Homeowner preparation
for Australians planning to build or renovate

Understand the Whole Project Before You Commit

Many of the decisions that set the cost and the course of a renovation, extension or new home are made before construction begins, while the project is still on paper. Home Mastery™ is the architect-led platform where Australian homeowners prepare for those decisions. It is built around these commitment points, such as approving the brief, setting the budget and signing the contract, and it shows you what to clarify before you make each one.

Start With the Free Guides Explore the 8-Stage Roadmap
  • Led by a registered architect
  • Built for Australian homeowners
  • Learn at your own pace, wherever you are

The commitment points of a home project

Six steps, from the first idea to handover, which the Foundations Program is designed to teach in eight stages. Select a step to see its decisions in full.

Not to scale
  1. 1Choose whether to renovate, rebuild, move or wait
  2. 2Choose who designs and what they will do
  3. 3Choose what to find out about the site
  4. 4Approve the brief
  1. 5Set the total project budget
  1. 6Choose the approval pathway
  2. 7Choose the design concept
  3. 8Approve the detailed design and its cost estimate
  1. 9Choose how the work is priced
  2. 10Choose the builder and the price
  3. 11Finalise the selections before signing
  4. 12Sign the building contract
  1. 13Approve a progress payment
  1. 14Make the final payment at handover

Events you may meet

A price over budget
A variation or a delay
A concern about workmanship
Fourteen decisions arrive on every project, usually in the order shown. Three more arrive only when something happens, such as a price coming back over the budget.
A decision on every projectAn event you may meet
The Project Map · FreeBeing built

Where your project is, and the decisions in front of you

Answer a few questions about your project. The Map shows which of six steps you are at. It lists the decisions that belong to you at that step, and what to look for on your own paperwork.

Your Map will be kept in your Project Assistant, a free dashboard where you can update it as your project moves and save articles to read later.

  1. 1Your stepWhich of six steps your project is at, and the answers that placed it there.
  2. 2Your decisionsThe decisions in front of you, with what to look for on your own paperwork.
  3. 3Your next moveOne thing you can do yourself, and one resource matched to your step.
Be the First to Know
Example
Project AssistantFree account

Events you may meet: a price over budget, a variation or a delay, a concern about workmanship

Your step

Compare builders, prices and contracts

Next decision

9Choose how the work is priced

Recommended articles

  • The Hidden Costs of Home RenovationFree
  • Comparing builders' quotesMembers
  • Checking a builder's licenceMembers

What is Home Mastery?

A renovation or new home is shaped by connected decisions about the path, the brief, the budget, the design, the approvals, the price, the contract and the construction. Home Mastery brings them into one structured sequence, so that you can see what each decision affects and clarify the assumptions beneath it while your options are still open.

Who it is for

Home Mastery is for homeowners planning, or seriously considering, a renovation, extension, new home or knockdown rebuild. It is most useful before the major design, approval, pricing and contract commitments are made, and it can also help homeowners already working with a project team who would like a clearer view of what comes next.

The most expensive difficulties begin before any work starts

Knowledge is your first layer of protection.These difficulties begin when the brief is unclear, the budget is treated as one number, the quotes rest on different assumptions or responsibilities have not been made clear. Home Mastery brings those questions forward, before a commitment narrows your options.

What a commitment does to your options

Each line is a way the project could still go, and each commitment closes some of them.

Not to scale

Our Signature Principle

The Layline Principle

The layline is the line from which one well-timed turn sets a direct course to where you want to arrive. The term comes from sailing, where a boat cannot sail straight into the wind, so to reach a point upwind it sails at an angle to the wind instead. Once it reaches the layline, one last turn points it directly at its destination. Experienced sailors see that line long before they reach it and commit to it at the right moment. A home project is a journey with moments of the same kind.

As an architect, I know that a few critical decisions determine the course of a home project. Prepare for each one before it arrives, and the course is yours to set; without that preparation, it is often set by default. I call them commitment points: decisions that belong to you, whether or not you engage a professional, and that shape the trajectory of the whole project. Each is the point where your project meets its layline, and one well-prepared decision there carries it toward the outcome you want. Home Mastery is built to show you where each one lies long before you reach it, and every decision it shows you is worked through with The LOG System.

Ed Hung, registered architect and founder

The layline, seen from above

The course runs to the layline, turns once at the commitment point, and goes directly to where you want to arrive.

Illustrative · not to scale
WindWhere you want to arriveLAYLINELAYLINECommitment pointSailing at an angle to the windNO-GO ZONEToo close to the windfor any boat to sail

The LOG System

Locate

We locate each commitment point before it arrives, in the order it usually arrives, from what you can already see on your own paperwork, such as the drawings or a builder's quote. You meet each one while there is still time to prepare for it.

Own

Each decision remains yours, whether or not you engage a professional: those you engage bring their own expertise and advice to it, and the choice itself, along with the reason for it, belongs to you.

Guide

We guide you through each decision while its options are still open: what is already fixed, what the home is meant to do, what matters most to your household, what each option affects and what is still unknown. Every yes then comes with a reason you can explain.

Kept as the project proceeds, your log becomes a full record of every commitment point at handover: each decision, and the reason for it.

See the Free Project Map

How We Help

Learning Model

Learn. Expand. Apply.

Our learning model is built around three connected parts, with a Project Assistant that keeps your place.

1. Foundations Program

The Home Mastery Foundations Program follows the commitment points of a project in the order they arrive, across eight stages from choosing the right path to completion. For each one, it explains what is being decided, what it may affect later and what to clarify before moving on, so the whole project makes sense before any part of it is committed.

The Foundations Program provides the sequence, so that you can see how the brief, the budget, the design, the approvals, the price, the contract and the construction fit together.

2. Knowledge Library

Go deeper when a question, a term or a situation arises. The Knowledge Library holds short, specific articles organised around the homeowner's journey, with answers to members' questions beside them.

The Knowledge Library provides the depth, so you can explore a subject when it becomes relevant to your own project.

3. Toolkits

Apply what you have learnt with checklists, planners, budget tools, templates and comparison tools that help you organise your project's information, prepare for conversations with professionals and make each decision more clearly.

The Toolkits provide the application, helping you organise information, compare options and prepare for the next conversation or decision.

Together, they help you understand what matters, what remains unclear and what to do next.

See How It Works
Ed Hung, seated, in a grey houndstooth blazer

About The Founder

An Architect's View of the Whole Project

Home Mastery brings professional knowledge forward, to the point where homeowners still have real choices to make.

Ed Hung is a registered architect and the founder of Home Mastery. Across his residential projects he saw capable homeowners asked to make major decisions without one clear view of how the whole project fitted together, and he created Home Mastery to bring that view forward, in a calm and structured form.

  • Registered architect in NSW and Victoria
  • Residential and multi-residential projects
  • Clear, practical guidance for homeowners
  • Built to work alongside your project team
Meet the Founder

Resources

Free Guides to the Decisions Ahead

Browse All Articles

Budget & Cost

The Hidden Costs of Home Renovation: From the Builder's Quote to the Project Budget

Most of what is later called a hidden cost could have been identified at the start, because it was never part of the builder's price in the first place.

10 mins readRead Article →

Project Planning

Where to Start a Home Renovation: What Needs to Be Known Before a Design Is Worth Paying For

Before choosing who to engage first, two things deserve an answer: what the project has to achieve, and what your property will allow.

11 mins readRead Article →

Project Planning

Is It Cheaper to Renovate or Rebuild? Is the House Helping Your Project, or Are You Paying to Overcome It?

Before deciding which path is simpler, the useful question is what the house you already own is actually contributing.

9 mins readRead Article →

Membership

What Membership Will Include

Being built now: structured lessons, deeper resources and practical tools that help you prepare before the major commitments are made.

  • The Foundations Program and the Knowledge Library
  • Templates and planning tools
  • Guidance for every stage of the project

Membership has not opened yet. See what it will include.

Let's Connect

Have a question or want to learn more?

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I begin when planning for a build?

To start a home project well, begin with what it must achieve, the budget, what the site allows and the decisions that will shape it. Home Mastery helps you build that foundation before you commit to major design, construction or financial decisions.

Is it cheaper to renovate or rebuild?

It depends less on how large the work appears than on how much of the house you already own is still useful. Renovation and extension work often costs more per square metre than straightforward new construction, because the rate has to allow for the work to the existing structure, so a renovation that appears smaller is not always the less expensive path. The free guide, Renovate or Rebuild, sets out how to compare the two at concept stage, before either option is drawn in detail.

How do I plan for a successful renovation?

Planning a renovation well starts with a clear brief, a realistic whole-project budget, an understanding of the approval pathway and knowing which professionals you may need. Getting these right early can reduce costly changes later.

What are the stages involved in building a house in Australia?

A typical home project in Australia moves from early planning and the brief, through design and approvals, to pricing and the contract, then construction and handover.

Does Home Mastery explain the home building process step by step?

Yes. The Foundations Program is designed to explain the home building process in Australia step by step, following the decisions in the order they arrive and showing how each one can influence what comes next.

Who is Home Mastery designed for?

Home Mastery is designed for homeowners planning a renovation, extension, new home or knockdown rebuild. Whether this is your first project or you have built before, it helps you understand and prepare for the important decisions ahead.

What is included in the Home Mastery learning program?

The program brings together the Foundations Program, the Knowledge Library and the Toolkits, with a Project Assistant that keeps your place and your saved material. How each will be offered is being finalised before launch.

Is Home Mastery suitable for first-time renovators or home builders?

Yes. Home Mastery is designed for homeowners planning a renovation, extension or new home for the first time. The lessons are being written for people with no technical knowledge, to help you understand the process, prepare for the key decisions and know what to expect as your project progresses.

Can I work through the program at my own pace?

Yes. Home Mastery is designed to fit around your project and your schedule. You will be able to move through the program at your own pace and return to the content whenever a new decision arrives.

How can the Toolkits support my project?

The Toolkits will provide templates, checklists, planners and comparison tools that help you organise information, compare options and prepare for the key decisions in your own project.

What makes Home Mastery different?

Home Mastery is architect-led, and it teaches the whole project rather than one part of it. It follows the commitment points of a renovation or new home in the order they arrive, so you understand each decision, and what it affects later, before you commit to it. It is also independent: Home Mastery receives no commission, referral fee or other payment from builders, suppliers or lenders, so nothing it teaches is shaped by what anyone sells.

What are The Layline Principle and The LOG System?

The layline is the line from which one well-timed turn sets a direct course to where you want to arrive. The term comes from sailing, where a boat cannot sail straight into the wind, so to reach a point upwind it sails at an angle to the wind instead. Once it reaches the layline, one last turn points it directly at its destination. Experienced sailors see that line long before they reach it and commit to it at the right moment. A home project is a journey with moments of the same kind. The Layline Principle names those moments: a few critical decisions determine the course of a home project. Prepare for each one before it arrives, and the course is yours to set; without that preparation, it is often set by default. We call those decisions commitment points, and The LOG System is how each one is worked through: Home Mastery locates it before it arrives, shows you the part that is yours, whether or not you engage a professional, and guides you through it while its options are still open.

What does Home Mastery mean by preparation?

At Home Mastery, preparation has a specific meaning: understanding each commitment point of your project before it arrives, while its options are still open, so that every decision comes with a reason you can explain.