Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 29, 2010 1:20 pm Howdee all, I've been holding on to this for a while and I needed a place to vent where people might understand how stressful building a first home is, so here is my story. It all began back in July 2009, when I found the clock of land I thought would be great to buidl my first home on. As I wanted to remain in my eastern melbourne location, i looked for land that I could afford. This was in the lower price range and would have to be sub divided land (which wasn't a problem for me, my budget would have only bought me an established 2bed flat anyway). So I find a block of land available in Mooroolbark, the same suburb where I currently live. I thought that would be great, i know the area, no extra commute time in getting to work etc and land prices for full blocks are through the roof, so getting a good deal on subdivided blocks are quite rare. From the beginning of this process i've been on a single wage, shoestring budget and I just wanted a basic 2bath, 3bed house. So looking at the subdivided land, the sub division had not yet been completed, it needed a crosser and fence to be put up for this to happen. I have my finances ready and want to lock in the land on a 30 day settlement, however the vendor wants a 90 days settlement to allow time to complete the sub division - at this stage, i hadn't even chosen a builder yet, so the extra time was fine by me as it allowed me to get some plans up and ready. The block of land had a "building overlay" on it, which to my understand was a pre approved area to build, how wrong I was. A building overlay (which noone pointed out to me) wasn't an approved area, it was an area of restriction, which means I still had to get approval to build within the non restricted area. Ok, fine, just a small set back but surely it can't be too hard? My paperwork is with the solicitor, they have the section 32 and all the information, I ask them to go over it and advise me of anything I should be aware of, they say it's all ok and send me an invoice. Two months pass, and I go to visit my block, not one thing has been started to complete the sub division (no fence, no crossover) I call the agent to ask what's going on, he explains the vendor is getting it done asap. Another 2 weeks go, still nothing done. I call my agent to remind them that settlement is due in 2 weeks. A fence then goes up, so I'm happy. Those 2 weeks pass and settlement is due, I call my agent to advise him of the date, only to find out that the subdivision is still not complete! (Three months after the deposit was paid!) He assures me the vendor is doing everything they can to get it sorted. Another few weeks pass, and still not done, the agent reminds me that the settlement date was marked on the contract as "this day OR 14 days after the subdivision is completed" Which meant, there was no "lock down" date that the subdivision had to be done by! This was obviously my own negligence in understanding the sale contract I signed (lesson learnt). So this back and forth of me hounding the agent, and the vendor to get this subdivision continues throughout October, November, December, and January, until in February FINALLY 5 months late the land settles. Now during this time, obviously I found a builder in the first three months, this is where the fun was really happening. So at the beginning of the builder part of my story, first of all it was near impossible to find a builder who was going to make me up drawings and to build on a subdivided block (most of the big builders didn't want to know me) I eventually found one and they seemed very helpful. Now I had already laid my deposit on the land and locked in to that contract as I progress with the builder. They draw me up some plans, and get the site surveyed. Now, it turns out that my block of land actually falls within a flood overlay - this is something that neither my solicitor, or the estate agent told me - what it essentially means is that the area could be subject to flooding, so i need to raise my house to an appropriate level. This results in an EXTRA $15,000 to the price of my slab. On top of that, the ground is considered high in moisture, so not only does the slab have to be raised, but is has to get a higher grade and extra support, add $2,750. - there goes my double garage.... As I contact my agent and solicitor about this, the attitude is "You should have checked before you signed" *lesson learnt* With those issues out of the way, I pick up the story in February when the land was settled. From here, it's time to apply for permits (oh how fun!) first things first, my builder says i need approval for a few different things, what they don't tell me is how on earth I get that approval - apparently it's in the contract that it's up to me to figure that out, not the builder *lesson learnt* So I call up my council, and a 'Planning Permit' is easy enough, however due to the building overlay (the possible flooding thing) I have to also get in touch with Melbourne Water, and get in touch with the building & engineering departments at the council. The only problem is to find out who i needed to speak to, it took 2 weeks of back and forth conversations and getting transferred to a million different divisions within the council It seems that noone in the council understand anything that is outside of their direct area, some don't even understand their own regulations!! By mid march I had finally figured out the forms I needed and I faxed those to the relevant parties. I can one phone call that asks for payment of one approval, terrific, paid! I got another phone for payment of (what i thought at the time) was the other two approvals. Fantastic! I'm on my way. Each time I was told it'll take 4-6 weeks for the forms to be processed, not a problem, it's the usual council thing. 3 weeks pass, I get my credit card statement, and it appears Yarra Valley Water has charge me twice, once for the right then, and then again for two things I didn't ask for. I call them up and advise them of this, they recognise their mistake and give me a refund(The approval came about 2 weeks later). That's all well and good, but then I think to myself, "Well if I've paid for water twice, then I haven't paid anything to the council!" I then call Yarra Valley council to find out how my application is going, the lady searches on the system and I get the dreaded response of "hrm.. I actually can't find anything on here for your address". I advised them on the date that I faxed in the two forms (one a building permit, and one a planning permit) and what they were etc. etc. She checks with planning, they recall seeing the forms but have no idea why they weren't processed. She advises me she'll look in to it. Another week passes I hear nothing, I call them back to find out what's going on, she's states that my forms have been located, but they were with the building department who didn't want to get started on the form until the planning department had approved the plans. Yes, you read that right, the building department had all of my forms, and they were waiting for planning to approve them - except they didn't pass the forms on to planning!! The lady at the council said the best thing to do would be to deliver the forms in person so they don't get lost (you'd think a council would be competent enough not to loose forms wouldn't you?)*lesson learnt*. So the next week I go hand in the new forms along with my plans etc. etc. and pay for them on the day. The lady says that's fine and she'll get right on to it. By this stage we're somewhere around mid May somewhere I call to find out how the plans are going once again, I get put through to someone else this time, and am told that i need to provide A3 plans with a permit! (i had given them A4). I asked why it matters, all the measurements etc. were on the A4 drawings and everything is to scale. She reiterates that they must be on A3 paper - yet nowhere does it say this on the application form ANYWHERE! Anyway, i get my hands on the A3 plans and give those to them, she looks at them and says "yep that's fine, we'll have your application processed shortly". Another week goes by I get a call from my "assigned planning officer" who says he's got the job in front of him and will be getting to it that week. I think to myself "Great! Things are finally moving along" Two weeks later, he calls me up and says "Ok the approval is pretty much done, although we need you to provide plans with a covered car space" (remember, I had to remove the garage due to cost retrains earlier). I explain to him that due to cost, I can not build a garage and that there is a designated car parking area on the plans anyway, why does it need to be covered? He advises me that it is a requirement for council to have a covered car space. I ask if he could provide me with the legislation that says this is a requirement. He replies with something along the lines of "I'm unable to provide that, but you're welcome to find it for yourself, otherwise you can contest planning permit in court to build without a covered car space". By this stage I'm already paying interested on the land, and can't afford any more delays - my builder doesn't want to add on a garage as we'd have to start the plans from scratch, plus I can't afford one at the moment. So I use their draftsman independently to amend my plans for council and add on a carport to be built later. I submit that, and everything is fine. After 11 long months of delays my planning permit FINALLY came in, although what was missing was that other building permit i applied for. Turns out I didn't even need it!! And yes, that was the permit that got all my forms sent to the wrong division! So my builder got all their stuff organised and the documents came in last week that said they're all good to go! Then, on Friday I get a call from my builder about the Boral brick disaster (well documented in other threads) so I've had to now choose new bricks for the house. They're due to start building mid next month, 12 whole months after I initially paid the deposit on this land. If you managed to read all that, then you must be really bored, haha! But I just needed a place to tell my story and hope that others don't make the same mistake I did! I've learnt a lot through this process and I'm sure it will help me in and future builds i do! Fingers crossed the building part all goes to plan... Re: My building nightmare.. Before the building starts! 4Jun 29, 2010 3:56 pm All I can say is WOW. Funnily enough though, as I read through your post I couldn't help but think that it is very similar to ours, however yours was way more complicated and you managed to get yours sorted in half the time. We put down our initial deposit on our plans in April 2008 and they started on our site in April 2010 (we didn't actually buy the land until April 2009 though). I bet your house will be finished before ours. Good luck. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: My building nightmare.. Before the building starts! 5Jun 29, 2010 4:14 pm wow... we had similar experience but not complicated like you had. We bought our land on Aug 09 and wanted custom design house so that we can keep rest of the land to build another house later on or sub divide. Architect took 4 months to design and couldn't find a contractor within our budget. Later on we decided not to build with custom plan and gave to PD. now waiting for site start... we missed our 1st home grant last year.. Lesson learnt…………… Re: My building nightmare.. Before the building starts! 8Jul 01, 2010 10:14 pm Hi there Sorry to hear about your nightmare with building. But, it seems the first step in any project is definitely the land and not the building. I cannot emphasize enough to check out your block of land before any building plans as I have found out to my own detriment in the past. Before anyone buys land, read the S32 and specifically the Title, check owners name are the same as on Contract of Sale, any covenants (building restrictions), easements (restrictions by service providers), if you can buy land with a clear title the battle is half won. Check the zoning, Residential 1 zone allows for subdivision if title is clear of other covenants and overlays. Any other zoning may require council approval for development especially if overlays are on the zoning. You can generally check the zoning at ; http://services.land.vic.gov.au/maps/pmo.jsp type in street address and get report on the zoning. This will tell you if any overlays exist from your metropolitan council. If you do not understand what these overlays are ring the town planning department of the council concerned and get them to explain it. Better yet, go in to council and speak to town planning, outlining what you intend to do with the block in question. If you buy a block of land from someone who is selling as a subdivided block, Ask these questions, Have you submitted full working drawings to council and can I have a copy of these? (full working drawings (of the building, includes all design elements, landscape design, S173 Agreement, and any other building requirements, (sewerage, drainage, electricity and gas services) usually covered in engineers report, don't forget Vic Roads for any road requirements - most people sub-dividing will not have all these and you will then have to factor in more money and time to cover this) (sometimes RE Agents will refuse to give these to you, but they are part of the Contract and don't be put off getting them) How long will subdivision take, and have you submitted your application to the Titles Office? (For land requiring a S173 agreement, this can take up to 18months.) Have you had a written quote from any builder to complete this building design? (highly unlikely as full working drawings can cost upwards of $20,000 or more for 2 lot subdivision) If you do get the full working drawings, take them to a registered builder to quote on them. some may charge for this especially if it is a proper quote, others will do an estimate only. Has a soil report been done and where is the drainage overlays on this site? (Councils can provide a copy of point of discharge, ask your solicitor/conveyancer) Is the land subject to fire, flooding, or any other restriction? (this should be outlined in full in the S32 Vendors Statement. If not you may be able to sue the Vendors Solicitor for non-disclosure after settlement, lengthy and time consuming so be prepared to get your Solicitor/Conveyancer to fully disclose this to you and get the certificates from various service providers) Just my input and wish you all the best Re: My building nightmare.. Before the building starts! 9Jul 01, 2010 10:36 pm We all have a very fun time getting our homes built... it just seems you had an extra fun start to it all! Don't worry, theres plenty more fun to be had during the actual build!!! Good Luck Re: My building nightmare.. Before the building starts! 10Jul 01, 2010 10:51 pm ibfragalot99 Don't worry, theres plenty more fun to be had during the actual build!!! Good Luck Ditto Read my signature timeline thing. Wow, reading that was like an episode of " Here is my life " And Ive just signed with another builder for stage 2 ( and Im not yet living in the first one ). Best of luck and remember , sweet liquor eases the pain. Timeline Aug 08-Land Mar 09-Demo/Titles Sept 10-Handover No1 Sept 11-Handover No2 April 12-Sold No2 Aug 14-Land/Demo Jan 15-Slabs viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25736 Building a fence now will help limit people dumping rubbish and soil on your property. Many houses in suburbia on small lots have fences up before a build. I moved into a… 1 4384 You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14078 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17012 |