Frequently Asked Questions

The easiest first step is to visit one of our display villages or get in touch via phone or online. From there, you'll have a no-pressure conversation with one of our friendly New Home Consultants who'll talk through your block, your lifestyle, and the designs that suit your situation.

You can find your nearest display village here, or call us on (08) 8301 8333 to arrange an appointment.

You don’t need to have land sorted before you talk to us. It’s often a good idea to have a chat with one of our consultants early on, so we can help you understand what to look for when choosing your block.

Things like its size, shape, solar orientation and access can all influence the home you can build and the budget required, so we can help you find a block that’s a good fit for your plans and lifestyle.

There’s no rush when it comes to choosing your home. Take the time you need to find the right design and work with your consultant to make any personalisations that will make your home work for you.

Once you’ve confirmed your plans and your block is titled and ready to build on, we can get started on the technical design and documentation for your new home. Preparing your contract documentation takes approximately 8–10 weeks. From there, we’ll guide you through each step of the process, right through to completion.

Want to know what happens next? Explore Our Process to see each stage of building your new Sarah Home, from your first conversation with us through to handover.

Our advertised prices are based on the standard floorplan and standard specification for that home design. They don’t include optional upgrades, changes to the standard plan or site-specific requirements, which can vary depending on your block and build location.

Your new home consultant can talk you through what’s included in our standard specification and help you tailor your home to suit your needs. They can then provide a quote for your selected design and personalisations, including your chosen optional upgrades and allowances for your site and build location, so you have a clearer picture of the overall cost of your new home.

The cost of building your new home can vary depending on your block, location and the choices you make along the way. As well as the advertised starting price, it’s worth considering whether your block requires additional site works or a different footing solution, whether you’re building in a regional location, and whether you’d like to make design modifications to the floorplan or facade cladding.

Our Selections area at our Mile End display village is open 7 days a week, including public holidays, and gives you the opportunity to see our standard inclusions alongside available upgrade options, with pricing to help you understand the choices you may want to allow budget for.

Your new home consultant can also talk you through the site-specific costs and options that may apply to your block, helping you build a clearer picture of the overall cost from the outset.

Once you sign your Initial Works Contract, your base house price is confirmed. We aim to give you a clear understanding of your building costs from the outset, while being upfront about the items that can vary.

Your Building Contract will include Provisional Sum allowances for some third-party items that require specific supplier quotations, such as but not limited to, air-conditioning, flooring and stone benchtops. These items are reconciled and confirmed before your home is released to site.

We’ll also include allowances for costs that can vary depending on your site conditions or any variations required during the build. These allowances are prepared using the information available to us at the time, together with our decades of experience building homes across South Australia, so we can generally get very close to the final cost. However, until these items are reconciled, the allowances are not fixed.

Your new home consultant can talk you through your Contract and explain which costs are confirmed and which are allowances, so you know what to expect before your build begins.

Yes. Our standard designs provide a great starting point, and we can tailor them to suit your block, site requirements and the way you want to live.

Our home designs have been thoughtfully developed by Sarah Homes and are unique to our range. We regularly review and improve our plans, making sure they continue to reflect current industry best practice. Our display homes are designed to inspire and give you an idea of the different options and personalisations that may be available when tailoring your new home.

Your new home consultant can talk you through the changes you’d like to make and what’s possible for your chosen design, including any site-specific requirements or lifestyle considerations.

Our Selections area at our Mile End display village is open 7 days a week, including public holidays. It’s a self-guided experience where you can explore our standard inclusions and available upgrade options at your own pace, with pricing to help you understand the choices you may want to allow for in your budget.

After you sign your contract, you’ll meet with one of our Selections Consultants to choose your external and internal colours, along with your kitchen and bathroom fixtures and fittings. Your appointment is where you can work through your choices with an experienced consultant, who’ll guide you through the process and answer any questions you have.

It pays to be prepared, so have a think about what you’d like, what you’d like to spend and which features are important to you. Visiting our Selections Showroom before your appointment is a great way to see the options in person, understand the pricing and start getting a feel for your new home.

Our homes are designed specifically for and by Sarah Homes, so we don’t provide a quote to build directly from another builder’s plans or documentation. Our plans are copyright and unique to Sarah Homes, and we’re proud of the designs, building methods and standards that sit behind them.

That doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch. We’re always happy to look at your own floorplans, sketches or ideas and help you find a Sarah Homes design that captures a similar layout, flow or features wherever possible. From there, we can explore ways to tailor the design to suit your block and the way you want to live.

We’ll always prepare and document our own building and construction plans and manage the Building Approval process on your behalf. This means your home is documented specifically for Sarah Homes and built to the standards and requirements we’ve established for our homes.

Yes. There are several ways to build on a sloping block, and the best approach will depend on the slope, site conditions and the home you’d like to build. Options can include:

• Cut and fill: reshaping the site to create a level building platform, with retaining walls or batters used to manage the changes in ground level.
• Modified slab foundation: adapting the slab design to accommodate a moderate slope, where the site allows.
• Elevated frame system: raising the home above the ground on a suitable structural frame to follow a steeper slope and minimise the need for extensive earthworks.

Another option is to choose a home design that works with the natural fall of the land, rather than changing the land to suit the home. Working with the slope can sometimes create an interesting and practical home that makes the most of your site.

Talk to your new home consultant about your block and its slope. They can help you explore the design and construction options that best suit the layout and characteristics of your land.

We build homes across South Australia, including Adelaide and the Hills, the Fleurieu Peninsula, Riverland, Mid North, Yorke Peninsula, Limestone Coast and Kangaroo Island. From city and country locations to some of South Australia’s favourite holiday destinations, our experienced team can help you understand what’s involved in building on your block.

We build your home on your block of land, rather than offering transportable homes. Building on site gives you greater design flexibility, 2-storey and larger floorplan options while allowing our experienced construction teams to build your home to our usual standards of quality. It also keeps the building, finance and handover process straightforward, with your home progressing on your site from start through to handover.

If you’re unsure whether we build in your area, contact us and we’ll be happy to talk through your location and block.

It’s a great idea to talk to one of our new home consultants before you have land. We can help you understand what to look for when choosing your block, because things like its size, shape, solar orientation and access can all influence the home you can build and the budget you’ll need. That way, you can look for a block that’s a good fit for your plans and lifestyle.

You could also consider one of our House & Land Packages. These are pre-considered pairings of available blocks of land with a carefully selected home design that complements the site. They’re designed to take some of the hard work out of finding the right block and home for your new holiday home.

Explore our House & Land Packages to see what’s currently available.

Choosing the right block is an important part of building your new home, as the characteristics of your land can influence both the design you can build and the budget you’ll need. Before you buy, it’s worth considering things like the block’s size, shape, solar orientation and access, as well as how the home might sit on the site.

It’s also worth looking at what’s around the block and what services are available. Consider:

• Location: How close are you to the local township, shops, services and other amenities?
• Services: Does the block have water and electrical connections? How will wastewater be managed?
• Access and parking: Is there suitable access for construction, and enough room for your vehicles, boat, caravan or other parking needs?
• Views: Where are the best views from the block, and can your home be designed to make the most of them?
• Site characteristics: Are there slopes, easements, vegetation or other features that could affect where and how you build?

Our new home consultants are also happy to arrange a no-obligation site visit to your chosen piece of land. This gives us the opportunity to understand your block first-hand and help determine which Sarah Homes design will work best for the site, make the most of its features and help you get the most from your land and building budget.

You can talk a consultant at your nearest display village here, or call us on (08) 8301 8333 to arrange an appointment.