Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 11, 2009 8:40 am Hi all
I know this is more of a personal question but after so many month thinking about it I think we have over thought the situation and just need answers from people that don't really know us We want to build our first house ( not first property no grant ) but feel we may be stretching ourselves over the building period we still have 2 small kids 1 to start school next year. The interest rate and our saving and property value ( Just so expensive to buy something so old and settling for something you don't like) are telling us to build but, uncertainty with economy tell us to buy old and have a cheaper mortgage. Stress of building doesn't bother us but the mortgage stress may I Guess I also have the problem that I would really like to not more after this decision. What to do? ( we did have somthing at the pond but lookes like this will fall thru due to high site costs pushing us way over budget) Re: Do i Build or Not 2Feb 11, 2009 8:50 am Im in a similar situation, although no kids yet.
Prices are down, FHOG is high, lots of good deals going around... Also here in Victoria there will be a builder shortage soon as all the houses lost in the bushfires will be re-built... But no kids, but no savings either, moved from QLD late last year. Personally, if your eligable for the FHOG, that wont return any time soon in our economic conditions. Interest rates are also low. The first year or so Im told is always the hardest, so to have those two factors in our benefit will make it easier. Re: Do i Build or Not 3Feb 11, 2009 10:07 am I had the same dilemma a year ago, although I know that I don’t have issue getting a big loan, but I really don’t want to over spend and incur more debt, especially I am only spending 6% of my salary on mortgage at a moment, so I really don’t want to be mortgage stress once the new house is built
Yes, it is a personal choice, build new or buy existing. I always thought that building a new house is very expensive, but if you set a goal to yourself and stick to the budget, I don’t think it is impossible. I set a very strict budget to myself and this include land, house, and post construction expenses (e.g. letterbox, curtain, landscaping…etc), so I become very careful while selecting land, house, and builder For land, of course, if you want cheaper land you have to go to outer suburbs, 20k to the city is ok to me, but not for some people, so just need to know what/where is your limit For house/builder, every time I visited a display, I keep asking myself – Do I like this house? Is the base price ok? What is the standard inclusion and upgrade cost? Do I really need a bigger house? Do I really need those cosmetic upgrade? And what is the expected repayment? Even I saw a house I like, I won’t set myself into it too quick, I keep looking and tried to lower my expectation, until I found something very suitable for both of my personal and financial need.. I have even prepared a spreadsheet to compare all houses & costs. I remember that when I first told my friend that I want to build a house with the budget I want, he laughed at me and said ‘no way’, but now I am building it and I am achieving it Good luck Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Do i Build or Not 4Feb 11, 2009 10:26 am We are at the moment doing it very easy with hardly no loan and have worked hard to pay this property off,
Would you pick Location or not quite idel location but cheaper and more afordable to build ( the suburbs are next to each other) I don't have issue with location as i drive and i look more at the quality of home i will live in and repayments ( remember i don't want to move ) My hubby looks at location and return long term ( But i keep teling him if i build i will not move as this way i get everthing in a house i want. Re: Do i Build or Not 5Feb 11, 2009 10:34 am Hellman109 Personally, if your eligable for the FHOG, that wont return any time soon in our economic conditions. I think the gov't will continue it for some while. The global recession hasn't really started to affect us yet. Property prices here still need to drop another 10 to 20%. The US will have a total collapse later this year and that will be the start of the domino effect. Re: Do i Build or Not 6Feb 11, 2009 10:37 am Hi.. Bill! .. We're cost conscious too, altho we're getting the FHOG but yet not trying to go over budget.. Our land can accomodate a bigger house but we're only building something med-sized to afford the loan re-payments.
I guess you gotta see your priority, do you need a bigger house, schools around for kids, commute and how far are these facilities .. On another note, why were the site costs high for you? I thought land at the ponds is pretty flat and M class soil classification .. hmmm? --- I don't have a signature - just this sentence saying that I don't have one - that'll do! Re: Do i Build or Not 7Feb 11, 2009 10:43 am bluemetal77 Hi.. Bill! .. We're cost conscious too, altho we're getting the FHOG but yet not trying to go over budget.. Our land can accomodate a bigger house but we're only building something med-sized to afford the loan re-payments. I guess you gotta see your priority, do you need a bigger house, schools around for kids, commute and how far are these facilities .. On another note, why were the site costs high for you? I thought land at the ponds is pretty flat and M class soil classification .. hmmm? When i did my homework better i called the council and found out the i need a pier and beam slab the builder is only offering waffle pod as most do this just took me way over budget but we are still looking and i'm hopping to convice my hubby we are trying to realistic and yes can take more but we would like to stay to house and land for $500K But where and how? Re: Do i Build or Not 8Feb 11, 2009 10:53 am d@n Hellman109 Personally, if your eligable for the FHOG, that wont return any time soon in our economic conditions. I think the gov't will continue it for some while. The global recession hasn't really started to affect us yet. Property prices here still need to drop another 10 to 20%. The US will have a total collapse later this year and that will be the start of the domino effect. Cannot really see it dropping in Victoria at least - land release shortages are causing big issues for affordability. Additionally the cost of construction has not dropped much with the drop in commodity prices due to the falling Aussie dollar. Maybe we will see 5-10% but there will be a big upswing at the other end if people stop construction of new homes causing an acute shortage when things return to 'normal' and demand increases. Victoria at least is still a large net importer of people. Re: Do i Build or Not 9Feb 11, 2009 10:56 am 15k to the city or inner city are just so expensive, have to choose an afordable location..
i am glad that the area i am living at a moment is so close to one of the new development area, so i don't want to move anywhere further, and pick the land there.. But if you are choosing other suburbs/area, properly go and check their local paper/community news, and most importanly, crime rate.. Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Do i Build or Not 10Feb 11, 2009 11:03 am Bill11s bluemetal77 Hi.. Bill! .. We're cost conscious too, altho we're getting the FHOG but yet not trying to go over budget.. Our land can accomodate a bigger house but we're only building something med-sized to afford the loan re-payments. I guess you gotta see your priority, do you need a bigger house, schools around for kids, commute and how far are these facilities .. On another note, why were the site costs high for you? I thought land at the ponds is pretty flat and M class soil classification .. hmmm? When i did my homework better i called the council and found out the i need a pier and beam slab the builder is only offering waffle pod as most do this just took me way over budget but we are still looking and i'm hopping to convice my hubby we are trying to realistic and yes can take more but we would like to stay to house and land for $500K But where and how? 19km to the city in Williams Landing... http://www.williamslanding.com.au/ Not the cheapest land but in the future will have great facilities, freeway access, massive shopping centre. Land prices should attact owner occupiers not renters. That said Williams Landing was too expensive for me to buy in (~ $200k for land) instead building in Rose Grange in Tarneit which too has great F'Way access and is approx 23km from the city. Re: Do i Build or Not 11Feb 11, 2009 11:15 am ummmm... i think bill11 is in sydney and looking around west/north-west
hmmm.. so that means i gotta wait n see what my soil classification comes out to be and what sort of piering n slabbing we need .. we're hovering around our max budget too so any additional costs will stretch us too --- I don't have a signature - just this sentence saying that I don't have one - that'll do! Re: Do i Build or Not 12Feb 11, 2009 12:13 pm bluemetal77 ummmm... i think bill11 is in sydney and looking around west/north-west hmmm.. so that means i gotta wait n see what my soil classification comes out to be and what sort of piering n slabbing we need .. we're hovering around our max budget too so any additional costs will stretch us too My Builder didn't tell me I found out by asking the council about the block But in saying this We still haven't conpletly rules it out just weighting up if its worth it Re: Do i Build or Not 13Feb 11, 2009 12:19 pm bluemetal77 ummmm... i think bill11 is in sydney and looking around west/north-west hmmm.. so that means i gotta wait n see what my soil classification comes out to be and what sort of piering n slabbing we need .. we're hovering around our max budget too so any additional costs will stretch us too At best you'll be M class, so no additional costs. At worst you'll be H class (like a lot of The Ponds is), which should only cost you $2k max for a double storey, more for a single due to the increased footprint. If builders charge you any more than that they're ripping you off (and there are many who do it). Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Do i Build or Not 14Feb 11, 2009 12:33 pm Yup, just confirmed with the Blacktown Council .. its H for sure .. so depending on the builder we go with, we'll be asked for $2-3K more .. we are considering a 2-storey around the 25-27 squares so hopefully the slab's footprint wont be huge ..
And all the tenders i've received till now have said M-Class .. what cr@p .. so that's additional cost not shown to me .. I feel like giving them a piece of my mind already .. even without being in a contract with em! .. where's the angry smiley here? there! --- I don't have a signature - just this sentence saying that I don't have one - that'll do! Re: Do i Build or Not 15Feb 11, 2009 12:49 pm bluemetal77 Yup, just confirmed with the Blacktown Council .. its H for sure .. so depending on the builder we go with, we'll be asked for $2-3K more .. we are considering a 2-storey around the 25-27 squares so hopefully the slab's footprint wont be huge .. And all the tenders i've received till now have said M-Class .. what cr@p .. so that's additional cost not shown to me .. I feel like giving them a piece of my mind already .. even without being in a contract with em! .. where's the angry smiley here? there! See what i mean Now if you get a fixed price tender do you pay the extra or was it there job to find out before contract? Re: Do i Build or Not 16Feb 11, 2009 2:30 pm They call these "provisions" .. Provision for M Class BUT if it comes out to be H, then you pay extra .. ha! What a joke! .. So yes unless they do the soil test and contour before hand, they will never know, and yes they should tell us before hand (specially if they're charging you $600-700 to do the tender!)
I'm gonna compare all the tenders and askt he one we're going with to show costs or exclusions for all the items (some are charging certain statutory fees n etc that others arent, so either they're hidden or will show up at some stage!) No use playing nice guy with them .. I'm gonna keep em at their toes!! --- I don't have a signature - just this sentence saying that I don't have one - that'll do! Re: Do i Build or Not 17Feb 11, 2009 2:55 pm bluemetal77 They call these "provisions" .. Provision for M Class BUT if it comes out to be H, then you pay extra .. ha! What a joke! .. So yes unless they do the soil test and contour before hand, they will never know, and yes they should tell us before hand (specially if they're charging you $600-700 to do the tender!) I'm gonna compare all the tenders and askt he one we're going with to show costs or exclusions for all the items (some are charging certain statutory fees n etc that others arent, so either they're hidden or will show up at some stage!) No use playing nice guy with them .. I'm gonna keep em at their toes!! They charge you $600-700 to do the tender because they do the soil test with this money too! Once the tender comes back, they should have the soil test and they'll then let you know what the extra costs are if you don't have "M" class (which is the general provision for basically all builders). My 33sq double storey was $1.9k more for "H" class. Other builders I know of charge over $5k for exactly the same footprint and soil type. The builder you choose makes a lot of difference to the site costs. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Do i Build or Not 18Feb 11, 2009 3:00 pm stevep79 bluemetal77 They call these "provisions" .. Provision for M Class BUT if it comes out to be H, then you pay extra .. ha! What a joke! .. So yes unless they do the soil test and contour before hand, they will never know, and yes they should tell us before hand (specially if they're charging you $600-700 to do the tender!) I'm gonna compare all the tenders and askt he one we're going with to show costs or exclusions for all the items (some are charging certain statutory fees n etc that others arent, so either they're hidden or will show up at some stage!) No use playing nice guy with them .. I'm gonna keep em at their toes!! They charge you $600-700 to do the tender because they do the soil test with this money too! Once the tender comes back, they should have the soil test and they'll then let you know what the extra costs are if you don't have "M" class (which is the general provision for basically all builders). My 33sq double storey was $1.9k more for "H" class. Other builders I know of charge over $5k for exactly the same footprint and soil type. The builder you choose makes a lot of difference to the site costs. We have paid our $600 2 weeks ago but still havn't got back to me they will do soil test but will they check with council about my slab requirments , If they then come back with the same thin only h slab requied do you think there will be a hidden charges after? Re: Do i Build or Not 19Feb 11, 2009 3:12 pm Bill11s We have paid our $600 2 weeks ago but still havn't got back to me they will do soil test but will they check with council about my slab requirments , If they then come back with the same thin only h slab requied do you think there will be a hidden charges after? I'd be very cautious if it's not mentioned. Even if the easement is fine, they should make reference to it. A lot of the blocks in Anura release will have the same kind of problems. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Do i Build or Not 20Feb 12, 2009 9:32 am Zerosignal d@n Hellman109 Personally, if your eligable for the FHOG, that wont return any time soon in our economic conditions. I think the gov't will continue it for some while. The global recession hasn't really started to affect us yet. Property prices here still need to drop another 10 to 20%. The US will have a total collapse later this year and that will be the start of the domino effect. Cannot really see it dropping in Victoria at least - land release shortages are causing big issues for affordability. Additionally the cost of construction has not dropped much with the drop in commodity prices due to the falling Aussie dollar. Maybe we will see 5-10% but there will be a big upswing at the other end if people stop construction of new homes causing an acute shortage when things return to 'normal' and demand increases. Victoria at least is still a large net importer of people. I agree with Don, prices have dropped 5-10% so far. At least another 10%, maybe more. What will drive the housing excess is unemployment. People losing their jobs who have mortgages will foreclose. Unemployed Centrelink customers will leave major cities for cheaper rent in the regional towns. Many economists have warned Australia has yet to see real estate fall out. Chronic unemployment is the driver, and unfortunately it is a reality for Australia. 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 17587 The HIA contract, in the term & conditions section states that "Commencment" is deemed when the drainage is started or the piers are dug or the slab is formed up (incase… 2 6175 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair But if it is a ground level open pit, then it is not a charged system. No surprises there. The pipes have obviously been altered and there would be a reason for this.… 3 31280 |