedule your move-in day and arrange everything well in advance!

Your Signature Homes Delivery Team will provide you with a comprehensive timeline around all the major construction milestones so that you have full clarity.

You can read more about our market-leading guarantees here.

About NewBuild NewBuild is a specialist new home loan provider, and a preferred supplier of Signature Homes. It can fund a large portion of the finance required to build a new home. All you need to do is pay your deposit. Once your new home is completed, that’s when you start paying back your home loan.

Learn more about NewBuild here.

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PA G E 7

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Enjoy your build journey with a

Fixed Price Contract Signature Homes is proud to offer our clients Fixed Price Contracts as part of our independently-bonded Building Guarantees programme, a market-leading offering that has seen 1,000’s of NZ homeowners protected throughout their building journey.

In addition to our Fixed Price Contract offering, and to safeguard against supply shortages and building delays, we have robust buying strategies in place which ensure we are guaranteed priority in the allocation of materials.

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What is a Signature Homes Fixed Price Contract?

A Signature Homes Fixed Price Contract means that price increases to materials and services detailed in the building specification are not passed on to our clients during their building journey.

How do I get a Signature Homes Fixed Price Contract?

There are three scenarios to obtaining a full Signature Homes Fixed Price Contract. Each scenario is designed to move our clients into a Fixed Price build once all design elements and decisions have been made.

These are as follows.

Scenario 1: An unconditional contract

A contract without any conditions, or PC Sums (cost estimates), allowing our clients to go unconditional and straight into a Fixed Price Contract build.

Scenario 2: A contract with PC Sums

A contract with PC Sums for elements which, at the time of our clients signing their Building Agreement, cannot be finalised due to client selections and/or further investigative work needing to be carried out.

Scenario 3: A conditional contract

A contract that has a set timeframe for which our Fixed Price Contract is valid as we await conditions such as titles to come through and/or our clients decide whether to proceed with their Building Agreement.

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SCENARIO ONE:

An unconditional contract House & Land packages

The three scenarios

We typically offer an unconditional contract with our House & Land packages where the land is already titled, and there are limited unknowns about the land we are building on.

Clients own land

Unconditional contracts can apply for our clients with their own land too. We work with our clients upfront to ensure our pricing is accurate, moving them into a Fixed Price Contract build once all decisions have been made.

SCENARIO TWO:

A contract with PC Sums A PC Sum is a building term for a cost estimate, where a particular scope of works requires further investigation.

A PC Sum can be adjusted up or down once the full costs are known.

Signature Homes contracts typically have minimal PC Sums. However, in some circumstances PC Sums are used to establish a cost to carry out a particular scope of work that requires further investigation, such as earthworks and/or foundations.

Another circumstance might be that, at the time of signing the Building Agreement, our clients require additional flexibility around decision-making for some element of the build, be it on design, specification or materials.

Earthworks and/or foundations

While it doesn’t happen often, if earthworks and/ or foundations require a PC Sum, we provide a comprehensive cost estimate for the work and then, once site investigation is completed, the actual costs can usually be confirmed. During the build, if we come across anything unexpected that is out of our control, there may be additional costs.

Clients asking for flexibility

When signing their building agreement, our clients may not have decided on a specific build element, for example what kitchen they would like. In this case, we offer our clients pricing guidance in the form of a PC Sum. Once final decisions are made, we then review the PC Sum and agree on the price.

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SCENARIO THREE:

A conditional contract A conditional contract normally means one or more of the following circumstances: • • • •

Waiting on Title Building and or Resource Consent Finance approval A timeframe allowance for clients to decide whether they would like to proceed with their Building Agreement.

When a contract is conditional, we agree on a timeframe in which the conditions are likely to be met.

We then offer a Fixed Price Contract as long as the contract is confirmed unconditional during the agreed period. The contract price could attract an escalation if the conditions are not met during the agreed timeframe.

Start your new build journey with

confidence

In summary, once you have a Signature Homes Fixed Price Contract, you will not see any further price increases. We guarantee it!

Book your New Home Consultation today

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Start your journey

_ New Home Consullat ion W I T H A N O - O B L I G AT I O N

What is a New Home Consultation?

If you’ve been thinking about building but are unsure where to start, a New Home Consultation could be ideal for you.

Perhaps you already own land or are currently looking for that perfect section and need some extra guidance. We’ll talk to you about our building process, our team and the options we have available from a pre-designed plan to a design & build home.

We’ll help you iron the unknowns such as; what could I build on my section? What do I need to consider? What will the rough costs be?

You’ll walk away from your Signature Homes New Home Consultation with a clear path ahead to building your dream home! So bring your ideas, and book your consultation today.

Get inspired...

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Let us know your ideas for your dream home

We’ll help you achieve your home, your way

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4 We’ll give you clarity and let you know the next steps to start your build journey

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Get to know us, our build process, our team and the build options we have available

You’ll walk away with an understanding of what it’s going to cost to build your new home

Book in your

New Home Consultation

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MEET YOUR

Signature Homes

team

One of the best aspects of the Signature Homes experience is that our clients get their own team who manage their entire build from the start to the moment they move in.

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New Home Consultants and House & Land Sales Specialists We have a highly experienced team of consultants who specialise in the sales and management of our Design & Build service offering and House & Land selling processes.

Our intensive recruitment processes and training programmes ensure we can deliver our clients exceptional levels of customer service.

Design Team Signature Homes’ experienced architects have developed 100’s of pre-designed plans to offer our clients plenty of variety and the latest trends.

Our range appeals to all levels of buyers ranging from affordable homes right through to high-end homes. We offer a complete design & build service where our architects, designers, and estimators work together to create conceptual drawings and 3D images.

When working with developers, we provide the same level of service. Our team will design a range of plans that complement the development offering and align with the design guidelines.

Project Managers All Signature Homes’ builds are assigned a Project Manager who communicates updates to clients and manages all tradespeople onsite to ensure all timings are accurate, keeping everything on time and budget.

Colour Consultants & Interior Designers For every Signature Homes’ build we provide our clients colour consultants and interior design advice to help guide our clients through these key decisions.

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Building your dream home

Here’s the fun part Get a head start with a House & Land package The most straightforward option for securing a new build is buying a Signature Homes House & Land package. We source the land for you, then put together a house design that fits perfectly – all for a fixed price. This is the price you’ll take to the bank.

Generally, our House & Land packages feature a home design from our Smart or Pacific Collection and are in sought-after locations throughout the most popular regions and towns in New Zealand.

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House & Land Packages Signature Homes House & Land Packages bring together a block of land and a home design that perfectly suits the section.

The benefits of a House & Land Package For many people, the dream of building is often overridden by the fear of what can go wrong - cost blowouts, uncertainty about inclusions or the suitability of land they have seen.

A House & Land Package makes building easy and hassle-free by taking care of all the ins and outs of finding a section and choosing a home design, leaving you to focus on what really matters – adding your personal touch.

Our expertise in House & Land means that we have a large range available to suit all budgets and the most discerning of tastes in the most popular locations, all at fixed prices.

Add your personal touch There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter Signature Home. You will be able to personalise your home by deciding on everything from flooring to tiles, fixtures, fittings, and kitchen and bathroom colours.

Even better is the fact that every Signature Homes customer receives one-on-one time with an interior designer to fine-tune your ideas and make your home uniquely yours.

Explore our House & Land Packages today 18

SIGNATURE HOMES

Design

Collections

We understand that coming up with the design can often be the hardest part of building a new home. To make it easier to start your home building journey, we’ve crafted a range of pre-designed plan collections, using top quality materials from New Zealand suppliers.

Smart Collection. Affordable housing solutions without compromising on quality and style. Learn more about the range here.

Pacific Collection. Designed for modern family living, these plans are the perfect starting point for creating your dream home. See the full range here.

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Urban Collection. Modern and aesthetically pleasing, this collection works alongside our specialist subdivision service, where we take care of the entire subdivision, building and selling process. Explore our Urban Collection here.

Aspiring Collection. Simple, relaxed, open-plan designs for modern Kiwi living, this collection can be customised with an elegant palette of materials, colours and textures. Find out more about our Aspiring Collection here.

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START FROM SCRATCH WITH A

Design & Build

Service

For those with an interest in design and a creative flair, there’s also the option of a Design & Build home. Start from scratch, and with the help of Signature Homes design experts, create your dream home to suit your budget, section and lifestyle. Signature Homes has a strong reputation for building beautiful, architecturally designed homes.

Request

your free copy of our latest Design & Build lookbook

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You get your own team Our team of in-house New Home Consultants, Architectural Designers, Quantity Surveyors and other experts will work with you to design your dream home from scratch, saving you lots of time and hassle along the way.

Book in your New Home Consultation If you’re considering building a new home, we would like to invite you for an obligation-free New Home Consultation.

it 's your home, your way

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SECURING A NEW BUILD

Get ready to move in How long will it take to build your new home?

We often hear stories of people traipsing around open homes for over a year (and, in some cases, longer) before they even consider building. On average, our Signature Homes build timeline is just nine months, depending on variables such as consents and land titles.

We work as quickly as we can to identify house and land opportunities where land has been or is close to being titled, so you can get into your new home as soon as possible.

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Get inspired Through the front door – our clients’ homes Meet Nick and Jess Nick and Jess knew they wanted to buy their first home together in Pukekohe – it was where they both grew up.

Building was an easy choice. It allowed them to customise their home to suit their needs, including modifications for Jess who uses a wheelchair. They chose a House & Land package.

Learn more about their new build journey here.

Meet BJ and Jess While they loved the layout of their existing Signature Home, BJ & Jess knew they wanted to upsize, so chose Signature’s Design & Build service. First on their wish list was creating areas to accommodate everyone individually, while still having space to come together. “We also value indoor-outdoor flow, so made this a priority.

Learn more about their new build journey here.

Meet Bryan and Marie Bryan & Marie stumbled across a section in Moturoa which had spectacular sea views from the second storey and decided to take the plunge and build their new home. The retired couple didn’t have a plan in mind when they approached Signature Homes, but had a list of must-haves. Their home needed to be low maintenance and built to take in the sea views across to Port Taranaki.

Learn more about their new build journey here.

Ready to start building your new home?

Contact your local Signature Homes team today.

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NEW ZEALAND’S MOST

Comprehensive Guarantee Programme No other building company in New Zealand can offer the same level of protection

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S I G N AT U R E H O M E S

Since 2007, Signature Homes has offered its clients the most extensive and meaningful residential building guarantees in New Zealand.

Home Completion Guarantee Your payments to us are 100% secure, ensuring that you receive Your Home, Your Way, on budget, in accordance with the specification in your Building Agreement.

Two Year Maintenance Guarantee One of the best things about moving into a brand new home is the fact that you don’t have to fix up anything. You’ll receive a maintenance guarantee for two years, giving you more time to enjoy living in your home, rather than fixing it.

Ten Year Structural Guarantee Your new home will stand the test of time.

Ten Year Weathertightness Guarantee We have great faith in our builders and the products we use, so much so that we guarantee all our homes will be warm, dry and healthy to live in for years to come.

No Hidden Extras Guarantee We believe the price we give you up front should be the same price you pay. We guarantee that we won’t sneak anything else into your price, meaning there are no nasty surprises when it comes to building your dream home.

Guaranteed Completion Date When we tell you when you can move into your new home, we mean it – otherwise we pay!

Knowing exactly which date you will be moving in makes it easier to organise the sale of your existing home, or the final date of your rental agreement as well as moving vehicles and the all-important house warming.

Total Price Guarantee At Signature Homes, we guarantee that the price we give you when you sign your Building Agreement is the same price you will pay for your new home, excluding any authorised variations. No nasty budget blow-outs, no surprise costs and no scary extra fees.

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Our full service offering Design & Build You may have an idea of your perfect home in your head or sketched somewhere, have plans already drawn up by an architect, or be looking for something completely unique.

We can help you Design & Build your dream home from scratch or follow your existing plans. This is a great option if you’re after something a little different or have a tricky site.

Build From a Plan Decades of experience have shown us that there are elements of great home designs that are universal amongst our clients.

With this in mind, we have created collections of plans that include almost any layout you can think of, and they are a great place to start.

House & Land Packages If you don’t have a section to build on, then a House & Land package might be the answer. Our packages often feature newlyreleased land from developers that isn’t available to the public, and we match each section with one or more plans that maximise the specific site and environment.

Knock Down & Rebuild Love where you live but not the house you’re living in? We have decades of experience in managing the removal of existing homes and rebuilding on your site to create a home that suits your lifestyle.

Subdividing This is a great option if you have a larger site, potentially offering you very good financial rewards. We offer a streamlined Subdividing Service, bringing together a number of specialists to save you time and money.

Whatever option you choose, each home is designed so that when the keys are handed over, you step into the home you’ve always dreamed of.

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We’re with you every step of the way This is your home, built your way, with all your aspirations, expectations, needs and budget at the forefront of everything we do.

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Why

Signature Homes PROMISE Whatever your project, we promise to finish it to the highest industry standards.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES We’re a one-stop shop for all your home-building needs, from House & Land Packages, rebuilding and subdividing to securing finance and finding sites.

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REPUTATION Since Signature Homes was founded in 1983, we’ve become synonymous with uncompromising design, quality and service.

KIWI OWNED We’re proudly New Zealand owned and operated, and our homes are designed here by leading professionals with our unique landscapes in mind.

GUARANTEES We offer Fixed Price, No Hidden Extras, Completion Date, 10-Year Structural, 2-Year Maintenance, Satisfaction and Home Completion Guarantees.

CONVENIENCE We know you’re busy so if you can’t make it to us, we’ll come to you.

TECHNOLOGY Our award-winning project management software, The Signature Way, tracks the entire building process so we can ensure our service is always improving.

OUR MISSION We won’t just create a home you and your family will love, we’ll ensure the entire process is as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Get in touch We’ve been building fantastic homes to suit Kiwi conditions and lifestyles since 1983.

The Signature Homes network now extends from Whangārei to Queenstown, and nearly everywhere in between.

Northland 0800 082 882 Rodney & North Shore 0800 488 828 National Support Office 0800 744 628 West & North-West Auckland 0800 020 600 Papakura & Franklin 0800 828 822

Manukau & Botany 0800 102 109 Bay of Plenty & Tauranga 0800 102 105

Waikato 0800 082 888 Taranaki 0800 102 104 Greater Wellington 0800 102 135 Palmerston North & Manawatu 0800 707 310 Nelson & Tasman 0800 244 422

Christchurch North 0800 744 466 Christchurch South 0800 844 488

Queenstown Lakes 0800 344 422

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0800 744 628 | signature.co.nz 1