CentriWebBefore you quote a new home, find out five things: whether they have land, where their finance is at, what their realistic budget is, when they want to start, and how far along the design is. Ask these on your website form and again on the first call. Then score each enquiry and put your estimating time into the people who are ready to build.
This guide gives you the questions, a simple scoring method, and a way to look after the people who aren’t ready yet without spending days quoting them.
The cost of quoting everyone
A proper new home quote isn’t quick. There’s the first meeting, a site visit, supplier and trade pricing, working through inclusions, and often a second meeting to walk through the numbers. That’s hours of your time or your estimator’s, sometimes days.
Now think about who gets that effort. Some enquiries are from people with land, finance approval and a start date in mind. Others are early dreamers who haven’t bought land, haven’t spoken to a bank, or are using your price to check another builder’s. They all fill in the same contact form, and if you quote everyone, they all get the same treatment.
It also hurts the buyers who are ready. When your estimator is buried in quotes for people who won’t sign, the serious buyer waits longer for their numbers. A slow quote can lose a good job on its own.
Every hour spent pricing a job that was never going to sign is an hour not spent on one that would. Qualifying doesn’t mean turning people away. It means knowing who’s ready before you commit the time.
The five things to know before quoting: land, finance, budget, timing, design
Land
Do they own land, have it under contract, or are they still looking? If it’s in a new estate, has it titled yet? Land shapes the quote more than anything else. Slope, soil, access, easements, bushfire rating and estate design guidelines can all move the price. Without a block, you’re quoting a house in thin air.
Finance
Have they spoken to a lender or broker about a construction loan? Construction loans usually pay out in stages as the build progresses, so the lender will want to see your contract and pricing. Someone with pre-approval is much further along than someone who hasn’t started.
Budget
What do they expect to spend, and does that number include site costs, driveways, landscaping and fencing, or just the house? Many buyers have a figure in mind that only covers the house. Finding that out early saves an awkward conversation later.
Timing
When do they want to start? Within six months, within a year, or “one day”? Timing tells you how hard to work the enquiry right now.
Design
Do they have plans from an architect or drafter, want to use one of your designs, or just have ideas and a Pinterest board? Each needs a different next step and a different amount of your time.
Questions to ask on the first call
The form gives you the basics. The first call fills in the gaps. Keep it conversational and work through these in whatever order feels natural:
- “Tell me about the block. Where is it, and have you got the title yet?”
- “Have you had a chance to talk to a broker or your bank about a construction loan?”
- “What budget are you working with, and does that include site costs and landscaping?”
- “When would you ideally like to be moving in?”
- “Have you got plans already, or are you looking at our designs?”
- “Who else is involved in the decision?”
- “Are you talking to other builders as well?” (Ask it plainly. Most people will tell you.)
Write the answers into your CRM or job notes while you talk, not later from memory. They decide what happens next.
Putting the questions on your website form
Your enquiry form can do half the qualifying before you pick up the phone. The trick is asking enough to sort people without making the form a chore. The rest of the page matters too: here is what a builder website that brings the right enquiries needs around the form.
| Question | Format | Example options |
|---|---|---|
| Which best describes your land? | Dropdown | I own it / Under contract / Waiting on title / Still looking |
| Where is your finance at? | Dropdown | Pre-approved / Talking to a lender / Not started / Paying cash |
| What’s your build budget? | Ranges | Ranges that suit your market and price point |
| When would you like to start? | Dropdown | Within 6 months / 6 to 12 months / 12 months or more / Not sure |
| Do you have plans? | Dropdown | Own plans / Interested in your designs / Just ideas |
| Suburb or estate | Short text | Lets you check you build in that area |
Use ranges and tick boxes instead of open text. People answer faster, the answers are easier to sort, and nobody has to type their exact budget into a website. A short line above the form helps too: “These questions help us give you accurate pricing and the right next step.”
Scoring enquiries: ready now, nurture, not a fit
You don’t need a complicated points system. Three buckets cover most builders.
| Bucket | Typical signs | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Ready now | Land owned or titling soon, finance approved or underway, budget fits your range, start within 12 months | Call the same day, book a meeting or site visit, quote properly |
| Nurture | No land yet, finance not started, or start date more than a year out, but budget and location fit | Send useful information, check in regularly, quote when they’re ready |
| Not a fit | Outside your build area, budget well below your range, or a job type you don’t do | Thank them, explain honestly, refer them on if you can |
Mixed answers are common. Someone might have land and a healthy budget but no finance conversation yet. Treat finance as the tiebreaker. If they’re willing to speak to a broker in the next few weeks, book the meeting and give them a rough price range to take to the lender, but hold off on a full detailed quote until the lender has given a view. You’re still moving the job forward without spending days estimating for a budget that might not be approved.
Set your own lines. A volume builder and a custom builder will draw them in different places. What matters is that the rule is written down, so the decision isn’t made on gut feel at 8pm after a long day on site.
What to do with people who aren’t ready yet
This is where most builders lose out. The enquiry gets a polite reply, nothing more happens, and a year later the buyer signs with someone who kept in touch. The same thing happens to display home visitors, who are often early in the process.
For nurture buyers, a light, regular rhythm works:
- Send something useful straight away: what to check before buying a block, how construction loans generally work, or what your typical price range is.
- Invite them to a display home, open home or recent build.
- Check in every month or two with a short, personal message asking how the land search or finance is going.
- When their answers change, move them to “ready now” and book a meeting.
If any of these messages are promotional, Australia’s Spam Act applies. ACMA’s guidance is that marketing emails and texts need consent, must identify you and must include a working unsubscribe. A tick box on your form asking whether they’d like to receive updates covers the consent part cleanly. This is general information; check ACMA’s site for the detail.
Keeping it respectful so good buyers don’t feel interrogated
Good buyers want to work with a builder who knows what they’re doing. Asking about land and finance shows you understand what it takes to get a house built. It only goes wrong when it feels like a test.
- Explain why you’re asking. “Land and site costs change the price a lot, so it helps to know where you’re at.”
- Offer ranges, not exact figures. Nobody likes typing their bank balance into a form.
- Don’t ask everything at once. A few questions on the form, the rest on the call.
- Give something back. A rough price guide, a tip about their estate, or a straight answer about timing.
- Never brush off someone who isn’t ready. Tell them what happens next and when you’ll be in touch.
Where to start
- Write down your three buckets and the rules for each.
- Add the five qualifying questions to your website form as dropdowns.
- Print the first-call questions and keep them by the phone or in your CRM.
- Go through enquiries from the last three months and sort them into the buckets.
- Set up a simple check-in rhythm for the nurture group.
Most of this can run in a basic CRM setup with stages for each bucket. If you’d rather not build it yourself, PreBuild, our partner for builders and trades in construction, replies to every enquiry straight away and keeps in touch with homeowners until they decide.