Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 13, 2013 8:39 am Hiya Pre-thanks for responding to my plea! So we are in the very early stages of looking to build. We have a pre-approval and have decided on an absolute max budget of $500,000 to avoid stamp duty. We are wanting to build in Alkimos and are looking at land around $274,000 (for between 550-650sqm - we want a backyard as we have dogs. I also need room down the side to build a cat run), which (i figure?) will let us fit most houses up to at least 15m frontage. We recon that leaves the house budget at around $200,000, with some extra to play with for added inclusions and hopefully for some new furniture after we are all done! Have trawled and trawled the internet to find a reputable builder and a house design that we like and will need to make the least adjustments on, and that contains the most inclusions for your money - very difficult!! (I'm a bit fussy, can you tell?) I hear its very expensive to 'move a wall' in a plan? So would like to avoid this. Our main wants in our new house are: Main bedroom at the front of the house. And with a decend WIR Big a$$ bathroom with a double shower and double basins, and the toilet being seperate with a door Floorboards Theatre Room Alfresco (Decked) Ideally a walk in pantry but whatever. Nice kitchen island bench Decent laundry Would love a gas fire place but I'm thinking this inclusion would limit me to eating baked beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 4 years of my life I would like one of the spare bedrooms to have floorboards Not fussed: If 2 or 3 other bedrooms. About a study, 'computer nook' (? is this reallly nessesary), games room etc etc. So far I have found 4 designs that loosly fit our wants and budget. 2 are with Redink and 2 are with Shelford: http://www.redinkhomes.com.au/ocean_series_azzura.php http://www.redinkhomes.com.au/ocean_series_coral.php http://www.shelfordfirst.com.au/DS-deta ... HouseID=49 http://www.shelfordfirst.com.au/WCS-det ... HouseID=48 My favourites are the Redink ones, although they have tiles as standard for living areas, and the alfresco is paved (and my partner thinks that the Azzura alfresco is on the 'wrong side' and will need to be swapped with the dining room??), so we need to look into the cost of changing these, and adding in things we would like. eg. +wiring for speakers to theatre and alfresco +raising the splashback tiling +TV points in master, lounge, theatre and alfresco +gas point and power point in alfresco +extra power point in bedroom and theatre (and in makeup area of Azzura if thats what we go with) +Stone benchtop upgrades +Soft close drawers +any other ideas? etc (have briefly gone through the Things You Forget Forum already but would appreciate any added advise given the info I have provided). I am a bit worried that the changes will cost too much.. My partner is a concretor so we will get them to not bother with the driveway and he will pour a nice exposed agregate one when the build is done so hopefully that will save us some money?? Also could get the alfresco decking done at a later date if that saves costs. So after my 45 minute long spiel (if you managed to get this far in!) what I would like to know is: *What (lower cost) builder have you built with and your experience? Especially those who have Redink and Shelford experience. *Who has great value for money in regards to changes and inclusions and workmanship (is that a word?)? *What are things from lower cost builders that you have had added and their rough costs? *Who and with what have you been ripped off or 'stung' with/about? *Any advise about the plans I like? *Any inclusion advise? *Any advise to knock off excess costs that we could do ourselves (we have friends with trades but we briefly spoke to an employee in an open home and he said it wasnt worth it to get these done seperately as the building company will pay our friends s**thouse and it also has the potential to turn sour with people not turning up etc). *Any advise AT ALL!! Given that building is such a big purchase I would like to go into the experience being the most informed I can possibly be and get everything done stress free (we have all seen the many, many horror stories!) Deepest appologies for the loooooooooong post and I hope to hear your experiences and advise! Kat Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 2Sep 13, 2013 9:11 am That's a detailed post!! Hehe. Won't be able to address all the many questions. My brief input is that it seems quite a tight budget for what you want to achieve. I think you'd need to look at a 3 bed house without a study to get it under your budget for the final spec that you want.... Also it doesn't cost a lot to move a wall, at least not with our builder. We moved a wall to make one room bigger and the other smaller, and added a couple of nib walls and it was $40. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 3Sep 13, 2013 9:12 am In fact looking at your list of wants and specs again I think it's definitely a tight budget. I think more realistic for a fully finished house that you're describing would be 300k, not 200k. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 4Sep 13, 2013 9:16 am The 500k cap is irrelevant in this case. You don't pay stamp duty on construction - only the purchase of land. Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 5Sep 13, 2013 9:54 am I'm not sure about the stamp duty concessions in your state, I'm from SA and I would presume that like here, stamp duty is payable only on the land value when talking about new builds. As mentioned by Emy, $200k maybe a too slim margin for a complete build, establishment and furniture... More realistically $250k - $300k. It's really hard to figure out what it'll come in at until you've had a quote or two, but having had several... the costs add up quickly and base prices do not stay at the advertised figure for long! Take your list of "I needs" and "Nice to haves" (which btw is a great start and an awesome reference when comparing quotes so you can see who includes what and tick it off as you go), see what they come in at and evaluate from there. Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 6Sep 13, 2013 12:13 pm Ooooh I will have to look into the stamp duty thing, the bank guy suggested the Loan amount not exceed 500 so we could avoid stamp duty so I may have been led a stray. Then to convince my partner to spend more money :p Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 7Sep 13, 2013 12:25 pm I would be more than happy with a 3 bedroom no study, finding a design however... :/ Yep, even my uneducated mind has been thinking we won't fit in that budget. Prob is, even though hubby and I could afford more, he's being a tight arse despite wanting all these extras, it's a battle! I might look into the stamp duty thing, then go along for the ride and go to all the display homes and hopefully he will realise once we have solid advise from the building companies. Thanks for the advise guys EmyN That's a detailed post!! Hehe. Won't be able to address all the many questions. My brief input is that it seems quite a tight budget for what you want to achieve. I think you'd need to look at a 3 bed house without a study to get it under your budget for the final spec that you want.... Also it doesn't cost a lot to move a wall, at least not with our builder. We moved a wall to make one room bigger and the other smaller, and added a couple of nib walls and it was $40. Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 9Sep 13, 2013 12:36 pm Hi longest post ever, If you have allworth homes in your state, try them out.we are currently building a 24 squares house. Without driveway,flooring,landscaping and almost all the extras you have stated , we have a contract for 207 k. We bought land for 270 k but it's lot smaller.415 square m but it's a suburb of Sydney. So, with my builders, I'm thinking cost of say 1000$ for every square, and you can pick up a smaller design. If you guys get busy and family expands in the future, you can always design your media or alfresco in a way that out can be converted into a bedroom at a later stage. Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 10Sep 13, 2013 12:44 pm Hiya - our house is basically the redink coral - it's the metro, which was the cheapo version, and we 'up specked' to look like the coral, We even took a bedroom off to have more backyard as our block is only 465 sqm, but by the time we increased the kitchen to be about the same size as the coral (the metro kitchen is tiny) increased the vanity size for double sinks and generally made the en suite larger, large WIR etc paid for a feature elevation (like the red ink Biscay) we were WELL over $200K - that didn't include flooring apart from tiles to wet areas. You will be surprised how much small changes cost! My Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63545 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 11Sep 13, 2013 12:48 pm Hi Kat, How is your land like, let's say no to medium slope. You looking at around 25-35k of site costs. Your inclusions should cost you around 20-25k. So, you should be able to pick up a design of around 150 sq m. I won't say it is very big but you can build three bed and a media. If any builders are offering free tenders , just get few tenders for house area of 170 sq m. Will give you an idea of site costs. Add 5% to the site costs. Remainder will be your budget for upgrades. There is no harm on trying it out . Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 12Sep 13, 2013 1:03 pm Kat - also most places only include tiles/flooring to the wet areas, not what you see in the display home unless they are specifically mentioning a flooring package or you're getting a full turn key package....make sure you read and understand exactly what is included. We did all our own painting, flooring, blinds, lighting etc after handover...all additional costs My Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63545 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 13Sep 13, 2013 1:05 pm o0_kat_0o I would be more than happy with a 3 bedroom no study, finding a design however... :/ Yep, even my uneducated mind has been thinking we won't fit in that budget. Prob is, even though hubby and I could afford more, he's being a tight arse despite wanting all these extras, it's a battle! I might look into the stamp duty thing, then go along for the ride and go to all the display homes and hopefully he will realise once we have solid advise from the building companies. Thanks for the advise guys EmyN That's a detailed post!! Hehe. Won't be able to address all the many questions. My brief input is that it seems quite a tight budget for what you want to achieve. I think you'd need to look at a 3 bed house without a study to get it under your budget for the final spec that you want.... Also it doesn't cost a lot to move a wall, at least not with our builder. We moved a wall to make one room bigger and the other smaller, and added a couple of nib walls and it was $40. Once he sees a few quotes, he'll see what goes on top of a base price and get an idea of how much the things he wants will cost... To give you an idea, our base price was $160,000 Added site costs/footings $21,000 Ducted A/C $9,500 Encumbrances, bushfire allowances, plumbing for septic & tank, mandatory rainwater tanks etc - $20,000 nearly Various addons like stone tops, frameless shower screens, sheen finish cupboards, timber windows, nice facade, stacker doors, downlights etc - We finished at $226,000. Not including carpet, bamboo floors, deck, landscaping, blinds/curtains, driveway or paths. We got a "spend $15k and get $50k of upgrades" so essentially $35,000 of items included. If we didnt have that we would have easily clocked $260k. The quotes I have for the floors, deck, blinds etc will come in just under $50k, so I am estimating being completely finished for around/just under $300k for the house. I built when I was younger (on a shoestring budget) and the only things I added to that house were: Render, diamondgloss kitchen benchtops and some nicer panelled interior doors. The rest was all standard spec, so it can be done - but that base price was still a distant memory even then! I think it was like $108,000 (2004 $$ here) and the land was $59,000 and the total loan was $221,000. Taking away base price and land thats $54k just in site costs, those bare minimum "upgrades" and various other things just to get it built. Nothing else... no carpets, paths, a/c. Scary how much needs to be added on to that base just to get a basic house on a dirt patch! So yeah, what I'm saying is... lots of hidden costs, even if you arent thinking of building something big or fancy. Those cheap looking "House priced from $xxx,xxx" go quickly upwards even for the most modest of builds. All the best and I'm sure you'll work it out! Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 14Sep 13, 2013 1:30 pm Ever builder is different, but our house which is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, theatre and activity room with a total floor plan of 270m2 is about $200k, that included site costs, blinds, ducted air conditioning, stone benchtop in the kitchen, raised ceilings in the living areas and a few others things we liked the sound of that aren't necessarily standard but came included in our 'package'. That was also after we made some changes in terms of walls. There are alot of things that you can do after handover that will save heaps of money, I would suggest doing the decking in the alfresco after handover as the builders margin on that would not be worth it. Also if you have sparkie friends, get them to do your lighting/wiring/adding power points after handover as that could easily be $20k by itself! We are also getting a relative who is a painter to paint our whole house and they get paint at a discount so another saving. As well as a brother in law who is a landscaper to help there. My OH's best friends dad is a cabinet maker so added cupboards later down the track. We are doing flooring after handover as our builder didn't have the flooring we wanted without upgrading and spending a fortune. This might not have saved money but it means we could have what we wanted without having to use the builders basic range. You can save alot if you are willing to do things after, it does take time and more preparation so if you want it easier then have the builder do it. Keep looking, $500k is not an unrealistic budget in WA (maybe different states cost different amounts?) if you are willing to go without some of the fancy upgrades that can be done down the track when the budget isn't so tight. Builders charge easily an extra 30% on the cost of things. Goodluck Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 15Sep 13, 2013 1:49 pm felicity01 our house which is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, theatre and activity room with a total floor plan of 270m2 is about $200k, that included site costs, blinds, ducted air conditioning, stone benchtop in the kitchen, raised ceilings in the living areas 200k for a 29 square home with those inclusions? Impressive. Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 16Sep 13, 2013 2:04 pm MadamImAdam felicity01 our house which is a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, theatre and activity room with a total floor plan of 270m2 is about $200k, that included site costs, blinds, ducted air conditioning, stone benchtop in the kitchen, raised ceilings in the living areas 200k for a 29 square home with those inclusions? Impressive. Wow! Thats a total bargain... I built a house in the wrong state clearly! Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 17Sep 13, 2013 2:22 pm Perhaps it's mortgage insurance you avoid by sticking to 500k? Building the Porter Davis Dunedin 29 maybe, thinking of forfeiting deposit and going with CH or UE Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 18Sep 13, 2013 2:32 pm Mumtomonkeys Perhaps it's mortgage insurance you avoid by sticking to 500k? Possibly, makes sense if that figure came from a bank. Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 19Sep 13, 2013 2:34 pm Pretty sure (In WA anyway) you only pay stamp duty on the land, our land was well under 500K and we still had to pay it. Mortgage insurance is determined by how much you borrow, i.e if you borrow more than 80% of the house value you pay the insurance, the more deposit you have, then you avoid LMI....or something like that?? My Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63545 Re: o0._.- *HELP !!! Need advise!!!*-._.0o 20Sep 13, 2013 2:35 pm Pretty sure (In WA anyway) you only pay stamp duty on the land, our land was well under 500K and we still had to pay it. Mortgage insurance is determined by how much you borrow, i.e if you borrow more than 80% of the house value you pay the insurance, the more deposit you have, then you avoid LMI....or something like that?? My Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=63545 I am looking for someone who might have tackled a similar issue as me. I have a few rendered interior walls, the surface condition is hardly flat. I can see all the bumps… 0 7967 Hi there, I'm a conplete newbie to this, but I'm looking to put a floor down in my 6x9m shed. It's currently sitting on a 100mm thick concrete perimeter (dirt floor… 0 6468 Hi VK, Think it's worth investing time in an Owner Builder course to equip you with basic knowledge on Australian Building Industry and its regulations. Also, I suggest… 11 23474 |