Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 27, 2010 1:47 pm I'm planning to build and thinking to buy land first and then find a builder. I assume it's a cheaper option. am I right? Regarind the land, I'm looking around Point Cook in Melb Vic. There are so many estates there, which one has better value for less money ? Also I prefer to buy a titled land but the price is higher Or just buy one from developer and wait till it get titled? any input welcome Thanks Re: buying land 2Jan 27, 2010 2:23 pm Hi. Some input to your questions 1) Buying land and then getting a builder not always cheaper. If you get a fixed house / land deal it can remove many nasty site cost surprises (can be upwards of $20k) 2) Titled vs. off plan costs are like anything else, supply and demand. The more land gets bought up the more expensive the remaining lots will eventually become. A question for you is what is your goal with this? Live there, build an investment prop etc.? Also when do you want to start. Immediately or within 12 months? Re: buying land 3Jan 27, 2010 2:54 pm Hi Eva, Thanks for reply Quote: 1) If you get a fixed house / land deal it can remove many nasty site cost surprises (can be upwards of $20k) But buying a house and land package from builders is more expensive. Will they charge the site cost on purpose? They built houses on the same estate. How about TurnKey option from realestate agent? They only ask for 5% deposit. But the price is even higher. Quote: A question for you is what is your goal with this? Live there, build an investment prop etc.? Also when do you want to start. Immediately or within 12 months? For living and would like to start immediately so I can cut down the rent cost. I heard buying Unregister land could take monthS before it get titled. Re: buying land 4Jan 27, 2010 5:48 pm mqtutor Hi Eva, Thanks for reply Quote: 1) If you get a fixed house / land deal it can remove many nasty site cost surprises (can be upwards of $20k) But buying a house and land package from builders is more expensive. Will they charge the site cost on purpose? They built houses on the same estate. How about TurnKey option from realestate agent? They only ask for 5% deposit. But the price is even higher. You need to look at what's included with each and make sure you're comparing apples with apples. A builder's price to build on your land is a base price only. It won't include site costs (you're going to pay those one way or another, there's no avoiding it; no builder does that stuff for free) and usually doesn't include a lot of the nice extras you see in a display home. A house/land package from a builder includes site costs, plus they might package up some nice extras - usually driveway, possibly floor coverings, flyscreens and some upgrades like stone benchtops. If the estate has covenants that cost extra, such as higher ceilings, those will be included in the price too. Turnkey packages generally include more still - maybe things like fencing and landscaping. Keep in mind that if you buy one of these deals when the house is complete, you'll pay stamp duty on the full value of the house and land. With the other options, signing the contract when the land is still vacant means a big stamp duty saving. You need to go through the info brochures and websites, and talk to the sales staff and find out what you're getting with each option before you can decide which is going to suit you. Re: buying land 5Jan 27, 2010 6:06 pm Quote: But buying a house and land package from builders is more expensive We did a house/land package and I would not agree with this - the land was sold to us at a discount price and builder honoured the original price, even though land prices here soared in the 12 months that we waited for land to title. (and I had a good idea of land prices in my area, haveing been thinking about building for year or so before I took the plunge so I know it was a genuine discount). The overall package price was very competitive - we did a land contract separately so we only paid stamp duty on the land. It was a very flexible package - basically pick any available block in the development (34 blocks, all same builder) and any of their floor plans. We made some slight modifications to plan too and a modification designed by builders draftsman to enable house to fit on block (was too wide on one side). Whereas some packages are very tight - x house goes on x block, no changes whatsoever. Inclusions also vary enormously - ours included fencing, driveway, perimeter paths, clothesline,floor coverings, storm water drains, all site costs. It actually included air conditioning too and front yard landscaping - both of which we had removed by choice - so we could get own air con deal and do our own front yard. Floor coverings could probably of been removed too if we wanted. So, as Kek says, dont assume one option is more expensive - but also look into all the fine print to see just what you are getting for your money - and how flexible or not the deal is if you want to change anything. Re: buying land 6Jan 27, 2010 6:55 pm mqtutor I'm planning to build and thinking to buy land first and then find a builder. I assume it's a cheaper option. am I right? Regarind the land, I'm looking around Point Cook in Melb Vic. There are so many estates there, which one has better value for less money ? Also I prefer to buy a titled land but the price is higher Or just buy one from developer and wait till it get titled? any input welcome Thanks I prefer Alamanda estate, the others have issues with internet access and it something I need access too for both work and personal use. I am biased, after all I now own a small piece of it. Also the block we bought was across the road from a school which works for us too Finding titled land is more expensive as the waiting period does put some people off. I got lucky and found a piece of land that i was happy with when the origional buyer wanted to drop out of the contract so I paid the orgional price. So if you are in a hurry, then keep in close contact with Joel and the guys and they will help out if anything becomes available. I also prefered the process of figuring out what to build once we have the land. You can bet the builder already knows the site costs and has built those into the price of the package. So i guess it comes down to if you want to take on the stress/excitement of putting it all together yourself (I have learnt that building is a very stressful event - but very rewarding at the same time) Re: buying land 7Jan 27, 2010 8:36 pm Quote: You can bet the builder already knows the site costs and has built those into the price of the package. Well, yes - of course Im sure no-one is so naive as to think just because all site costs are included means they are free However it does mean you need to factor in likely site costs, driveway, fencing etc when comparing the cost of a package with building the same or similar house on your own land - initially the package may appear dearer but make sure you have allowed for all the extras which are included. Re: buying land 8Jan 28, 2010 3:47 pm Quote: However it does mean you need to factor in likely site costs, driveway, fencing etc when comparing the cost of a package with building the same or similar house on your own land - initially the package may appear dearer but make sure you have allowed for all the extras which are included. With house and land package, when the builder's ads said "fixed site costs" - is it really fixed? Or they can ask for more money later (after we signed the contract, it's hard to turn back, isn't it) Reading the ads on the internet, I saw smaller builders are offering More inclusion compare to top builders, is it a safe bet ? I'm afraid they are out of business say in less than 10 yrs. Re: buying land 9Jan 28, 2010 6:09 pm I guess, as with all contracts, you should read the fine print carefully and check just what is meant by "fixed costs" However, my personal experience was Yes, all site costs were fixed - we were not asked for any more money that the original contract, they drew up a structural contract for the house plan on the block, factoring in structural things we chose to change, such as higher ceilings - the only other extra costs were at selections - for variations like upgrading carpet, tiles, tap ware etc - in our case this was around $15k - many people spend more but it would of been possible to build our house without spending another cent if we stuck with all builders range. Re: buying land 10Jan 28, 2010 10:32 pm To my general understanding of the process, the site costs are fixed and you can't be asked to pay any more for it - even if they find a cathedral under you dirt. Basically as said above, they've built a lot in that area and they have a pretty good idea of what's going on under the dirt there. They will give a fixed site cost knowing that it will most likely come in at around that mark. Sometimes it might come in a little under that, so they win, but there are occasions when it can go massively in your favour. Simple fact is nobody knows what's under the dirt, but I'd generally think it's a safer bet to get the fixed site costs if you can (Provided it's not too blatently high I just did a tour of the Point Cook area estates....Salamanda is very pretty Land Deposit - 18/12/2009 Became a land Baron - 21/12/2010 Site Start - 27/1/2011 All moved in!! Yeah I don't know why I came to a forum. Place is full of wierdos/pedos thought internet may help but I suppose I'll try my luck with someone in person. Cheers. I tried… 0 6446 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24873 13 6632 |