Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 20, 2008 4:26 pm Hi guys,
Just wondering if anyone here has signed a contract to build before they have land title? To take advantage of the FHOG ($26k ) we may purchase a block in Jan. 09 but we are told it will not settle for 6-9 months. As we would need to sign a contract to build by June, would this be safe? Do the builders have a time fram after signing that you have to build within or can this be put in the contract as commencing upon settlement? Is the length of settlement of land negotiable? I really don't know much about the settlement process! Thanks Re: Sign contract to build b4 land stlmnt? 2Oct 20, 2008 4:37 pm Hi Arabella,
Quote: Do the builders have a time fram after signing that you have to build within or can this be put in the contract as commencing upon settlement? I can't answer the first question but I can answer this one. All builders will have a set period of time (often only 3 to 6 months) by which you have to physically start building - so in that time you have to get your council approvals etc etc. As many people on this forum can attest to - if you exceed the time given - they will start increasing the price. My builder is fairly reasonable on this front - on a $300k house prices have only risen 1% in 12 months. However, some others increase the base price rapidly (think 5%+) Quote: Is the length of settlement of land negotiable? I really don't know much about the settlement process! Settlement of land is dependent on a few things * the developer must prepare the lots - electricity, sewer etc - this must then be checked by local govt * once all the works match up to the DA lodged by the developer (for the subdivision) - the developer takes steps to lodge the subdivision and the individual lots with the relevant Land Titles body * then once titles are lodged/registered - they can officially sell you the land and settlement would occur. You can most likely choose when your settlement date is within a few days/weeks - though you'll probably want it as soon as the land title is registered. I don't think they'd be too keen on delaying for months on the settlement - they want their cash! After 4 years - we're in! Re: Sign contract to build b4 land stlmnt? 3Oct 20, 2008 4:41 pm We signed out contract in April, land settled in May, $imonds wanted to start May/June, so the minute settlement went through we had to get a letter from our conveyers saying it has gone through and that cut down the time they had to wait for title.
As for the builders having a timeframe, i think it depends on the builder, not sure on that, l do know that bigger companies need to send a number of clients to 'site' each month, i had a friend build with PD, they signed up August last year and land didn't settle till March this year, and that wasn't a problem as they had told PD the estimated date of settlement. l think what may become a problem some ppl have experienced is if you say land will settle 6 months from now, but it doesn't and the company you go with has a site start on that 6 months, there is a clauses which said they can charge you accordingly. You'd have to speak to the company your chose to go with and see what they say. Re: Sign contract to build b4 land stlmnt? 4Oct 20, 2008 4:45 pm hey arabella,
we signed our building contract on decc, and the land got released in july (orig they said april/may). Pd gave us a price cap, which locks in the price of when we signed. U should be able to do a search on the forum and find info about price capping. The builder u chose should be able to do this for u, just make sure u set out the conditions with the builder. So jealous about the FHOG as well! We missed out. Re: Sign contract to build b4 land stlmnt? 5Oct 20, 2008 5:08 pm I saw on Sunrise last week that they were talking about the FHOG and the guy said that when you sign into a building contract to build on YOUR land, you must build within 6 months of signing the contract and it should not take any longer than 18 months, for you to be eligible.
This is where it gets unclear, when he said that you have to build within 6 months, does it only apply to people who have already settled on their land. The gov might be more lenient to people who are awaiting for land settlement. I mean, it's not really our fault that the land constantly gets delayed. I just hope that we can still get the grant! Cheers. Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - 1 1343 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… 8 2234 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 12007 |