Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 30, 2008 10:10 am Hi,
Just wondering if we could get some advice...we signed our contract subject to finance and SOIL report, but we haven't received our sect 7 papers yet should be in the next day or so, so our cooling off period doesn't start until then. We have had contact with the guy who is selling the land as he was selling privately when we 1st contacted him, he just handed over to the real estate company but asked what the offer was, said he would except it and told us he had soil report done, survey and plans that had been approved by council we could look at etc. so we put offer through agent and signed papers etc, asked to look at soil report and other papers...finally got to see some of the documents yesterday... The papers that are there of the soil report (there are only 2 pages, so I know its not the whole report) say it is classified as being: H-D a highly reactive site footing recommendation is RAFT FOOTINGS Soil type is layer of clayey gravely sand, overlaying silty gravely clay layers of high reactivity And on the bore log it comments estimate surface movement = 50mm with Site classified as "H-D" /"P" someone has hand drawn the /"P" on it. The bore holes were drilled 25/5/2003 but the dates of issue etc are in December 2005. I am guessing if we go ahead we will get soil tests etc all done again because it was so long ago. My question is can we negotiate a lower price for the land now because I don't think we can afford all the extra site and footing costs now?? Re: Re negotiating contract price after seeing old soil report? 2Nov 30, 2008 2:42 pm I would've thought, with a "subject to soil report" clause in the contract and a cooling-off period still to commence, you're really in the box seat. You can retract your original offer, either by invoking the "subject to" clause or simply "cooling-off", and put in a new one.
If you still want the block despite a pretty nasty soil report, than I'd imagine some pretty strong negotiating is in order. I suggest you work out a price that would make you very happy indeed (but still within reasonable reality bounds:wink: ) and use that as a counter-offer to start the negotiations. Personally, I don't like reactive soil sites. Theoretically the engineers can design footings (at a cost) that can cope with the soil conditions but the very nasty cracks in a house a mate of mine built on such a site a few years ago suggests to me that this approach isn't always effective. But there are so many other factors in land purchase......as long as you can make an informed decision on what the block is worth to you and make sure you get it for less, I guess you can't go wrong. Current economic conditions suggest it's a buyers market, after all.......though I accept this doesn't apply to everything. Cheers and good luck zeke Re: Re negotiating contract price after seeing old soil report? 3Nov 30, 2008 2:51 pm I agree 100% with Zeke.
Get a budget cost from a builder and negotiate hard. Be prepared to walk away - it may cost too much at the seller's price. "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 soil test 4Dec 10, 2008 1:16 pm 50mm of movment is common. Mine was 50 to 70mm. Dont get bogged down in the report. My concern would be the HD classification. Raft slab ??
Waffle pod is generaly the choice for H soils. Your builder will get there own report anyway. Getting a discount, try see how you go??? Tell them your builder said it will cost more for this site and you need to pay 2,000 k less. Your cooling off only applies if you have a contract ie the vendor has signed. You may have only made an offer, has it been excepted yet? If so you the can use your soil test or the 3 days to jump ship. Remenber its your money, your call dont be told by an agent or vendor. The current economy is in your favor. The only people selling now are those who have to. Beat them down on the fact its HD soil. If not walk out and say you have a few others to consider, remember its Christmas in a few weeks also. Good luck KW..... “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Re negotiating contract price after seeing old soil report? 5Mar 29, 2009 8:23 pm A belayed thanks for the replies, we tried negotiating contract price but after speaking to builders they said that our soil type and report etc are common here in Adel anyway and we had got quite a good price for the land in the first place Again sorry about the late reply we finally settled on the land in Feb after a total nightmare with a mortage broker.. and now over those hurdles we're bracing ourselves for the build... Re: Re negotiating contract price after seeing old soil report? 7Mar 29, 2009 9:21 pm Good to hear that you went ahead with the land purchase. Good luck arranging your build too, I hope it runs smoothly. Keep us posted on how you go Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." There is evidence of water on the head reveals. That could have happened during the build, or may be happening currently. There are water stains above a couple of windows… 2 3830 Hi, we live in an area where the black soil is prone to a lot of movement. We have an old 50's house with masonite everywhere and nails popping out, warping, rusted etc.… 0 4510 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37139 |