A house and land package is a block and a home bought together, on one contract, with one builder answerable for both. No gap between a land settlement and a build contract, no second party to blame if the two do not line up, and one price covering both.
We have been putting them together on the border since 1991. And because Davis Sanders Developments subdivides land in its own right, some of the blocks we offer are ours from the start rather than sourced from a developer we have no relationship with.
What is actually in a Davis Sanders package
Four things, and it is worth being precise about each because the industry is not.
The land. A titled or titling block, with the title timing stated up front so you know when you can start.
The home, built to our standard inclusions. Standard here is not a stripped base model: solar, a 7-star energy rating, Fisher & Paykel appliances, 2550mm ceilings throughout, and kitchens, bathrooms and cabinetry made by Master Kitchens and Joinery — our own workshop in Albury. The list is identical whether you buy a package or build on land you already own.
Site costs assessed on that specific block — not an allowance carried across from a different lot. This is the line that most often turns a cheap-looking package into an expensive one, and it is the reason we will not quote before a soil test and survey.
Connections. Water, sewer, power, and gas where it is available at the boundary.
And what is not included
Landscaping, fencing, driveways beyond the standard, window furnishings, letterboxes and clotheslines are quoted separately unless you have asked for a turnkey package. We would rather you read that on a website than discover it at contract signing.
If you want the home finished to the point where a tenant could move in on handover day, that is our turnkey investor package, which is specified and priced differently.
Where the blocks are
Most of our packages sit in the growth areas either side of the river.
On the New South Wales side, Thurgoona and the north-east Albury releases — conventional estate lots, covenants that set facade and floor-area rules, and a range of frontages from narrow to generous depending on which stage you are looking at.
On the Victorian side, Leneva and Baranduda and White Box Rise, where the corridor runs up toward the range and fall across the block is the factor that most often moves your site cost.
Which side of the border you buy on changes the approval process, not the price of the house. We are licensed in both states (NSW 41757C, VIC CDB-U51090) and build on both sides every week; the detail is in our guide to building across the border.
Matching a design to the block
The most common reason a package falls over is a home that does not fit the land. It is entirely avoidable and it happens constantly, because people choose the floorplan first.
Every one of our 28 designs is published with the minimum block width and depth it needs. The Theo 19 works on a 14-metre frontage. The Bella 23 fits 11 metres without losing the butler's pantry. At the other end, the Foster 40 wants 16 by 37 — depth rather than width, which is what an acreage or a deep estate block gives you.
Send us a block address and we will tell you which designs fit it, how the home would sit, and which way the site costs are likely to go. That conversation costs nothing and it has talked people out of blocks before.
What the package process actually looks like
Six steps, the same as any of our builds once the land is settled, set out in full on our building process page. The part specific to a package is the front: we confirm the block, run the site assessment, match the design, and give you the written breakdown before you commit to either half.
See one finished before you sign anything
Three of our designs are open as display homes in the Leneva and Baranduda corridor, all built to standard inclusions — so what you walk through is what you would receive, not an upgraded show version. The Beau 27 and Oscar 35 on Jennings Boulevard, Leneva are open Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 5pm. The Matilda 38 at Baranduda is available by appointment.
What happens next
Send us the block you are looking at, or tell us the suburb and the budget and we will bring options. Either way you get a written breakdown of the land, the home, the site costs for that specific block and what is excluded — not a starting-from figure with an asterisk.
