Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Before you bought your land... 61Oct 23, 2008 1:42 pm I would try to also bargain with the developers. There is so much land out there...and they r all throwing something in at the moment, be it petrol vouchers, curtain vouchers, free fencing. If u go thru an estate agent, be sure to check the design guidelines of the estate 1st...the covenants & restrictions & building envelopes won't necessarily be in your S32. Re: Before you bought your land... 62Oct 23, 2008 1:44 pm Grace16 I would try to also bargain with the developers. There is so much land out there...and they r all throwing something in at the moment, be it petrol vouchers, curtain vouchers, free fencing. If u go thru an estate agent, be sure to check the design guidelines of the estate 1st...the covenants & restrictions & building envelopes won't necessarily be in your S32. They all should be. Re: Before you bought your land... 63Oct 23, 2008 2:01 pm Unfortunately FH doesnt want to live in Whittlesea
And thanks for the tip re estates - I never thought of it like that! If you know the frontage of a block, and the area, can you work out the length? I always assumed it would be widthxlength but it doesnt always equal? Re: Before you bought your land... 64Oct 23, 2008 2:06 pm You would think that they would be... but they aren't! We signed 4 a block In Laurimar last year through a real estate agent. We thought it was perfect...dead flat, built up area, neighbours both sides, no double storys, all fencing in, not too bad a price. We put in our offer and it was accepted. Next day we checked with Delfin people at Laurimar, only after speaking with the builder who we were thinking of using told us to be careful as some of that part of Laurimar's design guidelines were quite strict. We found out that there was a building envelope on the land - 8m front setback, minimum 10m set back from back fence. Being 33m long, it only left 15m in length for the house. That may have suited some, but not us, and we don't want a 2 story ( that was probably not allowed too! ) Plus there were other restrictions ( not necessarily bad ones ) such as timber windows everywhere, eaves right around. We were lucky that we found out this info during the cooling off period...but ******* estate agent had already banked our 10% cheque...and it took ages for them to refund our money!! Re: Before you bought your land... 65Oct 23, 2008 2:16 pm Grace16 You would think that they would be... but they aren't! We signed 4 a block In Laurimar last year through a real estate agent. We thought it was perfect...dead flat, built up area, neighbours both sides, no double storys, all fencing in, not too bad a price. We put in our offer and it was accepted. Next day we checked with Delfin people at Laurimar, only after speaking with the builder who we were thinking of using told us to be careful as some of that part of Laurimar's design guidelines were quite strict. We found out that there was a building envelope on the land - 8m front setback, minimum 10m set back from back fence. Being 33m long, it only left 15m in length for the house. That may have suited some, but not us, and we don't want a 2 story ( that was probably not allowed too! ) Plus there were other restrictions ( not necessarily bad ones ) such as timber windows everywhere, eaves right around. We were lucky that we found out this info during the cooling off period...but ******* estate agent had already banked our 10% cheque...and it took ages for them to refund our money!! The agent should of disclosed all about the building guidelines. The problem with some agents is that they don't deal in land sales a lot and therefor are not familiar with how everything works. The agent by law has to bank that deposit within the following business day. Re: Before you bought your land... 66Oct 23, 2008 2:24 pm Our point to the agent exactly!!! He said he was only going on the info provided to him by the vendor! He even had the nerve to try & talk us out of pulling out by saying that we needed to be more flexible in what we were willing to build. Fair enough that he had to bank my cheque, not so fair that it took him over 3 weeks to refund my money! Re: Before you bought your land... 69Oct 23, 2008 6:44 pm Bam, we paid $175k for our block.
I know exactly what you are going through, seeing we did it just a few months ago ourselves . We were totally clueless at the start Just talk to lots of people, visit all the estates, get a feel for the surrounding areas, and one will jump out at you as the perfect spot. We visited every estate in Mernda and Doreen and settled on Eminence as it had a good balance of size/location/amenities and price. Most in Mernda were too expensive and smaller, as the estates were a lot more established. We nearly bought at Cornell Hills, but got scared off by their sales contract. Thats another thing as well, make sure you get the contract checked my a solicitor, as there can be some nasty surprises in them. Built with Bentley homes in Doreen All moved in Dec 2009 Now for the garden! Our stuff so far viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16532 Re: Before you bought your land... 70Oct 23, 2008 7:55 pm Lostris, funny you mention Eminence as I went there after work today!
One thing Ive learnt is that Design Guidelines give me a headache! George isnt happy with their guidelines either unfortunately *sigh* Good tip about the solicitor, must make sure to get him to check it out! Re: Before you bought your land... 71Oct 23, 2008 7:56 pm Lostris Thats another thing as well, make sure you get the contract checked my a solicitor, as there can be some nasty surprises in them. Lostris, what type of surprises do you mean? I didnt even get my solicitor to look at the contract. Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Before you bought your land... 73Oct 24, 2008 8:59 am We were just not happy with how one sided the contract was. It gave the developer the right to cancel the contract, put easements in, change the size and location etc. It also had a clause that the developer took no responsablilty if hazardous waste was found on the land. If for some crazy reason the old owners of the land had buried their pestiside containers on our piece of land, we would have had to pay for the cleanup. The finance clause was also not standard, stating that as soon as we signed the contract, it was unconditional, not subject to final loan approval.
I know none of these issues would in reality come up, but I really didn't want to deal with a developer that protected itself but not its clients. In the wake of the whole methane gas issues down in Cranbourne, I'm kinda glad We changed one clause in our current contract, which stated that we were to pay the rates and taxes on the land from the date of sale, not the date of settlement, which is standard. They said that the price was adjusted to include that, but I argued with them that there is no way I am paying rates for land that I cant even use. And if the title got delayed, I would have to fut the bill for the extra rates. So we ended up paying the "adjusted" price, $2500 more for the land, but don't pay the rates until the land settles. Really, any legal document should be checked over by a solicitor before you sign it. It means you have a better understanding about what is going on. Land sales contracts all have a clause in them stating that anything the sales person has told you is not legally binding, so you can't trust that they have given you the correct information. Built with Bentley homes in Doreen All moved in Dec 2009 Now for the garden! Our stuff so far viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16532 Re: Before you bought your land... 75Oct 24, 2008 3:47 pm Yeah, we always preferred Eminence, but Cornells Hill had the fibre optic cable setup, which was handy for FH's work (Comp Engineer). Thats really the only reason we were going with that estate.
I think it was fates way of telling us to go with our gut instinct Built with Bentley homes in Doreen All moved in Dec 2009 Now for the garden! Our stuff so far viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16532 Re: Before you bought your land... 76Apr 27, 2009 12:25 am Hey bam Have you tried camalda estate in south morang?? I just brought there really nice Re: Before you bought your land... 77Apr 27, 2009 10:24 am Thanks vivica This thread is a little old now, we have since bought in Mernda Villages We looked at Camalda but there werent money rectangular blocks. Ive seen a few of your posts and saw that you bought at Camalda, best of wishes with your build Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Before you bought your land... 78Apr 27, 2009 11:14 am Its not the end of the world is you get a block with a bit of fall. Larger builders still may build on it. Our block is 816sqm (32.75 X 26.72) with roughly 1.4m fall. The only thing with fall is you have to be willing to pay extra for site costs. Our block has a easement but it is done one side and does not come near the house. Also another thing to look out for is find out what the basic rates are. Do not get a block that backs onto 2 streets unless your are willing to pay higher rates. I hope this helps you some. Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15433 Thanks mate. Yeah good points! Leaning towards Option 3 to get a bit extra space in the cabinets but not going too crazy high (and expensive). Would require a mini… 13 39450 Been in a similar position and we decided to let the builder go. Some of the PSA money goes to engineering so we at least got those documents and they actually refunded us… 2 6082 |