Three reasons to consider knocking your home down and rebuilding

If you’ve outgrown your home, bought the worst home in the best street or simply want to generate wealth through shrewd property investment, you’ve got a few options.

You can move house, renovate or extend your existing property, or knock the home down and start again.

Metricon Homes NSW sales manager David Shorten says he’s seen good growth in the knock-down rebuild market in recent years, particularly in inner urban suburbs where larger-sized blocks play host to outdated homes that aren’t meeting the lifestyle needs of today’s homeowner.

“Our customers tell us there’s uncompromising design, simplicity and ease in buying new that doesn’t always exist with renovating,” he says.

Here are three top reasons for considering a knock-down rebuild.

1. Stay in your neighbourhood

“Not having to change locations is a great benefit,” says Jason Chew, a financial planner with Orange Wealth. “If you love your neighbours and your neighbourhood, why move?”

Shorten says staying in an area you love and feel connected to is really important, and difficult to put a value on.

“We find that many customers come to us because they love the area they live in, they love the school the kids attend and all the local amenities, but the home they are in just isn’t meeting their needs anymore,” he says.

“Maybe it’s too small, or outdated. Often they have considered an extension or a renovation but have found that this is the more expensive option.”

2. A lower price per square metre

If you go through a company that’s a volume builder and therefore does knock-downs on a regular basis, knocking down your home and rebuilding can be cheaper per square metre than it is to renovate, particularly if you buy “off the shelf”, says Chew.

“If you’ve got the land and the budget to do a knock-down rebuild then it makes sense because you get more value for your money per square metre.”

Shorten says customers are often surprised to find that building from scratch can be more affordable than they think.

“Unlike renovating, you don’t have to factor in any pre-existing form or structural constraints into your design – this is where the complexity and cost of renovation can quickly add up,” he says.

3. Fewer design compromises

Chew believes the biggest benefit by far of a knock-down rebuild over renovating or moving is being able to design or choose a property that meets your family’s needs. Building new gives homeowners the opportunity to hit the reset button and start again with a blank canvas.

“What I mean by that is that you don’t have to do a custom renovation and get architects to bolt something new onto your existing home that’s, say, been on your block for the past 100 years,” Chew says. “You get to start afresh, which, for most people, can be a good thing.”

Orange Wealth works primarily with young families and sees strong demand for knock-down rebuild opportunities, with many clients turning to project home builders to streamline the process.

“Most of our clients haven’t built a house before and they don’t know the best floor plans for them,” Chew says. “These builders have built many times over, so piggybacking off their expertise and knowledge is a bit of a no-brainer.”

Shorten says Metricon has a specialised knock-down rebuild team to provide upfront expertise to customers, checking title boundaries, covenants, zoning, planning overlays, local council guidelines and residential building codes to assess the physical practicalities of your new home site.

“All of these factors can feel extremely overwhelming for people inexperienced and unfamiliar with the build and renovation process,” he says.

Metricon has plenty of home designs to choose from, including the luxury Signature range with both single and double-storey options.

“Rebuilding is an opportunity to start again and build the dream home you’ve always wanted, without compromise,” Shorten says.

“It allows people to incorporate everything on their home wish-list and have a say in aspects of the design including floor plan, fittings, appliances and fixtures.”

• Read more: The ultimate guide to building a new home