Browse Forums General Discussion Re: The Ponds - Land Release 163Apr 30, 2010 3:38 pm Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 166May 01, 2010 6:13 am Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 167May 03, 2010 4:37 pm http://dreamzattheponds.blogspot.com To be invited to our blog send a PM with your email. Settled on land 25th June Exchanged contracts on Land April 14th 2010 Building our First Home Re: The Ponds - Land Release 169May 05, 2010 11:47 am Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 170May 05, 2010 12:38 pm http://dreamzattheponds.blogspot.com To be invited to our blog send a PM with your email. Settled on land 25th June Exchanged contracts on Land April 14th 2010 Building our First Home Re: The Ponds - Land Release 171May 05, 2010 12:49 pm Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 172May 05, 2010 1:27 pm http://dreamzattheponds.blogspot.com To be invited to our blog send a PM with your email. Settled on land 25th June Exchanged contracts on Land April 14th 2010 Building our First Home Re: The Ponds - Land Release 175May 06, 2010 12:14 am Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 178May 06, 2010 11:33 am Dear Andy What are the things that I should look at when buying a land? Type of land, class of soil. Any advise on the these and other requirements? What about building costs? What am I supposed to look out for? I dont want to buy a land and then end up with a building cost that is way above my budget. regards acpn2330 quote="andy_min"]The actual fee to submit to council is only a few hundred dollars and about double that if you have a private certifier. Most builders include it in your contract as a part of the site costs. Site costs are usually around $20K to $50K depending on the block and the builder. I will try and do a driveby of the block you are looking at this weekend when I am checking out all the builds. Min[/quote] Re: The Ponds - Land Release 179May 06, 2010 12:20 pm Quote: What are the things that I should look at when buying a land? Type of land, class of soil. Any advise on the these and other requirements? What about building costs? What am I supposed to look out for? I dont want to buy a land and then end up with a building cost that is way above my budget Andy has delegated this response to Min. Hmmm...... some stuff will depend on your personal preference but there are lots of things to consider. I will list some things that we considered when looking, you can still work around these things but just consider the cost/ inconvenience before you do buy. I have written this specific to The Ponds so it might not apply for other areas for non Pondies reading this.. No easements- Preferable to have no easements within your block. So, no sewer or other services, no pad mount, no man hole or fire hydrant. All of these things have to be built around or given consideration to when building and are an easy way for the builder to slug you with extra costs. If you have these things you can work around it but it may limit what you can do. Block Contours- Ideally you want a flattish block with a little bit of fall. As posted previously by Krug if its too flat, water can pool around the house. You want it to run into your gardens and lawns. The more fall you have over the block the more your site costs will be as you will either need to cut and fill or make your house split level. You may also need retaining walls to keep the neighbours land and yours where they should be. Also check if your block has trees that may need to be removed and that will cost extra. Soil- Preferrable no fill added, or fill added in early stages of subdivison. Fill needs to be compacted and usually all Ponds builders will need H class slabs with piers. There is not much untouched natural level blocks in The Ponds hence why most slabs are H class. You will only get M for the natural level blocks with not much clay on top. There are some block with shale under a small layer of clay. Solar Access- What direction does your block face? So if you are standing on the land looking at the street which direction are you facing. The preferable direction will depend on what you are building and your lifestyle. EG;Do you like sun coming into your living areas in the winter?, Do you hate the hot westerly sun in summer? Do you want shade in your outdoor areas? Ponds Design will make you have either window shading or upgraded glazing for all windows facing West and North. So you need to factor that in, you could also have larger eaves. We hated Westerly afternoon sun in our old house so we minimised our size and qty of windows facing west. We have living areas in North and South in our house. So we will head upstairs and North for winter and downstairs South, near the pool in Summer. Street Position- Do you like being near a corner or on a straight stretch? Will there be car lights shining in your windows at night? Will it be a busy road? How hard will it be to get in and out of your driveway? Is it walking distance from things you need to walk to like schools, shops, bus, parks? The actual costs builders charge for site costs vary greatly between builders so if someone says $50K (like Big M told us), check exactly what you get for that money and speak to some other builders. Find out if they will do a soil test to confirm the site costs and what extra $ you could be charged if they find something unexpected. Eg; extra piering or sewer encasement. Same goes for the actual house contract see what is and isnt included. I had inclusions lists from about 10 different builders one day and lined them all up to see who was actually better value. Consider carpet, tiles/ timber, driveway, landscape etc will this be another $60K after the house is built? Can you afford that with rising interest rates? While you may not be able to choose the exact house you want you will need to have a rough idea so you know what size land you need. If you want a 4 BR single storey it will be tough finding a plan if your house is only 26m deep, in which case you will need to modify the design hence adding more costs. Visit as many displays as you can so you can work out exactly what you like and don't like. Get every piece of info they will give you. All this and you havent even started deciding on a house design yet.... Heaps to consider but as I said you can work around any challenge, but you just need to consider whats right for you and what you can afford to do. Min Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: The Ponds - Land Release 180May 06, 2010 7:52 pm Hi KingsCastle , Was told in June 09 that it would be Feb 2010 and might even fall into March 2010 . We were hoping for end of March. All ground works were completed by last wk of Feb . Thanks GFdo 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 6447 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? 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