Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 01, 2018 5:16 pm Howdy doody Home One community So just a little background, I’ve been considering buying my first home over the last 16 months within the Newcastle area. Throughout this process I started to gain a much better understanding of the market and good area’s around the region, but have had a bit of trouble finding a place that would suit my needs. Now unfortunately 3 months ago when I was in the thick of going to open houses my partner kind of took me by surprise said she wanted to end the relationship and move state. This honestly has been a big personal blow for me but now starting to finally move past some of it, I’ve taken a step back to consider what I really want for the foreseeable future. My partner had heavy influence on our original reequipments which lead us looking at properties closer to the CBD due to where she worked and her lifestyle preferences. Although I had no issues with this, I was turned off by the fact that house prices increase significantly the further into Town you go. So, the houses we were looking at were generally older, dark and not very accessible. The main problem here is I’m visually impaired (legally blind actually) and wasn’t feeling so comfortable with a lot of the “fixer uppers” we were looking at. I’m a hard worker and don’t mind putting in effort into a house but my sight limits the kind of jobs I can do and I’ve heard all kind of wild card stories when buying existing homes. Who knows what I’d have to do/pay someone to do. While I’ve been looking I had a good friend secure a block of land about 20 minutes out of town (Cameron park) when the intention to build. When I asked him a bit more about it, there appeared to be some interesting points he brung up that really made me think that building a house might be more suitable. Mainly due to the flexibility to achieve an accessible home design and can implement any adaption for myself into the house instead of trying to tack onto an existing house. So at this point I’m just tyring to lay my finances down and work out if this is something I can do or not. Details Timeframe - hoping to try and get this done within 2018, but the worlds not going to end if I don’t hit my .timeframe. More of a guide. The idea is to build on a pretty firm budget with the idea to essentially go with a base design, upgrade anything that can’t be done efficiently over time (EG ceiling height) and save money by doing upgrades and work myself over the first few years of living the property. I have family friends (a bit older than myself, I’m 28) who build in the same area with this philosophy a few years ago and I believe it is a bit of extra work but worth it. I’m not in any big hurry and as long as the house is “liveable” at the start, I’m happy chipping away. Budget Current savings/Deposit: 55K Currently pre-approved: 500K (I believe I may be eligible for more but would only cross that road if it is absolutely required, half a million dollars is a lot of debt for a young simpleton like myself) Expected saving till guesstimate build date: $9600 @ $400 a week currently achieving) Expected tax back before build: 10K (forgot to claim tax free threshold this year, woops) Income: $75K AFTER tax (roughly $1550 in pocket weekly) First home builder/buyer: 10K + exempt from stamp duty. Total: $584K Estimate costs Okidoki so here is where I need some insight/advice/guidance. I’m at very initial stages of this process and obviously need to speak to some builders and professional to get a clearer idea of prices but online is never a bad place to start. Between a financial adviser and builder would i be able to confirm if I can get this done on my budget or there are too many variables and I’ll just have to bite the bullet, get a block and soil tests done? Land: 240k-260K (budgeted for 260K) Build example: base price $289K (McDonald Jones home Milano 16 - Saw the display home, loved the design but obviously open to different options as not sure i can really afford this?) Upgrades: $5k ☹ (this will probably go into the promotional upgrade package most volume builders offer as they seem very good value) Contingency/unforeseen: $30K (This is my biggest point of unknown. The base price for a house does seem to include site fee budgets for 30K but the majority of posts I see seem to suggest wack another 30-50K on top of the base price for a house to consider for sloping blocks or if you hit rock ETC) Legal/Conlanger: 1K Although I think my calculations seem OK for a rough estimate I don’t have a lot of personal resources to pull on here for information. When going to Display home I was getting some mixed opinions on my budget from the reps. The other financial factors are obviously paying rent and a mortgage while this is being build. All my calculations seem to suggest once the bank has release the full amount for the builder I’ll be at 50% of my income which is quite high financial stress. I don’t have dependants, debt (outside hecs) or any large expenditures so I believe given a estimate of 6-8 months in this situation I should be able to cope just fine. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I’m sure there’s plenty I’m not thinking of or haven’t mentioned and would really appreciate some one with any experience or in a similar situation (budget/new to building) who could lend any advice. Re: I'd like to build - Ballpark or dreaming? 2Jan 02, 2018 9:54 pm A big thing to be aware of when building a new house is all the extra cost you may not have thought about. Check this link to see how the extra costs can mount up: http://anewhouse.com.au/2012/01/what-will-it-cost/ The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: I'd like to build - Ballpark or dreaming? 3Jan 16, 2018 2:50 am Bobo5050 Howdy doody Home One community So just a little background, I’ve been considering buying my first home over the last 16 months within the Newcastle area. Throughout this process I started to gain a much better understanding of the market and good area’s around the region, but have had a bit of trouble finding a place that would suit my needs. Now unfortunately 3 months ago when I was in the thick of going to open houses my partner kind of took me by surprise said she wanted to end the relationship and move state. This honestly has been a big personal blow for me but now starting to finally move past some of it, I’ve taken a step back to consider what I really want for the foreseeable future. My partner had heavy influence on our original reequipments which lead us looking at properties closer to the CBD due to where she worked and her lifestyle preferences. Although I had no issues with this, I was turned off by the fact that house prices increase significantly the further into Town you go. So, the houses we were looking at were generally older, dark and not very accessible. The main problem here is I’m visually impaired (legally blind actually) and wasn’t feeling so comfortable with a lot of the “fixer uppers” we were looking at. I’m a hard worker and don’t mind putting in effort into a house but my sight limits the kind of jobs I can do and I’ve heard all kind of wild card stories when buying existing homes. Who knows what I’d have to do/pay someone to do. While I’ve been looking I had a good friend secure a block of land about 20 minutes out of town (Cameron park) when the intention to build. When I asked him a bit more about it, there appeared to be some interesting points he brung up that really made me think that building a house might be more suitable. Mainly due to the flexibility to achieve an accessible home design and can implement any adaption for myself into the house instead of trying to tack onto an existing house. So at this point I’m just tyring to lay my finances down and work out if this is something I can do or not. Details Timeframe - hoping to try and get this done within 2018, but the worlds not going to end if I don’t hit my .timeframe. More of a guide. The idea is to build on a pretty firm budget with the idea to essentially go with a base design, upgrade anything that can’t be done efficiently over time (EG ceiling height) and save money by doing upgrades and work myself over the first few years of living the property. I have family friends (a bit older than myself, I’m 28) who build in the same area with this philosophy a few years ago and I believe it is a bit of extra work but worth it. I’m not in any big hurry and as long as the house is “liveable” at the start, I’m happy chipping away. Budget Current savings/Deposit: 55K Currently pre-approved: 500K (I believe I may be eligible for more but would only cross that road if it is absolutely required, half a million dollars is a lot of debt for a young simpleton like myself) Expected saving till guesstimate build date: $9600 @ $400 a week currently achieving) Expected tax back before build: 10K (forgot to claim tax free threshold this year, woops) Income: $75K AFTER tax (roughly $1550 in pocket weekly) First home builder/buyer: 10K + exempt from stamp duty. Total: $584K Estimate costs Okidoki so here is where I need some insight/advice/guidance. I’m at very initial stages of this process and obviously need to speak to some builders and professional to get a clearer idea of prices but online is never a bad place to start. Between a financial adviser and builder would i be able to confirm if I can get this done on my budget or there are too many variables and I’ll just have to bite the bullet, get a block and soil tests done? Land: 240k-260K (budgeted for 260K) Build example: base price $289K (McDonald Jones home Milano 16 - Saw the display home, loved the design but obviously open to different options as not sure i can really afford this?) Upgrades: $5k ☹ (this will probably go into the promotional upgrade package most volume builders offer as they seem very good value) Contingency/unforeseen: $30K (This is my biggest point of unknown. The base price for a house does seem to include site fee budgets for 30K but the majority of posts I see seem to suggest wack another 30-50K on top of the base price for a house to consider for sloping blocks or if you hit rock ETC) Legal/Conlanger: 1K Although I think my calculations seem OK for a rough estimate I don’t have a lot of personal resources to pull on here for information. When going to Display home I was getting some mixed opinions on my budget from the reps. The other financial factors are obviously paying rent and a mortgage while this is being build. All my calculations seem to suggest once the bank has release the full amount for the builder I’ll be at 50% of my income which is quite high financial stress. I don’t have dependants, debt (outside hecs) or any large expenditures so I believe given a estimate of 6-8 months in this situation I should be able to cope just fine. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I’m sure there’s plenty I’m not thinking of or haven’t mentioned and would really appreciate some one with any experience or in a similar situation (budget/new to building) who could lend any advice. I think you have the numbers to afford the build. As a first home, you could save some money by being smart. If you don't really care about a facade, drop it and get credit. Instead of signing up for all the extras during your colour/selection meeting with the builder, only pick the ones that need to go in during build. There's always tomorrow to get that fancy kitchen tap. I only selected the basic electrical and didn't use any of my electrical allowance. When I had a meeting with the electrician on site, I simply asked him for his rate card, gave him a floor map layout of all the extra fittings I wanted, and dealt with him directly. Also bought all my light, fan and aircon fittings myself, got better deal on better branded items. It came out quite cheap...for example CLIPSAL was quoting me $110 for a plug point, electrician charged me $25. Every bit counts. The only thing I wasn't prepared for during my first build was undervaluation by bank, specially if its a a new construction in a new area. First bank I applied with undervalued my house by $40K. Second one undervalued by $20K. Luckily I had that spare money to pay out of pocket to make up for the difference in bank's valuation and actual sale+construction price. Get landscaping done by someone outside your builder if you have the cash. You'd usually get a better deal for that. Oh and if you are going with Colorbond roofs, I can't stress enough about Anticon. Worth every penny I spent to get Anticon insulation added to my build here in QLD. Don't go blind with upgrades will be my biggest advice. My total extra for upgrades during that meeting was $200 or something. Sure I picked the upgraded inclusion during the build which got me solar etc. I have LED bulbs through out in normal bulb battons and then screw on light fixtures. Looks exactly like a normal fancy fixture, costs a fraction, and you can do it on your own later, plus cheaper than buying downlights/fixtures through CLIPSAL. Plan out your data connectivity. Also pay attention to long term expenses. For example, for me and my Mrs, solar hot water + a 3kw solar system was plenty. I didn't go for natural gas line, rather got all gas piping done for bottled gas. I don't have to pay the regular service charge for having a gas line, instead it costs me $120 every 2 years for a 45l bottle and $29 rental of the bottle per year. Spend some money on hiring a reputable build inspector from start so they go through the entire build stage of your house. $500K isn't a bottle of milk from woolies that you will chuck it away if it tastes funny. Also as bashworth noted, that link has some good details. All the best. Re: I'd like to build - Ballpark or dreaming? 4Jan 16, 2018 7:54 am bobo5050 I would say you are less than (<) Dreaming which requires a vision->Image->sketch-> which can be ball parked In the words of Chris Rock "There's math and everything thing else is debatable" Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: I'd like to build - Ballpark or dreaming? 5Jan 30, 2018 8:25 am Re Dreaming - maybe not go for everything at once - but "build" to allow it later ! EG - if you plan a large alfresco but can't afford it NOW - make sure your build leaves the space for it - likewise a pool etc. Maybe go cheap on items you can always upgrade later - eg carpets, window covers etc. Its much easier and cheaper to upgrade IF you can do it without major changes. consider putting in wall WC instead of robe in the same bedroom, then it might be doable to hook up to the existing piping. 4 6633 No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11588 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17616 |