Here's my suggestions, however they all ad up quickly when writing them on a tender... it all depends on the $ you're spending... - The gas boosted solar system is usually there for your energy rating. Get the infinity they're awesome and not too expensive. - Popular things are caesar stone benchtops, or reconstituted stone, either to just the kitchen or all benches, this looks fantastic, costs fark all compared to granite and makes a huge difference. - Do yourself a favor and upgrade to Porcelain tiles. Again, they look sensational, are easier to keep clean and never date (if they're a neutral colour). - It's quite often cheaper when building a house in the long run to get evaporative cooling or even refridgerated cooling. Refidgerated costs twice as much as evap (unless you know someone) but evap cooling will only lower the temp about 10° or so (on a 30+° day) where as refridgerated, well, you know the deal. - Go for 900mm wide stainless appliances in the kitchen. 600mil ones these days are just too small and make a kitchen seem smaller than it is. - If you can, try a glass splashback in the kitchen or everywhere if you wanna spend the money. Again, they look great and are easy to clean eg. no grout. - Ask for window locks (for your insurance) coz they're a sh*t to install afterwards. - Upgrade your facade if you have the money too. Plain face brick is boring these days. - Dunno what ceiling height is standard in your area, but having your ceilings at least 9" or higher creates space and definition within your house. - Depending on the style of your dwelling, bulkheads hide cornices and look sh*t these days so don't do them, but nice thick cornices look sweet as, as do thick skirting boards. - Carpet is something that always gets overlooked. You get what you pay for, but higher middle range is well worth the money in the long run. - Don't do laminate timber! It's not worth it! Basically these things can cost quite a bit but ad a lot to your resale value and presentation. It all comes down to how much you want to spend. You can splash $50,000 to $100,000 on upgrades in the blink of an eye sometimes!