Pre-Purchase Design Review
Want to bid or make an offer with an architect’s eye on design risks, not just hope for the best?
This package will help you spot potential red flags to your vision - from restrictive planning overlays to likely renovation scope.
Together we'll assess the property's layout and design potential, and improve your capacity to anticipate design issues before you buy.
Some design services ask for full payment upfront. We don't work that way.
Booking fee: just $249 +gst reserves your workshop date. This is refundable up to 5 days before your workshop.
Service fee: $1,249 +gst due only once your Service Agreement is signed, ahead of your workshop. (You can preview the Agreement here.)
That’s a design-focused assessment of your potential purchase by an architect for only $1,498 +gst.
“I can’t thank you enough for the advice you’ve given me which in the long term has saved me a lot of money and potential headaches and stress. Many thanks.”
Russell, Collingwood
Inclusions at a glance:
Our unique Home Questionnaire to help you articulate your needs, goals, and vision for the property before we meet.
A prepared Architect GP who has researched the property's planning context before you meet.
A 60-minute workshop at the property, or online.
Real-time collaboration and sketching with your Architect GP to test the property's design potential and constraints.
Broad budget discussion to understand how design decisions might affect your costs.
A Summary Report using our NOISE framework (Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, Exceptions) — we make sure you know your best next steps.
All the analysis and the Report are yours. Use it to inform your decision making, or compare against other properties and negotiate with greater confidence. We give you clarity and momentum without over-servicing!
How do I get from booking online to a smart pre-purchase report?
Select your Service and Architect GP
Not sure which is your best match?
STEP 1
Reserve your Time to Meet
STEP 2
Your booking fee is refundable up to 5 days before your Workshop date.
Review your Agreement
STEP 3
A short Agreement for professional confidence and full consumer protections.
Invoice Issued
STEP 4
Pay the Service Fee prior to your reserved Workshop date.
Workshop with your Architect GP
STEP 5
Your Architect GP arrives prepared and ready to collaborate.
STEP 6
Take Home your Report
You receive your Summary Report and architect’s professional opinion to inform your decisions.
Your questions, answered.
If not, please visit our FAQs page or get in touch.
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Are you house hunting? Or tossing up whether you should renovate or move?
Maybe you’ve found a home or a plan you like, and you’re trying to figure out if it will meet your needs and vision? That means working out whether the property is a good fit for your family, considering energy performance and year-round comfort, as well as the kind of lifestyle you want to enjoy.
These are design questions that can be tested and help inform your decision making!
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Our Architect GPs are really good at matching your needs to a particular house design or actual home. This stuff is our superpower. We spend years formally studying space and its future potential. We love working with existing houses because they have character, charm and are part of a neighbourhood.
We can help you determine how an existing home can be adapted for 21st century expectations and your particular circumstances - to extend its life and customise it for your family. That’s better for the environment and your own well-being.
We look at a home through a range of criteria including layout, orientation, planning context, environmental performance, and potential for improvement. We share that knowledge directly with you to empower your decision making.
If you need a technical “bricks, drainage, termites and roof” type of inspection, to see if a house is in good shape or whether it requires expensive rectification or maintenance, you’ll need a specialist building inspector, and we can refer you to trusted experts from our network.
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In short, you want to know what you don’t know. Whether a house that you think looks good will actually work for your family now, and in the future.
We get it. Buying or building a home is a huge decision - probably the most expensive financial outlay you’ll ever make - so it makes good financial sense to seek expert help before you take the leap.
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A pre-workshop Questionnaire to understand your goals and criteria.
A 60-minute workshop at the property (and/or local cafe), where you’ll get:
The undivided attention of your Architect GP
A workshop agenda to structure the discussion and enable you to prepare, so you get the most out of it
A prepared Architect GP who has read your questionnaire, done desktop research of up to three property addresses and is ready to work. The fewer properties on your list; the more detailed the discussion can be
You provide printed copies of floor plans and other information that you have on hand
Custom templates for each property for objective and sensitive analysis
Architectural sketches developed with you to illustrate existing design strengths and constraints, opportunities for “quick wins” and/or strategies for future design improvements (we show and listen, we never just tell!)
Discussions of your budget and the impact that might have on your decision making
The reassurance that comes from knowing that your decisions are based on real data and knowledge, having explored various scenarios and future potential for improvements
A verbal summary of the key outcomes of the discussion and possible next steps
After the workshop, your Architect GP will create a summary Report for each property using the NOISE framework (Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, Exceptions)
The value is you can get a glimpse of what a real future could be like in that property and the ability to make objective comparisons across your nominated options.
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The total cost of the Package is $1,498 +GST.
This comprises a platform booking fee of $249 +gst to reserve your date, plus a Service Fee of $1,249 that goes to your Architect GP.
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You can book additional consultations with your dedicated Architect GP anytime with an Architect On-Call. As a returning customer you are entitled to book at the reduced follow-up rate!
Sounds great? Book this service here.
If you’d like to use the services of an Architect GP but aren’t yet sure which service is best for you you can TAKE OUR QUIZ completely free.





