Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 30, 2011 8:28 pm hi I'm a newbie so hopefully posting in the right section We live in our own home and are considering selling and building. Currently doing lots of research, I think I'm stuck in some kind of research spiral...trapped in the whirlpool of glossy ads, display homes and inclusion/exclusion lists None of what I have looked at seems to suit our needs, sometimes I walk through a display and think " who would live here?" the answer being..not us. Maybe I just havn't come across the right option yet? We looked at kit homes and modular homes, some of which were very nice but weren't in our price range tbh...actually I'm still a little confused as to how a brick and tile home plan can be less that one that is pre fab....but I'm sure its just something that I havn't understood. We are looking at passive solar design, grey water systems (have been stalking the eco threads) and liking the idea of simple designs, preferring larger rooms to multiple rooms...I get lost in some of the display homes ...literally I can't find my way out sometimes which is embaressing. So we are now thinking about the possibility of a brick and tile home built to lock up and then contracting people to finish it how we want. Has anyone done this? Is it a crazy idea fraught with more perils then a trip to mordor? Which companies build to lock up in WA anyway? Are there any particular threads that would be helpful for me to read...I'm sure I havn't done enough of that yet Any advice/pointers appreciated Re: build to lockup? will it put me in a straight jacket? 2Jul 30, 2011 9:06 pm Here is one builder I seen mentioned on H1 that does it: http://www.accentonhomes.com.au/ Many of the kit home companies offer lock-up kits which you could in theory engage a builder to put together for you, but as you have mentioned kit homes aren't necessarily cheaper (especially the steel ones as $$$ for steel framework > $$$ for wooden framework). The other option might be to owner build and contract a builder to build to lockup then engage the variety of tradies required to finish everything else, but this is a risky proposition, requires a lot of work on your part, has all sorts of implications in terms of warranties for work (ie. chasing individual tradies up to fix things can be a pain in the butt even compared to getting a volume builder to come and fix stuff after they have gleefully run off with your final PCI payment) and probably requires you to already have a substantial amount of equity if you're looking to borrow from a bank because they generally don't trust owner builders much. Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: build to lockup? will it put me in a straight jacket? 3Jul 30, 2011 9:15 pm Hello, I was reading your other post and i also have lived in my home for the last 18 years with our family.We have this one on the market and we started building last Thursday.What a journey!!!It's been a long hall,we brought the land last November 2010 and found our house 2nd Feb and signed up with Coral Homes,very open plan.I don't like alot of room's i don't need a powder puff room a home theater room and this and that.I didn't want too much different from what i'm living in now but felt my husband and i were getting stale and needing a move,we only changed a few things too what we have as in we Don't wan't a pool, we wanted a double garage,bigger bed rooms,our bedroom away from the kids(hot diggity dog) and another bathroom.. So now we are in the process of trying too sell this at one of the hardest times too sell,well i'm not feeling stale anymore im feeling alive!!!!!!!... Let me tell you its getting easier for me atm,i feel its got easier when we could see something happen,like i was that happy too see a portaloo on my land.... Ive been told by the SS things will now go fast!! You will find what you are looking for just take your time and enjoy the ride... Re: build to lockup? will it put me in a straight jacket? 4Jul 30, 2011 9:33 pm Thanks for the link to accent homes and having a good look yes we are feeling a little stagnant as well, our home has been good to us but we actually have a suburb we would rather be in ( I drive there all the time so it makes sense to live there). I think I am just feeling a little frustrated by the market and what is out there. We did look through a village that was advertised as a "green village" but it wasn't...the salesman actually looked puzzled when I asked if they included grey water systems with any designs....I may as well have asked him if he had ever seen an alien in real life. Gotta love those awkward pauses. Anyway, I'll keep looking, coral seems to have some nice compact and functional homes there, I don't think they build in WA tho, that I can tell. I'll keep looking ....and drinking coffee. Re: build to lockup? will it put me in a straight jacket? 5Jul 31, 2011 4:55 pm Hi, Some builders are willing to change their designs to suit you. I had an issue going through display homes as most of them were far too large (you had to look at the smaller plans) and lots of them were large but had a lot of wasted space. I considered a grey water system but in the end decided it wasn't necessary for me. From the reading I had done, a lot of people do not use greywater for vegetables gardens and the good grey water systems were really expensive. In the end I just decided to buy what I thought would be a large enough rainwater tank to allow me to use tank water for toilets, laundry and for the garden. So I ended up purchasing a 22,500 litre tank and decided that would be the better option for me. You can also look at Solar Solutions Design http://www.solarsolutionsdesign.com.au/ They have some plan books etc with already existing drawings that you can use, however you need to pay them to get the full drawings. I have no idea what your budget is, but you could investigate them to see if they are a possibility. Good luck! Michelle House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: build to lockup? will it put me in a straight jacket? 6Jul 31, 2011 5:41 pm yes I think this is how I feel about some of the display homes, I live in 3 bedroom home (which is a bit like a cottage) but we have a beautiful large kitchen and great living areas, no formal dining or theatres or anything that is kinda unnecessary for us. I feel that a lot of the display home are geared for people with different lifestyles then ours. We aren't great entertainers lol Anyway we have baulked at the idea of building now having discovered the site costs tend to blow out for the area we want to live in anyway ( this forum has been a godsend for finding out about the building process). We have been trawling through homes online, by appointment and home opens to decide whether we could spent $350 000 and get a decent home OR buy a cheaper home and do a little renovation ourselves ( kitchen/bathroom but no major structural renos). We were appalled by some of the homes, really you can ask that much for that? I have learnt two things a) you really need to know what you are looking for and b) we have greatly undervalued our own home. We had estimated we would sell our home for about $350 000 and were hoping to do a kinda "swap" for a home in forrestfield, we are only one suburb over so expected the prices to be similar, but clearly we havn't done enough research in this area. Some of the homes in forrestfield for $350 000 are scary, I swear I was afraid that the ceiling was going to fall in on my head at one place Couldn't get my son out of there quick enough. But we did find out great property, it had great orientation on the block, it wasn't "massive" but had good sized bedrooms, and the kitchen and bathroom looked like it would be easy to rip out and re do. AND it was in our price range So I am going to assume that every now and then there is a nugget worth grabbing It was tenanted, so now we are looking at whether we ought to ring the realestate agent and have a chat with him, or wait. Our home isn't ready for sale yet, I wanted to give it some fresh paint and I still need to pack away a good deal of stuff.....but this is looking like the best option for us so far. So relieved we even have an option to be honest lol Am very interested to know more about the rainwater tank, with all the rain we have had I am so annoyed that we didn't get one for here. I do grow my own vegies and have never used greywater on them, but I do have a hose from my washing machine that goes onto our natives during summer. I still have a bit of research to do in this area too 0 9826 Iām loving the potential versatility and practicality of a bench seat in a shower. Anyone had one of these done recently? Not sure if they are straight forward and easy… 0 772 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 17618 |