What to Look for in a Display Home

In short, this is what you should be looking for in a display home: 

• Floor Plan/Layout
• Build Quality/Finishes
• Materials & Appliances 
• Storage Space
• Builder Transparency

Consider your daily activities, and you can map out the most frequent journeys you’ll make in the house. The bedroom to the bathroom is probably the most obvious, but also consider the bedroom to laundry for those washing runs. Additionally, consider the kitchen to the dining room or patio for when you’re catering or hosting, or even the bathroom or the front door to the kitchen because taking the groceries in can be a workout at the best of times. If you enter a display home with these in mind or even written down, you’re going to come out with a clearer picture of how practical a homebuilder is.

Build Quality/Finishing

There are a few key places you can look to assess the quality of the finishes around your home:

• Cabinetry and Joinery: First, check the alignment of the cabinets. Are there uniform gaps between doors, or is there any overlap? Can any gaps be seen through? You should also test the functionality by opening and closing a few and see if they open and close smoothly using soft closing drawers or if they get jarred or slam shut. 
• Tiles and Grouting: Any lippage should be your first red flag when inspecting a home; this is their sample work, and uneven flooring is a huge telltale sign of poor craft. If you have a keen eye, try analysing the grout colouration or the tile spacing. 
• Doors and Handles: Same as cabinetry, look for even spacing and test the functionality. Additionally, you should be testing the locking mechanism wherever possible. Everyone hates an impossible lock, and yet most of us seem to have them. 

Paintwork: Inspect the corners, around switches, skirting boards, and near ceiling lines for paint drips, uneven cutting in, or brush marks.

Materials & Appliances

Every builder has suppliers, which means choosing your own appliances or materials could be an additional inclusion. One of the biggest mistakes new home builders make is just assuming they can switch in their favourite kitchen appliance brand or floorboards at no extra cost to the build. We’re not saying that you should settle for whatever’s available, but if you want to avoid superfluous costs, you should be checking the price lists in a display home to see which builder can accommodate the most of your ideas before deciding who to build with. You’ll generally find these options in brochures, on laminated placards or in the form of price lists next to an appliance, hanging on walls or at the entryway of the home. Don’t just explore them; take photos, ask for a copy and take them home where possible.

Storage Space

If you don’t move often, it’s best to conduct a stocktake of your current storage and assess how much you’re storing around the house before you even visit the home. Don’t just assume that you’ll find them all yourself; ask any guides around the house and see if there’s any hidden cabinetry, as a majority of the time, that can be the best kind. Not all storage space is created equal either, consider how easy access the top shelf is, or storage on the top floor. With any display home visit you should be considering not only how much storage space there is, but what kind of storage space there is (kitchen/bathroom/linen) and how easy access it is for it’s purpose.

Builder Transparency

There will generally be a representative for the builder at a display home, and for most people, this will be the first interaction they have with their builder. Don’t let it go to waste; first impressions are everything. Speak with the representative, pick their brain, and ask them questions; the more informative they are in the display home, the more informative they’ll be throughout the journey. If they work their way out of questions, take note; if you learn something from them, take note. The experience you have with the representative is not a random occurrence; it’s a key indicator of the experience you’re likely to have down the track.

It’s Time to Go Out with Your Display Home Checklist

As long as you go in with a purpose and clear requirements for your home builder or home, you won’t just have a great time; you’ll come out a more informed buyer. So, gather your notes app or even a pen and pad and start writing down what you’re going to look for. You could even get a headstart on it with this example guide we’ve put together:

• Floor Plan/Layout
  • Bedroom to Bathroom Journey ___ Steps
  • Bedroom to Laundry Journey ___ Steps
  • Front Door to Kitchen Journey ___ Steps
• Build Quality/Finishing

□ Functional Cabinetry

□ Even Cabinetry Spacing

□ Even Tile Spacing

□ Grout Discolouration

□ Flooring Lippages

□ Door Functionality

□ Paintwork Defects

• Materials & Appliances
  • Desired Appliances:
  • Builder Appliances:
  • Desired Flooring:
  • Builder Flooring:
• Storage Space
  • Current Home Cabinets:
  • Display Home Cabinets:
• Builder Transparency
  • Questions I have:

□ Inclusions

□ Brochures

□ Pamphlets