What do i need to do when I buy land?

Talk to your preferred bank or mortgage broker well before so you know how much you can borrow and all the fees, process involved


You mortgage provider will talk you through that, usually split loan, one for the land (start repayment as soon as settled), one for the construction (phase draw, interest repayment only during construction), then upon completion, you can either combine the loans into one or keep the existing loan structure but fixed interest for one of them. Options are there.


Again, your mortgage provider will talk you though those costs. Apart from that, you will start paying council rate once you have your land settled.


Builder will charge you for it, don't see the need to do it yourself. Selecting your builder and design is more important. Only thing it relates to is your site cost. Ask around if you can get someone to fix your site cost, otherwise it's all up to luck.


There isn't such a thing of house and land package in Aurora, at the end of the day, you pay the developer for your land, then you pay the builder for the house. Even it's a package, you still can choose different house design as long as it fits your land. Price will be different of course. Also, you usually will end up upgrading many things for your house which costs you extra. I can't see there is any savings.

At the end of the day, you'd better pay some visits to the estate sales office, bank, mortgage broker.

1) when do i need to get my finances sorted? like speak to the mortgage department in a bank.

Its better to speak to your bank as early as possible. We spoke to our bank before we even had land in sight and it gave us a really good picture of when we can afford land, how their mortgages work etc. Doing it this way has ended up being very beneficial for us as once land came up we knew we had the finances there.

2) When I get a loan for the land, how does the loan for the house work 1 year later?

Again talk to your bank. For us, we have a one mortgage for land and current home. We are in the process of selling our house so our bank then will approve us for the construction side of things. Some banks will give separate loans, some will put the loan into one loan (most banks now have a construction component so you only pay for the amount you have spent on the construction as it incrementally gets bigger, some also only want you to pay interest until the build is complete).

3) what are the fees/insurance/payments involved after I purchase the land (minus paying the loan for the land, what else do i have to be prepared to pay for... stamp duty etc)

Stamp duty. That is all we paid, plus bank fees. We wanted to keep the loan under the 80% (to avoid lenders mortgage insurance) so have put in extra.

4) when i decide to build, am i responsible to arrange for a soil report/building permit etc or does the builder usually have this covered in their package

Talk to the builder. We are going with Hotondo homes and all this is done within the 'package'. It worked out cheaper (and easier!)

5) is this a smart strategy as I would rather get my foot into a slightly better location (and potentially some savings on the land) first then build later? or should I get a house and land package with the builders?

We looked into house and land packages but most were in areas we didn't like. When a subdivision came up in a suburb we like I asked a couple project home builders whether they were going to do a house and land package. In the end we worked out it was better to buy land then build when we were ready. The packages were for a particular house plan and basic inclusions. It has turned out easier for us to choose the plan we want, added some inclusions and save money doing some things ourselves (landscaping, fencing etc). Its individual choice, depending on whether you are happy with the house and land package, or whether you prefer to buy land where you would like, and then can pick whatever plan/builder you want for the actual house.
All the best with whatever you choose!!!