Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 27, 2007 4:34 pm Hi There
I am looking for some opinions/input for a friend of mine (Who has yet to have her membership here activated) Her and her husband want to build a home but are not keen to purchase land in a new housing estate/development as they simply dont like that ''Estatified'' living and are wanting to purchase land in a developed yet older area where they are currently looking at a block they have found. My friend and her husband are as clueless and as inexperienced as myself and my husband about this kind of thing any advice anyone can offer in regards to buying in a developed older area in oppose to a new development???? Thanks Guys Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 2Sep 27, 2007 4:39 pm Location, Location, Location.... as they say... have a good look at the surounding neighborhood at all times of the day.... and or night.... before you buy established... get out of the car and walk around the streets of the house or land you might want to buy.... because no one wants to live in a bad people area..... Gav & Vanessa Building In Melbourne (Sth East Suburbs) http://www.arkraider.blogspot.com/ Rawdon Hill Construction - Canterbury Heritage Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 3Sep 27, 2007 5:07 pm Thankyou for your input. You are very right in what you say.
For them Location means everything and the locations they are looking at wouldnt be attracting much "Riff Raff" if you know what I mean. My friend will eventually see this but she is a Real Snob so the usual ''Run Of the Mill'' estates were just not good enough for her hence the need to find an established leafy area in a reasonably upmarket suburb Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 4Sep 27, 2007 5:08 pm What suburbs are they looking at? Gav & Vanessa Building In Melbourne (Sth East Suburbs) http://www.arkraider.blogspot.com/ Rawdon Hill Construction - Canterbury Heritage Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 6Sep 27, 2007 5:48 pm Amber27 Thankyou for your input. You are very right in what you say. For them Location means everything and the locations they are looking at wouldnt be attracting much "Riff Raff" if you know what I mean. My friend will eventually see this but she is a Real Snob so the usual ''Run Of the Mill'' estates were just not good enough for her hence the need to find an established leafy area in a reasonably upmarket suburb LOOK OUT when she get her actavation!!! Are you close??? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 7Sep 27, 2007 6:32 pm What is their budget??? I will keep and eye out if you like? Gav & Vanessa Building In Melbourne (Sth East Suburbs) http://www.arkraider.blogspot.com/ Rawdon Hill Construction - Canterbury Heritage Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 8Sep 27, 2007 7:43 pm We bought in an older developed area. A couple of things we have learned so far (very early stages - still to have old house knocked down):
1. A lot of the big builders with lots of display homes won't build in an established area - they like to stick to their new estates. Your friend will probably need to find a custom builder. 2. We thought we might be able to have our old house taken away by someone who might pay us for it. Turns out the house is full of asbestos so no one wants it and we have to have it demolished. Instead of adding ~$8k to our budget we have ended up spending that amount on demolition, so it really put us $15k or so behind ... Hope this helps your friend Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 9Sep 27, 2007 9:32 pm Hope they have deep pockets! Building blocks with/without existing homes sell for over $1 million in Balwyn.
I would buy in central Box Hill or Blackburn if I could afford it. There are some nice streets with weatherboard Californian bungalows that sell around $600K - mainly bought by developers for 3-4 townhouses. If your friend is a "Real Snob" then she probably won't care about being close to a train station ... therefore cheaper properties (you are SOOO going to cop it! ). Be aware that the eastern suburbs councils can make life very difficult for new builds and a lot of builders don't want the hassle. Check out some of the VCAT cases online. Personally, I think it is way better value for money to buy an existing house (believe me, our building budget is about 40K over & counting!). New paint, carpet, kitchen, bathroom & landscaping would be way cheaper than a full new build in that area. As arkraider said - walk, walk, walk - weekdays, nights & weekends. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 10Sep 27, 2007 9:37 pm We demolished and rebuilt in an old established area purely because we wanted to stay there - we can walk to the train, school, shops and the beach.
Like the others said, the main thing is to work out whether it's a good area. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 11Sep 28, 2007 10:00 am We built on a block that was one of only 2 left in an established suburb. It was great, firstly all the trees and gardens around us are grown, so we're not living in the middle of a sandpit (well only ours until our garden went in!!) The builders spent a lot of time working out our house placement on the block for privacy and so no one overlooks us and we don't overlook anyone (we are on a hill, so that is a challenge). Because everyone around has built we knew what the suburb was like already and the infrastructure was already there. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 12Sep 28, 2007 10:12 am Same!
We wanted to build in the area we already lived in and as such looked around for a block that fit both the price and size locally. Sure it cost a bit more but we already knew the area and liked it. Matt I have reverted to username - mattwalker Carlisle Homes - Grande 43 My building experience is here: http://www.ourgrandeplan.blogspot.com Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 13Sep 28, 2007 10:21 am kezza We built on a block that was one of only 2 left in an established suburb. It was great, firstly all the trees and gardens around us are grown, so we're not living in the middle of a sandpit (well only ours until our garden went in!!) The builders spent a lot of time working out our house placement on the block for privacy and so no one overlooks us and we don't overlook anyone (we are on a hill, so that is a challenge). Because everyone around has built we knew what the suburb was like already and the infrastructure was already there. Ditto! We bought one of the last blocks of land in a older estate. We spent a lot of time massaging the placement of windows to retain privacy and maximise views. And the trees are all grown. And the fences are up. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 14Sep 28, 2007 10:26 am Cookiemonster Ditto! We bought one of the last blocks of land in a older estate. We spent a lot of time massaging the placement of windows to retain privacy and maximise views. And the trees are all grown. And the fences are up. Thats something that I really like about my new place. In my last house all the screening (trees) were in my back yard taking up space. In the new house all the houses around me have the screening on their blocks allowing me extra backyard space!! I have reverted to username - mattwalker Carlisle Homes - Grande 43 My building experience is here: http://www.ourgrandeplan.blogspot.com Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 15Sep 28, 2007 10:37 am well, drawback in the established area we are in is that its converting into a cement jungle with trees cutdown (houses in 60s being smaller, trees are planted everywhere, not limited to back fence or side fence). Also, I am having to get obscure non opening bottom portion of windows for the overlooking windows which I dislike. For someone looking at buying in Balwyn/ Canterbury Vic, there may not be much choice for vacant land (unless its a subdivision site) and option maybe to demolish old houses that cost over 600-800k.
On the positive note I am planning to grow sugarcane in areas requiring screening as they grow quick and tall (upto 2-3 meters in one season) and not as invasive as bamboo, shallow roots and above all Edible!! I would love to know opinions from Queensland members on this. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 16Sep 28, 2007 1:51 pm vpande On the positive note I am planning to grow sugarcane in areas requiring screening as they grow quick and tall (upto 2-3 meters in one season) and not as invasive as bamboo, shallow roots and above all Edible!! I would love to know opinions from Queensland members on this. sugarcane sounds awesome! A google search turned up this very informative site: http://www.proserpine.com/sugar/page3.html on the bamboo front - you can use "clumping" bamboo and it won't get out of hand. You want to stay away from the "running" variety that goes everywhere! Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 17Sep 28, 2007 1:56 pm vpande On the positive note I am planning to grow sugarcane in areas requiring screening as they grow quick and tall (upto 2-3 meters in one season) and not as invasive as bamboo, shallow roots and above all Edible!! I would love to know opinions from Queensland members on this. So instead of trimming your hedge.. you can eat it. Amber? You reading this? Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 18Sep 28, 2007 2:09 pm Quote: vpande wrote: On the positive note I am planning to grow sugarcane in areas requiring screening as they grow quick and tall (upto 2-3 meters in one season) and not as invasive as bamboo, shallow roots and above all Edible!! I would love to know opinions from Queensland members on this. Don't go there - Sugarcane is a pain in the but - it has sharps edges and makes a bloody mess. It was one of my garden plants as a kid in brissy. Sure it screens things out - but it clumps and is a great place for rats and snakes to live too The rats like the sugar and Unless harvested at the right time - the novelty of being able to eat it yourself will wear off pretty quickly. Diabetes here we come !!!! Go Bamboo I had a really nice non invasive clumping bamboo in Darwin that workled well - but damned if I can remember the name of it. That'd be my pick of plants to do what you want. Steve Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 19Sep 28, 2007 2:17 pm Yak_Chat Diabetes here we come !!!!Steve Diabetes is a lack of insulin in the body which is required to break down glucose (suger) which results in elevated levels of glucose in your system. Excess sugar in a diet doesn't cause diabetes. That old myth has been around for ages. Anyway.. sorry to sidetrack the thread.. normal viewing will now resume. Re: Purchasing a block of land in an older developed area 20Sep 28, 2007 2:19 pm Cookiemonster vpande On the positive note I am planning to grow sugarcane in areas requiring screening as they grow quick and tall (upto 2-3 meters in one season) and not as invasive as bamboo, shallow roots and above all Edible!! I would love to know opinions from Queensland members on this. So instead of trimming your hedge.. you can eat it. Amber? You reading this? I can see where this is heading and I want some too... Are you saying that there is a hedge that is edible and trimmable?? I have reverted to username - mattwalker Carlisle Homes - Grande 43 My building experience is here: http://www.ourgrandeplan.blogspot.com I had an old shower unit that broke on me and when I took it off, there were only 2 water pipes, instead of the normal 2 water pipes and a shower head pipe. S o I… 0 36936 CDC Housing Code 3 When to apply Floor Area external face of wall vs Gross Floor Area internal face of wall. Reading thru CDC Housing Code 3, lets take a lot 915sqm.… 0 16553 Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12392 |