Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 24, 2009 8:04 pm Hi all King Willy here,
Lets face it folks its not all fun & happy times building a new home is it, now lets be honest. In the current economic climate who has seen a similar or the same home on the market for less that it cost to build. Some places Ive looked at established on the current market I could not build for the same price . This is when you consider the extras like tank, shed, landscaping, fencing, drive way. etc etc... Who would have brought an established home in hindsight ???? Would it have been cheaper? Less work? No hidden costs? Less stress? Did you get swepted up in all the hype of building is cheaper? Has the new home smell worn off yet? What are the benifits of buying established, Please share you expiriences. Thanks and kind regards to all The King............. “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 2Feb 24, 2009 8:25 pm King willy Who would have brought an established home in hindsight ???? Not me. We looked, and couldn't find anything that suited us. Everything had something wrong - a bedroom short, no rumpus room, no garage, or it was miles outside our price range...there was always something. King willy In the current economic climate who has seen a similar or the same home on the market for less that it cost to build. That's only relevant if you plan to sell in the near future. I'm staying put for a long while yet, so I don't actually care what my house is worth to anyone else. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 3Feb 24, 2009 8:32 pm Who would have bought an established home in hindsight ???? ME
Would it have been cheaper? YES Less work? YES No hidden costs? CORRECT Less stress? YES Did you get swepted up in all the hype of building is cheaper? YES Has the new home smell worn off yet? BEFORE I MOVED IN Another thing I discovered is there is no such thing as perection and when you move into a house that has been knocked around by tradespeople and has obvious examples of poor workmanship you begin to wonder exactly what the benefit is of going through 12 months of inconvenience followed by another 12 months of work.. There are good and bad points for both cases but for me the 12 months of hassle and dealing with some of the biggest idiots I have ever come accross was simply not worth the trouble. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 4Feb 24, 2009 8:58 pm We have not started to build yet but I look at the houses in my neighbourhood on realestate.com.au and some people make HORRIBLE choices of colours.
Or in even in other cases build kitchens without overhead cupboards!!! Not only that stamp duty in our price range is so high that it negates any saving on the extras anyway. For example it is costing us to build a new house about $370k with our house and land in Tarneit. To get a house comparable is at least $360k right now (this is for the house without overhead cupboards... same size, same builder - some landscaping, if you could call it that all I see from the pictures amounts to a few pebbles in the front yard and what looks like couch in the backyard this is typical of the area right now due to drought etc) So that is $360k vs to build $370k ok so it is less BUT we pay ~$15,000 to Mr Bumby for the please of stamping a document and we receive $7,000 less in FHOG. Net position is about $20k worse of in government charges and reduced grants after taking into account stamp duty on our land. Now I know that we have least another $30k on top of our house price over the next 2 years to bring it upto a living standard but at the end of the day in my opinion it is a small price to pay if it means we can control what goes into our home that we plan to live in for the next 10+ years. Sorry for my rant Mostly directed at stamp duty being so goddamn high, if it was not for that I would consider buying an established home. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 5Feb 24, 2009 9:26 pm If we had done our budget properly and really realised how much everything costs, how many upgrades we were going to have to decide we needed, how much money extra stuff like landscaping, window coverings etc cost, then we probably would have decided we couldn't afford it.
As it is we spent way more than we thought we could afford, but we have the house we want in the location we want, (which we couldn't get buying established,) and we wouldn't change that for the world. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 6Feb 24, 2009 9:36 pm Hmm tough one, some days YES, but most days no. Ask me again in a couple of years and it would be def no. it's worth it in the long run if it's a house you intend to stay and settle in for a good while. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 7Feb 24, 2009 9:56 pm We are in an established house approx 9 years old, it was 4 years old when we moved in. I would NEVER buy established again. The place was filthy, we thought the floor tile grout was black until we cleaned it with a steamer and found out it was actually beige
Many things have broken and needed repairing, we have spent HEAPS on the place, not to mention re-painting it from top to bottom as the walls were filthy. A roof truss bowed and caused the cornice underneath to come off the wall. The evaporative cooler is broken. One of the toilets leaked so we had it fixed. The gutters leak because the house was made bigger but no extra downpipes were added. The heating ducts in the roof space come off all the time. Roof tiles have broken and caused the roof to leak into the house. The dishwasher and stove were broken when we moved in and we had to get them fixed. The gaspipe for the built-in BBQ's leaks gas (thankfully it has a tap so we can turn it off). The garage floods when it rains heavily. I could go on and on... Oh, and I will add that it is a Rawdon Hill Birchwood. I can't wait to build a nice clean new house and get out of this lemon Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 8Feb 24, 2009 10:06 pm We have built, bought and renovated and whilst DH said he would never build again, l always knew we would
To buy a home in our price bracket $400k+ would have absolutely killed us financially due to the amount of Stamp Duty levied, on top of a minimum 5% deposit and associated lending costs, building a home was a complete no-brainer. But the main reason we have built again, is that no matter how nice a home for sale might be, there is always at least a dozen or so major things and perhaps even more minor things that l would not have liked in any given home (and l'm fussy too, lol). Things like, something about the floorplan layout, the colour scheme (tiles, carpets, walls etc), the condition of the home, not enough storage, not enough kitchen cupboards, location of the home (area of town, is on a t-intersection, corner block, main road etc), orientation of the home itself...the list really could go on. Seeing as this is going to be THE home that we will live in for the next 15-yrs or more, l wanted everything (budget allowing) that l want in a home, according to my tastes and my family's needs. It is a huge investment we are making and when we are spending that much money on a home, you bet it's going to be on one that is exactly how l want it Yes, building a home is stressful and there is plenty of dough to spent on landscaping etc...but in the end l know when it's all done, l will be truly happy living in a home.......one that l created Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 9Feb 24, 2009 10:30 pm Thanks for your replys. Seems a mixed bag. Some say yes some say no. I think it comes down to personal choice. If you build you get what you want, if all goes well. If you buy existing you must do you inspection, its like buying a second hand car (if its a good car why are they selling it).
My point in illistartion. Tarneit, the person who is trying to sell at 360,000 when you can build for 370,000 has no hope. Why would you buy secondhand for 10k less. So, in 12 month it will on the market for 350,000 as there is no shortage of blocks in Tarneit, new stages coming. Lets not forget the 12 month rent you pay till you move it @ 250 pw 12,000. Yes, the stamp duty is wrong a Govenment scam to bleed you a bit more. But it helps the new home sales. Need to assess on a case by case things like Fencing @ $80 pm, window coverings can total 7,000 up, also I find in new estates you dont know whats going next to you, or what the place is going to be like in 3 years after all the buildings finished. I was dead keen on building, but now think I may buy established walk in and enjoy. No worry or hassle with builders. Sure I may have to paint a wall or 2, fix a leaky tap but I feel I can see all that by my 3 or 4th visit to the place and with a profeshional inspection. My point (not to scare anyone) is negative equity. I see some places undervalued for what they are considering all the extras. Its only worth what you can get for it, if you know what I mean. No room to neg. with the builders. Thanks for your relpys kind regards. KW............... “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 10Feb 24, 2009 10:45 pm King willy My point in illistartion. Tarneit, the person who is trying to sell at 360,000 when you can build for 370,000 has no hope. Why would you buy secondhand for 10k less. So, in 12 month it will on the market for 350,000 as there is no shortage of blocks in Tarneit, new stages coming. Lets not forget the 12 month rent you pay till you move it @ 250 pw 12,000. Yes, the stamp duty is wrong a Govenment scam to bleed you a bit more. But it helps the new home sales. Need to assess on a case by case things like Fencing @ $80 pm, window coverings can total 7,000 up, also I find in new estates you dont know whats going next to you, or what the place is going to be like in 3 years after all the buildings finished. I agree completely with what you say I think alot of the people building look at it with a longer term outlook than others buying property on the secondary market. If I have to live with Redishades from bunnings for 1 - 2 years while saving money for plantation shutters so be it It is really bad but I walk into a house that has laminate benchtops from 3-5 years ago (not the new laminate tops they can look great!) and I shudder - sad isn't it Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 11Feb 24, 2009 10:52 pm Zerosignal
May I ask why Tarneit? What size block 650 I guess? What do you think of the land prices there now, I felt unfairly priced for the size. It seems to be a FHB area is this a concern for resale value for you. I like to think ahead of the resale in case I have to shift for work. I like a bit more room but thats just me Im not putting Tarneit down it looks much better than some of the other closer suburbs. I also look at it as a potential place form me to build. Not far from the city also. Cheers KW............. “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 12Feb 25, 2009 12:24 am I don't see a problem wiht doing either. It depends on your long term plans ( will you be staying for more than 5-10 years), your budget, your willingness to compromis on temp furnishings and fittings and lack of garden, or wanting soemthing to start with. your willing ness to have a hosue that might not be your exact chocie of fittings tc but which you can gradually modify and do up..
For us. This is our 3rd house. We bought established the 1st time and renovated as we went. 2nd time we built having a better idea of what we thought we wanted. 3rd time we've incorporated much of the 2nd house but improved it and been able to afford a few more upmarket things and a house that actually suits our lifestyle rather than one we can live with. BUT we don't want a massive mortgage so we'll not get everything done for a few years. We'd love to be able to walk in and do it all within 6 months. It won't happen. The trade off is we wouldn't have found an already built house to suit us and this way we will have almost exactly what we wanted. I've seen some established homes that have come close/ been better in some aspects and only lacked one thing that i couldn't bare to be without. Unfortunately it's not something that can be changed in an established house so we'd had to build because of it. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 13Feb 25, 2009 6:41 am In short...no!
My home has only just started to be built, but I would not have gone down the bought established path. We looked into it and it was crossed off our list...just too expensive! To buy 40 squares in an established in the general area I am in, with all the features we wanted we were looking at close to $1M. By demolishing our existing tiny home and building from scratch, we get what we want in the colours we like, instead of having to spend more money renovating someone else's tastes. We plan on spending the next 30 odd years here, and now we have made the right choice...stressfull as it is!!! We also thought about doing extensions, but it really wouldn't have worked with the exisiting house without destroying the total look of it. We still would have been left without a garage due to the position of the old house on the block. Walking through the framing last night, I know we made the right choice!!! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 14Feb 25, 2009 7:08 am To buy established you really have to get it at a good price.
(Which doesnt happen these days as sellers tend to think their old house is the same value as a new one.) AS others have commented whats the point of buying one and paying an extra $20 grand in stamp duty. Then there will be things your not happy with, maybe carpet curtains or kitchen ext. So you could easily blow another $50 there! If the established house is only around the same price or maybe $20 to $30 thousand cheaper, then its best to build and have everything new with a new building warranty and what you want . I have done both built 3 and bought 1. With the established one we had to live with the mess inside and out whilst we changed things, at least with a new house everything is lovely inside and you only have to work on the outside. 2 good reasons for buying established over new are: If you like a location and there are no blocks there. If you want to downsize to a townhouse as you get older and and want to free up your money thats tied up in your larger house. We may do this in years to come then we can spend our kids inheritance Think it will be hard to leave this beautiful house I am building though Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 15Feb 25, 2009 7:27 am i would have bought established, but when I was looking at nearly $50,000 in stamp duty for what we were going to purchase, I thought no way am I paying for that.
we are much better off building. stress or no stress, at least I will not have to clean up someone else's mess Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 16Feb 25, 2009 9:56 am mattydals i would have bought established, but when I was looking at nearly $50,000 in stamp duty for what we were going to purchase, I thought no way am I paying for that. At that price I shudder to think what the house cost? I paid 32k for mine... Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 17Feb 25, 2009 10:03 am We looked briefly in to building and then went straight in to an established place. There is a new development in Adelaide on the old Cheltenham racecourse. The first release of land happened last October. It was $300,000 for a 500 square block. It would then have been around $150,000 for a modest home.
We quickly realised that building was not for us. We bought a wonderful older property in Cheltenham in a beautiful tree-lined street for $390,000. It is on a 600 square block with 3 bed and study, double driveway, carport, garage, air-conditioning. Yes, it needed a bit of work, and still does, but it is mainly painting and decorating. The new built place would have required so much more. Although it needs work, our place is very comfortable as is and has a very homey feel to it. And on top of it all we didnt have to wait for it to be built. Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 18Feb 25, 2009 10:22 am No I wouldn't have bought established - I enjoyed building my house and something I always wanted to do.
Not that buying established is a bad option - we bought established house before, and lived in it for 22 years, renovating and extending over time. Re stamp duty, we paid very little on this house, land here is relatively cheap and secured ours at bargain price as part of house/land package and then only pay stamp duty on the land. Not sure about the laminate comment, Zerosignal - we renovated our old kitchen in 2000 and still loved the laminate when we left in late 2008. HelsnGreg - that is a lot wrong with a house then only 4 years old - I'm sure that is not the norm, previous owners must of done things really cheap and nasty and not looked after it for things to be that bad that soon Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 19Feb 25, 2009 10:49 am This is our first home, so we dont have any first hand experience. However, when we decide to buy our first home, we were looking at both options, establised and build. At the end of the day, to buy an old (30 years +) in the area we are currently living in, cost about the same as building a new house in a area only 15mins away. So we decide to build, especially if you take into consideration the stamp duty and small FHOG for an established house! Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Who would have brought an established home in hindsight. 20Feb 25, 2009 12:32 pm Hmm, 2 months ago I was wishing we were buying established as house prices around here dropped substantially...and the price of building stayed the same...however...I have to also remember that a year ago we looked everywhere for an established house we liked - and like other posters, couldn't find anything that was exactly right! I'm now loving all the input I get to make into MY new house (and with interest rates having fallen...well, it's all a bit easier!)
Re the stamp duty equation - yes, its a big whack on an established home - BUT, we buildees have to pay interest only on our loans during building - we're basically just giving that money to the bank with nothing to show for it!! very similar to stamp duty I would think!! (exept it goes to the bank and not the govt...) In short, nothing wrong with either, just a personal choice 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 39718 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8774 |