Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 26, 2009 1:09 pm So we are recently married, 4 months ago, and have decided we need to stop paying someone else's mortgage and start paying our own. We have started the deposit saving plan and think that by May we will have the deposit all sorted out. We think that for us the best way to go is to buy land and house separately. We don't think the builder we want to use does house and land packages and the areas we are considering don't really lend themselves to packages anyway. So what is the correct order to do things in? (I am sure there is more than 1 way but list the way you did it) Get the deposit, see the bank, find the land, engage the builder? Does that look right? How long after picking a block of land and putting a deposit down before anything happens? (Generally speaking) Most of the major builders indicate about 12 weeks between deposit and having contracts drawn up on the house. Is that realistic? What costs are there which everyone encounters but first home builders don't consider? Conveyancing, independent inspections, etc etc Ok thats a pretty good start. Thanks in advance. Matt Re: Looking to build next year. Lots and lots of questions. 2Oct 26, 2009 1:38 pm Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Yes the whole building process can be a bit daunting but exciting at the same time.If you already have a reasonably deposit for say the land, no reason why you can't see the bank now and prepare yourself. You may be looking for your ideal block of land for months. Also the FHOG is also available if you are eligible so that is something worth considering. To give you an idea this is my experience: See the bank first. Most banks have mobile lenders that will come to your home or meet you elsewhere, whatever suits. Offer on land (including settlement) to building site start 6mths. We got plans done first with an estimated quote 1st from the builder we planned to go with. We wanted to work out how much we could afford on land. Some builders do have house and land packages that would probably make things a whole lot easier. We got bought our land separately. The builder did have land but not where we wanted to build. It is worth asking your builder rather than assuming. Often builders know other builders etc etc and can always put you in touch with someone they know who owns x amount of land and so on. We gave our builder plan deposit to cover the final drawings etc once we confirmed we would be building with them. This is often just a couple of grand. Then, we received the plans, quotes etc etc and the total quote. From here the builder then puts together site specifications and the building contract for you to sign. This can take a while to put together. Any changes you make after signing the contract may incur a fee and then they will do a specification change type of list for you to sign the changes you have made. Yes it did take us about 10wks or so from the time the land was settled to the start of the building works. Good luck. I am sure there are lots of people on here that have had similar experiences, both good and bad. The more organised you are the easier the whole process will be. Re: Looking to build next year. Lots and lots of questions. 3Oct 26, 2009 1:51 pm Hi and welcome , we spoke to a broker initially, got an idea of how much we could borrow, recieved a conditional approval on an amount, then went hunting for land. We then paid a deposit on a block of land. After we'd chosen our land, we hunted around for a house plan to suit. Signed contracts with Henley in July, our land settled on Sep 1st, then we had site start on Oct 16. Re: Looking to build next year. Lots and lots of questions. 4Oct 26, 2009 3:20 pm Welcome to the forum. A bit of correction about FHBG -- I also purchased the land separately. When talking to the broker (last Nov), I was explained that the FHBG applies ONLY to building homes, not land purchases. I purchased the land BEFORE the bribe was announced and, because I signed the construction contract in May I received this grant. Maybe the situation has changed -- I dunno. It might be worth making a call to the OSR to clarify any assumptions rather than hoping. Buying a land+house package would be the only option if you care to get the grant. Anyway, back to the egg and chicken question. I had exactly the same situation in relation to land an home and should say that the process is iterative. A few point are worth considering: 1. Not every builder will build in the area you will buy the land. It will be handy to understand where you want to get land and then spending several weekend at DIFFERENT display villages talking to vendors you like. 2. Not every building you will want to be built may be built at the area where you want to build. There is a lot of uncertainty introduced by ambiguous and very different DCPs councils have, views your neighbours might have about how the house will fit the existing infrastructure and do on. It would be quite disastrous to find a building, then buy a land, spent some money on site surveying and tender preparation to find out that the building may not me erected... 3. Study DCPs meticulously -- you need to know what fire ratings apply, tree removal policies and a zillion of other things before you by the land. 4. Study the land itself. Sewerage is and example of an important thing to know. If the location of the pipe is bad, it may impact what and how you can built. A simple scenario -- if the pipe goes under where the driveway will be going putting protective structures and whatever else is required (dunno much about the regulations) will add about $10K to your budget. Another thing is sloping. Sloping blocks provide lots of opportunity to creative designs, however at a price -- site costs can be much higher (from 10 on a level block to 50K on a moderately sloping block). Sloping block might also require retaining walls to be deployed. Type of land and its salinity are also important -- for example the clay is considered to a highly reactive type of soil (it shrinks when dries and expands when wet) and a more expensive type of slab will be required (up to 5K difference, depending on the house's footprint). Is the salinity is high, additional protective films are required so expenditure. So, looking for a land is always a process where you keeping in mind all that zillion of things trying to see if they fit and align between themselves. In my case, we visited quite a few builders to see their homes. No home is perfect by default and it is a natural desire to add/change things to suit the building to your taste (or needs -- I can hardly imagine someone 2.20 tall living under a 2.45 ceiling). From this perspective my advice would be to find the building that matches most close to your tastes -- the less changes, the cheaper it will be. Once you know what is required for the building (i.e. width-length) you should be able to figure out what sort of land you will need... Some councils are quite restrictive with the building footprint/area (something like up to 40% of the size of your land and here you're likely to face the budgetary constraints. I wouldn't be able to afford a 1200 m2 block of land in the North Shore regardless of how much I like it, and even if I could, in the area where vacant land was available, there only one storey houses are allowed to be built... The last piece of advice would probably be change management. Understand everything you want upfront. Less changes, especially last minute ones -- the faster you will have you house built and less you will pay for variations. I could not reinforce this more -- dig through the forum and you will see plenty of examples when people faced financial implications and delays because of jumping from one idea to another. IMO, creativity is good only before the tender. After the tender has been drawn -- no changes should be requested unless absolutely necessary (like council's requirements that were missed at the first place). And yes, good luck with your process -- it is truly exciting. ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Looking to build next year. Lots and lots of questions. 5Oct 26, 2009 4:36 pm Hi, Happy that you have decided to built.. where are you at? I guess it is not 100% similar in all states...I do have some things to share for new build..For a start I just like to write a summary for those who are yet to choose a builder. Just a basis of my opinion, hope it helps. 1) The cheapest builder does not mean they are the best. you just end up paying more during pre-start or at later stages. Make sure before you sign PPA, get the plans you want with whatever you want included and to get all the builders to quote where practical. 2) Have an idea of the house layout that you want, as your requirement in terms of as a couple, family members, growing family .etc. 3) your land and house to build has to go well. Remember covenaught rules. some house are to small on land to be built. noting house was chosen because of price.. and due to the area covenaught.. the house have to be enlarged as such builder have to increase price... so up goes the price....Builder will simply ask do you have a land...Well.. my opinion is all have to be linked correctly. So its not an easy decision. 3) Narrow down your builder selection based on layout. Remember some builder charges you for change in plan. And some will not change as it a form of cost issues for them. Reflect back to point 1. 4) Narrow down further your builder selection based on Price and Inclusions. 5) Compare all the Inclusions. Inclusions include all possible variations that you need. A proper discussion with whoever is with you in the new home is important. This way you have a closed amount. and a small variations if any. Of course avoid temptations during prestart, has then price will rocket up. 6) Finally, consult , look and ask around of your chosen builder... you never know what you will learn. 7) And finally you do the deposit...After this there is no turning back(of course if you can forgo the deposit) But changes inclusions and price adjustment can still be made before final contract closure. Above all, the selection of land. Choose your land before you go through above. Frontage, etc.. and ask around in that area how much average the site cost are. Most gladly help on any questions you have in the coming months and where possible clearign any doubts you have. Your house roof does not show rusting other than some surface rust on the flashings. In my opinion you dont need to replace or paint the roof other than treat surface rust… 1 10206 My land is 260m2 (10m x 26m) located in claymore NSW. Under campbelltown council. I know in general the following setbacks would apply ground floor side setback =… 0 6908 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16001 |