Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 13, 2008 9:25 am Hi,
Could someone please shed some light for me regarding the advantages and disadvantages of a house and land package? Is it better to buy your own land and then build your house or is it better to get a house and land package? Everyone I've come across are saying NOT to go with a house and land package. Please help! Re: Advantage and Disadvantages of House & Land Package 2May 13, 2008 9:43 am We have gone with a house/land package and we are very happy.
However, the details of different packages with different builders varies enormously, make sure to read all the fine print first and make sure you are comparing apples with apples. The deal we have was flexible, there were 34 blocks in the development, all being house/land packages by same builder, we were in the picture early so we could choose which block we wanted and then also choose which of the builders floor plans we wanted to go on that, ie it was not x plan must go on x block, like is sometimes the case. The floor plan we selected suited us almost perfectly as it was but we were able to make small changes like changing a door to an archway and vice versa, moving a window, slight changes to kitchen layout etc and also the builder adjusted the plan slightly to fit on the block which is an irregular shape down one side. We also had full choice on variations like raising ceiling heights, colour schemes, garage doors, upgrading floor coverings etc and could negotiate to remove things from the package which we preffered to do ourselves such as front yard landscaping which was originally included. A house/land package which we looked into with a previous company would not let you change anything, x house plan goes on x block, exactly as it is, could not even change ceiling height or move kitchen window to the other side of the bench. Needless to say, our association with them did not last long (like 1 appointment ) And I have even heard of packages which limit your colour choices or do not let you move outside the builders range for tiles etc. I think you probably save money going with a package, we certainly got the land well under market value and did not have to pay for soil tests and the like: just make sure you are happy with the conditions of the deal and that it is with a builder you are happy with. Re: Advantage and Disadvantages of House & Land Package 3May 13, 2008 9:59 am We have bought land seperately and are in the process of finalising our plans.
The disadvantages that I see in doing it how we have done it are: 1. Longer lead time due to time to select builder, finalise plans, go through council etc 2. Paying rent where we currently are and mortgage on our land I guess the biggest limitation for house and land is the location because I imagine that normally these are within new estates. If you can get a house and land in an area you want to live in then I'd go that way. There are just no such estates close enough to our families and friends so we had to do it this way. Re: Advantage and Disadvantages of House & Land Package 4May 13, 2008 3:41 pm Rachelle We have bought land seperately and are in the process of finalising our plans. The disadvantages that I see in doing it how we have done it are: 1. Longer lead time due to time to select builder, finalise plans, go through council etc 2. Paying rent where we currently are and mortgage on our land I guess the biggest limitation for house and land is the location because I imagine that normally these are within new estates. If you can get a house and land in an area you want to live in then I'd go that way. There are just no such estates close enough to our families and friends so we had to do it this way. Re no.2 above; we still had to start paying the loan on the land as soon as land settlement went through so probably no difference there. Although possibly less delay with building as we had already fine-tuned floor plan, done selections etc As Rachelle says, the builders tend to buy a big area of land, sub-divide it, and then offer their packages, so it is all likely to be in a new area, possibly also outer suburb for same reason. Not really an issue for us in a country area though. Another down side, which we did experience, is that the packages were all offered before the land title subdivisions went through - this then took the better part of a year , not really a problem for us (as we own our current home and it is only 1km from new one) but could be for someone in a rental property or in a hurry to move because of schools situation etc. Fortunately for us, the price of the land was fixed at the beginnning, we paid a $1000 deposit only - land values here went up considerably in that year but builder honoured original price. Not sure this would always be the case? Re: Advantage and Disadvantages of House & Land Package 5May 13, 2008 9:45 pm What I noticed with H&L packages is that the block is normally small and you can't change the plans anymore.
So if you're building a single storey, you wouldn't have a decent backyard anymore. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Built the Nevada 42 Next project - landscaping! Re: Advantage and Disadvantages of House & Land Package 7May 14, 2008 10:38 am Hi everyone,
Thank you very much for all your replies. Everyone's been really helpful in the forum. I guess there are always pros and cons with both. I found some information about house and land packages and I hope this helps a few who were confused like me. Again, thanks for everyone's replies. Cheers 13 6605 2 5483 Scientists have used random matrix theory to demonstrate theoretically that the neutrino mass hierarchy can be explained mathematically. When a substance is fragmented… 21 20639 |