What a display home price does not include

None of this is deceptive in itself, and display homes are genuinely useful — walking through a floor plan tells you things a drawing cannot. The problem is comparing the advertised price to a builder quote as though they describe the same thing.

The upgrades you are standing in

Display homes are commonly fitted with upgraded flooring, tapware, benchtops, cabinetry, appliances, lighting and window coverings. Ask for the upgrade schedule for the display — a good builder has one and will hand it over. Then price the base specification, which is the thing the advertised figure refers to.

The things that are not in any base price

Typically: site costs, driveway, fencing, landscaping, letterbox, clothesline, window coverings, floor coverings in some cases, and connection and authority fees. Individually small, collectively not.

The block it is standing on

A display home sits on a prepared, flat, serviced display village lot. Your block has a slope, a soil classification, an orientation and possibly overlays. Site costs are the largest variable in a residential build and the advertised price almost never carries a realistic one. See soil classification and what site costs are.

Furniture is doing more work than you think

Display homes are styled with smaller furniture, and often without the internal doors, wardrobes and storage you will actually have. Take a tape measure. Measure the bedroom you would use, the space beside the bed, the hallway, and the distance from bench to island.

What to ask on the day

May I have the base specification and the display upgrade schedule in writing? What is in the advertised price and what is excluded? What site cost allowance is in that figure and what is it based on? Which of these rooms is a different size in the standard plan?

Then compare properly

Once you have the base specification and the exclusions, you can line it up against another builder. That process is set out in how to compare two building quotes.

What the display is genuinely good for

Judging space, light and flow, which no drawing conveys. Stand in the kitchen and look at where the sink faces. Open the pantry. Walk the path from the car to the fridge with imaginary shopping. Check where the morning sun comes in, and remember the display may be oriented differently to your block.

It is also the best available test of build quality you can inspect without an appointment: look at the tiling cuts in the corners, the alignment of the cabinetry, how the cornice meets the wall, whether doors sit square in their frames. A display home is the builder's best work.

The sales process

The consultant in a display home is a salesperson, which is fine and normal, and the advertised price exists to get you into a conversation. Limited-time inclusions offers are a legitimate marketing device and they are also designed to compress your decision. There is no version of this project where signing quickly is in your interest.

Take the documents away. Read them somewhere else. Come back with the questions above in writing.