“Mate, let’s just do it again. It’s so easy.”
Last Christmas Eve, a woman emailed me about investing in Derby. Within a year, she was building two houses with us in Broome.
I’ll tell you how that happened in a moment. First, there’s something worth understanding if you’re building an investment property from interstate.
If you live in Broome, you can drive past your build whenever you like. A lot of our local investors do. They’re excited, so they’ll swing past and see the slab go down, then the frames, then the roof.
From interstate, you don’t have that option.
So it’s easy to assume everything must be tracking along as planned.
The Assumption That Costs Real Money
When you can’t see the block yourself, there are gaps you can’t fill in.
Are the trades there? Has anything moved this week? Is the build still tracking the way you expected?
Without regular updates, you may not know.
And if a build starts running longer, there’s money attached to that time.
Say you’ve drawn down around $800,000 on the loan. If the build runs four months over and the property would have rented for around $1,500 a week, that’s roughly $25,000 in rental income you haven’t received.
That’s before adding the interest you’re still paying along the way.
For some investors, that extra time is manageable. For others, it isn’t. A lot of family investors work around the idea that they’ll cover the cost themselves for six months. Seven, eight or nine months can be a very different equation.
You Shouldn’t Have To Guess What’s Happening
Being interstate means you can’t check the site yourself, so the way your builder communicates becomes important.
When we send a progress claim, we send photos showing the work that’s been done.
But we don’t wait for progress claims to keep you informed.
Every two weeks, we send an update showing what’s been happening at your place and where things are at.
We chose two weeks deliberately. Weekly updates can become repetitive because sometimes there isn’t much visible change in seven days. Over two weeks, there’s usually enough progress to make the update useful.
And we do that for everyone.
Whether you’re in Perth, in Sydney or down the road in Broome, you get the same updates, the same photos and the same picture of what’s happening on your build.
What That Looked Like For One Interstate Investor
Back to Christmas Eve.
I opened my emails and saw a message from a woman looking to invest in Derby. I thought I’d flick her a reply and finish the year with a clean inbox.
I told her we weren’t building in Derby, but I also told her about a new 10-year lease we’d just finalised with GROH and what that could mean for an investor.
She wrote back saying it sounded amazing.
Between Christmas and New Year, she put a deposit on a block of land in Broome.
There was one problem: It was a corner block, and there were a few things we had to work through around drainage, the two street frontages and where the driveway could go.
It was an estate planning issue rather than something we’d created, and the process dragged out.
But she knew what was happening.
She could see the issues we were working through and what we were doing to help get them sorted.
I’ll be straight with you: if she’d shown us the block first, we probably would’ve told her to find another one.
About four months later, we signed the contract. A week after that, she called me.
She’d put her name down on another block and wanted us to check whether it would suit a straightforward house.
She wanted to do the whole thing again.
Despite all the hiccups with the first block, her reaction was basically: “Mate, let’s just do it again. It’s so easy.”
She’s now building two houses with us in Broome, with two 10-year leases secured.
That first project wasn’t completely straightforward. But she knew what was happening while we worked through it.
And when you’re managing a build from interstate, that matters.
Ask This Before You Sign With Any Builder
“How will I know what’s happening on my site, and how often will you update me?”
You shouldn’t need to be in Broome to know whether your investment property is moving forward.
Ask what the communication actually looks like:
- How often will you hear from them?
- Will you receive photos?
- Will they tell you what has happened since the last update and where the build currently sits?
Those answers give you a much clearer idea of what managing the project from interstate will actually feel like.
Knowing that is one thing. Knowing what else to look for before committing to a high-yield investment build is another.
That’s why we put together The High-Cashflow Property Investor’s Guide: What Investors Don’t Realise About Building in Australia’s Highest-Yield Property Markets.
It covers the questions that reveal how a builder really runs a project and what separates builds that finish on time from those that drift.
It’s designed to be read before you commit, so you can walk into those conversations knowing what to ask.
Build in Broome From Interstate: Your Questions Answered
Can you build in Broome from interstate?
Yes. H&M Tracey builds for investors in Perth, Sydney and elsewhere as well as local Broome clients, and everyone gets the same updates, the same photos and the same picture of what is happening on their build.
How often will my builder update me on progress?
H&M Tracey sends an update every two weeks showing what has happened on site and where the build is at. Progress claims also come with photos of the work completed. Two weeks was chosen deliberately, because weekly updates can be repetitive when little changes in seven days. That steady rhythm is what makes it practical to build in Broome from interstate.
What does a delayed build cost an investor?
Delays carry a real cost. With around $800,000 drawn on the loan and a property that would rent for about $1,500 a week, a build that runs four months over is roughly $25,000 in rental income not received, before the interest still being paid. It is the same maths behind a Broome investment build timeline.
What should I ask a builder before signing if I live interstate?
Before you build in Broome from interstate, ask how you will know what is happening on your site and how often you will be updated. Then ask whether you will receive photos, and whether they will tell you what has happened since the last update and where the build currently sits.
Can an interstate investor secure a long-term lease before building?
Yes. H&M Tracey has finalised 10-year leases with GROH, the Government Regional Officer Housing program. One interstate investor who started with a single Broome block is now building two houses with two 10-year leases secured, as covered in our look at locking in a tenant first.
Ready to build in Broome from interstate? Talk to our custom home builders in Broome, book a 15 minute initial call with Maggie, or call the H&M Tracey team on 0483 961 437.
For general guidance on residential building standards and what to expect from a builder, industry bodies such as Master Builders Australia are a useful starting point.
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