Two keys.
Which one's yours?
Tell us who you are and we'll show you the numbers that matter to you.
Stop paying your landlord's mortgage.
Every Brick & Bloom home is fully turnkey. Flooring, blinds, driveway, landscaping, solar and a 7-star energy rating, all in one fixed price. Move-in day is done day: no dirt where the lawn should be, no tradie phone-tag.
$600/week was Melbourne's median house rent in the June quarter 2026 (Domain Rent Report); the dollar figures above are simple arithmetic on that rent, not a forecast. Rent growth: metropolitan Melbourne median rent for new lettings rose from $400 to $580 a week between the September quarters of 2020 and 2025 (Rental Report, Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing). Your own rent, savings and borrowing capacity will differ. General information only, not financial advice.
Fully turnkey.
Keys Friday, tenant Monday.
Turnkey means everything's done the day you settle: floors down, blinds up, driveway poured, landscaping in. No chasing trades, no sitting empty while you organise it all. It's ready to lease from day one, and because it's all brand new, you can depreciate the lot.
Free service, always. The builder pays us, not you.Illustrative estimate. General information, not tax advice. Your accountant applies your own tax rate. Assumptions and full terms at the foot of this page.
The real cost comparison
Base-spec looks cheaper on the brochure. Here's what's actually included, and what you'd be paying for later.
| Inclusion | Base-spec package | Brick & Bloom turnkey |
|---|---|---|
| Flooring throughout | Extra cost | Included |
| Blinds & flyscreens | Extra cost | Included |
| Driveway (colour-through concrete) | Extra cost | Included |
| Fencing (side & rear) with gate | Extra cost | Included |
| Landscaping, turf & garden beds | Extra cost | Included |
| Solar panels (7-star energy rating) | Optional upgrade | Included |
| Double glazing (where needed) | Optional upgrade | Included |
| Heating, cooling & insulation | Extra cost | Included |
| Kitchen appliances incl. dishwasher | Extra cost | Included |
| Stone benchtops | Extra cost | Included |
| LED downlights throughout | Extra cost | Included |
| Soil removal | Extra cost | Included |
| Rock removal (up to 8m³) | Open-ended provisional sum | Included |
| Retaining walls (to 200mm) | Open-ended provisional sum | Included |
| Upgraded slab (to Class H) | Extra cost | Included |
| Custom house design | Extra cost | Included |
| Upgraded facade | Extra cost | Included |
| Letterbox, clothesline & NBN ready | Extra cost | Included |
Inclusions vary by builder and package; extras pricing reflects typical Melbourne growth-corridor base-spec packages as at August 2026. Rock removal beyond 8m³ and retaining beyond 200mm are quoted upfront for your block before you sign, never mid-build.
You need a lot less deposit than you think
There are two federal schemes running right now, and most first home buyers have only heard of one. You pick one or the other, but either way you keep the $10,000 grant and the stamp duty concession on top.
| 5% Deposit Scheme | Help to Buy | |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit you need | 5% | 2% |
| Lenders mortgage insurance | None | None |
| Government takes a share of your home? | No, you own all of it | Yes, up to 40% of a new home (30% established) |
| Income limits | None | $103,000 single · $165,000 couple |
| Places available | Unlimited | About 10,000 a year |
| Melbourne price cap | $950,000 | $950,000 |
| Keep the $10k grant & duty concession? | Yes | Yes |
Sources: Housing Australia and firsthomebuyers.gov.au. Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme (income and place caps removed, Melbourne cap raised to $950,000 on 1 October 2025) and the Australian Government Help to Buy scheme (launched 5 December 2025; income thresholds from 1 July 2026). Victorian Homebuyer Fund closure and First Home Owner Grant details: State Revenue Office Victoria. Help to Buy cannot be combined with the 5% Deposit Scheme or other shared-equity arrangements, but both can be used alongside the First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty concessions. Eligibility criteria apply to every scheme; confirm your own position with Housing Australia, the SRO and a licensed mortgage adviser. Figures current at August 2026.
Nothing to organise, so nothing to lease around
A base-spec handover isn't actually finished. You're still lining up flooring, blinds, the driveway, fencing and landscaping, and a home that isn't finished can't be leased. Turnkey means it's all in the fixed price and done the day you settle, so it goes straight to a tenant. No trades to chase, no gap before it earns. Everything below is already in the price:
- Flooring
- Blinds & flyscreens
- Driveway
- Fencing & gate
- Landscaping & turf
- Solar + double glazing
- Heating & cooling
- Dishwasher & appliances
- Stone benchtops
- LED downlights
- Soil removal
- 8m³ rock allowance
- 200mm retaining walls
- Class H slab upgrade
- Custom design
- Upgraded facade
The deductions established homes can't get
This is the real reason investors are choosing new over second-hand. Two separate pieces of tax law now favour new builds. Neither is a loophole; both are simply how the rules are written.
Negative gearing: new builds stay exempt
This is the big one. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, rental losses on established dwellings bought after 12 May 2026 are expected to be quarantined from the 2027–28 income year, no longer deductible against your salary. New residential dwellings are set to remain exempt, so a new build keeps the full negative gearing position an established home is losing.
Depreciation: new builds only
As of 2026, an investor generally can't depreciate a previous owner's fixtures, after the 2017 tax integrity rules removed that for second-hand homes. Buy new and every fitting is depreciable from day one: flooring, appliances, blinds, aircon, solar, all under Division 40, on top of Division 43 capital works on the building itself.
Turnkey documents the lot
Because every inclusion sits in one fixed-price contract, your quantity surveyor has a clean, itemised list to build your depreciation schedule from: flooring, appliances, blinds, solar, downlights, rather than you reconstructing what a previous owner installed and when.
Tax information is general only and current as at August 2026. It is not tax advice. Depreciation entitlements (Divisions 40 and 43, ITAA 1997) and negative gearing outcomes depend on your circumstances, purchase date, contract terms and entity type. Established dwellings built after 15 September 1987 may still claim Division 43 capital works deductions. The definition of a "new residential dwelling" for the 2026 negative gearing changes is yet to be finalised by legislative instrument, and those changes take effect from 1 July 2027. Always obtain a property-specific depreciation schedule from a qualified quantity surveyor and advice from a registered tax agent before making a purchase decision.
The corridors that outgrew the city
Nobody can promise future growth, and we won't. What we can show you is the track record and the fundamentals underneath it. Between 2021 and 2025, Greater Melbourne's median house price stood still. Every growth corridor moved. These are Valuer-General Victoria's own annual suburb medians.
| Suburb | 2021 median | 2025 median | 4-year change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Officer | $649,500 | $760,000 | +17.0% |
| Pakenham | $600,000 | $700,000 | +16.7% |
| Craigieburn | $615,000 | $715,000 | +16.3% |
| Wyndham Vale | $525,000 | $609,000 | +16.0% |
| Melton | $455,000 | $525,000 | +15.4% |
| Wollert | $617,000 | $710,000 | +15.1% |
| Werribee | $570,000 | $650,000 | +14.0% |
| Clyde North | $660,000 | $745,000 | +12.9% |
| Mickleham | $623,000 | $700,000 | +12.4% |
| Tarneit | $601,000 | $670,000 | +11.5% |
| Cranbourne East | $670,000 | $740,000 | +10.4% |
| Truganina | $612,000 | $670,000 | +9.5% |
| Donnybrook | $600,000 | $655,000 | +9.2% |
| Greater Melbourne | $867,000 | $865,000 | −0.2% |
Price source: Valuer-General Victoria, A Guide to Property Values (annual median house prices by suburb, calendar years 2021 and 2025, both complete years). Medians cover all house sales, predominantly established stock; new house-and-land packages typically sell above the suburb median. Population and dwelling figures: ABS Regional Population (2024–25 release) and Building Approvals, Australia. Completions: Victorian dwelling completions, calendar 2025. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Nothing on this page is a forecast, promise or guarantee, and property values can fall as well as rise.
From first chat to keys in hand
Tell us what you need
Ten minutes on the phone or online and we know your budget, your must-haves and your timeline. No obligation, no pressure.
We match you & manage it
We shortlist vetted VBA-registered builders and land packages that fit, then handle contracts, approvals and the back-and-forth so you don't have to.
Move into a finished home
Flooring down, blinds up, garden growing: fully turnkey the day you get the keys. Live in it or lease it, from day one.
What could your rent actually buy?
Drag the slider to your current weekly rent and see the turnkey package it could roughly cover.
Estimates only: 30-year principal-and-interest loan at 6.0% p.a. with a 5% deposit, figures current at August 2026. The no-LMI 5% deposit path (Federal First Home Guarantee) is capped at $950,000 in Melbourne. Borrowing power depends on your income, expenses and lender criteria. Always confirm your numbers with a licensed mortgage adviser.
Why use a broker (and why it's free)
We compare. They can't.
Walk into a display village and you're talking to one builder's sales team, selling one builder's homes. We work across a panel of VBA-registered builders, so we can actually compare price, inclusions and build times for you, not just push whoever signs your paycheque.
How it stays affordable
Builders pay us a fee when we bring them a buyer, so you never see an invoice from us. And because we don't run expensive display homes filled with upgrades that aren't in the price, those savings go straight into your inclusions instead.
The homework, done daily
Comparing ten builders' contracts line by line, chasing VBA registration and insurance paperwork, working out which inclusions are genuinely fixed-price: that's a part-time job most people don't have time for. We do it daily, so you get the comparison without the weeks of research.
Keys in hand, nothing left to buy
"We had no idea where to start, and Brick & Bloom sorted everything from the land to the letterbox. Moved into our Tarneit home with the driveway done and the garden already in, and didn't spend a cent extra."
Jess & Tom, Tarneit First Home Buyers"First home buyers here, and the grant and stamp duty stuff was confusing until our broker laid it out plainly. Ended up saving thousands we didn't know we were owed."
Marcus D., Wyndham Vale First Home Buyer"As an investor I didn't want to be chasing blinds installers after settlement. Fixed price, tenant in within three weeks of keys. Exactly what I needed."
Priya R., Clyde North Investor"Second investment property through Brick & Bloom. Turnkey means no surprise costs eating into yield, and the whole process took a fraction of the time of doing it myself."
Angela K., Mickleham InvestorFrequently asked questions
Is it really free?
Yes. Our fee is paid by the builder when we successfully match you, similar to how a real estate agent earns commission from a vendor. You pay the same fixed contract price you'd pay going direct, with no markup and no invoice from us.
Can I stack the grants?
Mostly, yes, with one catch. The $10,000 First Home Owner Grant and the stamp duty exemption or concession can both apply to the same purchase, and you can add either the 5% Deposit Scheme or Help to Buy on top. What you can't do is use both federal deposit schemes at once. Your broker works out which combination leaves you better off on your actual numbers.
Can I negatively gear a new build?
Generally, yes, and new builds are now the stronger position. Under the 2026 tax reform legislation, rental losses on established dwellings bought after 12 May 2026 are expected to be quarantined from the 2027–28 income year, while new residential dwellings remain exempt. New builds also carry the depreciation edge, since the 2017 rules stopped investors depreciating a previous owner's fixtures. This is general information only, not tax advice. The "new dwelling" definition is still to be finalised, so confirm your position with a registered tax agent.
What exactly does turnkey include?
Flooring throughout, blinds and flyscreens, driveway, fencing with gate, landscaping and turf, solar panels with a 7-star energy rating, double glazing where needed, heating and cooling, stone benchtops, kitchen appliances including dishwasher, LED downlights, soil removal, rock removal up to 8m³, retaining walls to 200mm, an upgraded Class H slab, custom house design, upgraded facade, letterbox, clothesline and NBN readiness, all locked into one fixed price before you sign. Anything beyond those allowances is quoted upfront for your block, never mid-build.
How do you vet builders?
Every builder on our panel is VBA-registered and carries Domestic Building Insurance on every job. We check their build history, contract terms and how they handle fixed-price inclusions before they're ever matched with a client.
What guarantees do I get?
Every build we broker comes with a 10-year structural guarantee, a 6-month maintenance period after handover, and 6 months of base-price protection while your land titles. That's on top of the Domestic Building Insurance that's mandatory on every Victorian build.
How long does a build take?
It varies by builder, design and land, so your broker gives you a realistic timeline specific to your build before you sign anything, rather than a generic promise.
Do you help with finance?
We don't provide financial advice, but we can point you toward brokers and lenders who specialise in first home buyer and investor loans, including the Federal First Home Guarantee. Always confirm your specific numbers with a licensed financial or mortgage adviser.
Ready to see your numbers?
Tell us a bit about you and we'll match you with the right builder, land and grants. Free, no obligation.
Tell us a bit about you and we'll match you with a rent-ready build and the numbers to take to your accountant. Free, no obligation.