Stevie and her partner are in the midst of their new home build. For those who are thinking about building their first home, here's an update on how things are going and some big lessons—and surprises—learnt along the way.

We are officially 12 months down the track from when we signed on the dotted line of the Sale & Purchase Agreement of our to-be-built house. So, where are we at?

One of the best things that has happened recently is receiving the build programme. This shows us when certain targets are and when we can expect the house to be finished and settlement to be complete.

As part of the build process, we have now completed the electrical walk-through, which marks a significant landmark in the build process. The electrical walk through is when the frames of the building are up, the roof is on and you walk through the skeleton of the house with the building manager and an electrician and pick where your plugs go, where your lights go and light switches.

Don't be fooled, this is a big job! It takes between one and two hours to do this, they then go away and price up any changes we've requested before we confirm what we want to do.

Here are some real examples of things we asked to change. They may sound pedantic but think about the things that annoy you in places you've lived—the electrical walk through is your opportunity to make this house work well (providing the price isn't too high to make the changes). Our mentality was to ask for every change we wanted and then to review those changes when the price came through.

So, our changes were:

• Add USB plugs on both sides of the master bed and in the kitchen.
• In the bathroom, split the switches so that the mirror light and the main light can be turned off and on, independent of each other.
• Alarm system in the house (our plans included the wiring for an alarm system, but no actual system).
• An extra keypad for the alarm system in the garage where we will park our car.
• Extra plugs in the dining room and spare bedrooms.
• Wiring and placement of an over-the-counter light and a reading light above the master bed (with their own switches).

My partner and I then made a bet of how much the above was going to cost us. My partner thought $500 and I thought $2500. To my partner’s horror, I won that bet.

So, we then reviewed our list of “wants” and settled on the following:

• In the bathroom, split the switches so that the mirror light and the main light can be turned off and on, independent of each other.
• Extra plugs in the dining room and spare bedrooms.
• Wiring and placement of an over-the-counter light and a reading light above the master bed (with their own switches).

Finally, here are our tips so far for any potential new-home buyers out there:

·      Ask for prices for everything you want to change. You don’t know if it will fit into your budget until you see it in front of you—and the prices can surprise you!

·      There is no pressure to buy anything that you get priced up.

·      Trust the expert’s opinion. You are there with a building manager and an electrician—they can tell you if something’s a good idea or not.