Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 07, 2013 1:35 pm After spending a few weeks looking at some old three bedroom houses my fiancée and I have realised that building might actually be a better option. We are currently looking at some small blocks of land at Fernbrooke Ridge in Redbank Plains. We are only looking at small 3 bedroom home designs (currently looking very closely at the Freedom 140 from Bold Properties), and our budget isn't exactly huge. Our biggest concern is site costs. Bold have given us a quote that seems to offer a great list of inclusions, and that quote includes some costs from going from H1 (their standard level) to a H2 and also a small allowance for piering. From the few people we have spoken to the block could very easily come back as an E, but we won't find that out until after deposits have been paid etc. For people who have had an E block, how much extra did it cost? What sort of figure should I be budgeting? Somebody at Metricon said it could be $18000 (I think there base prices are based on S though). That could potentially blow our budget. Any advise would be great. We haven't even signed anything and this process is already doing my head in Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 2Oct 07, 2013 2:35 pm If you're very concerned about potential site costs, can you negotiate with the developer / builder to do (with you paying for it; they cost roughly around $500) a soil test on the specific site before exchanging contracts? With the soil test results in hand, the builder could potentially offer site works under a fixed price, removing that uncertainty. Not sure if they would be open to doing that, but worth asking. Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 3Oct 07, 2013 6:11 pm Quote: If you're very concerned about potential site costs, can you negotiate with the developer / builder to do (with you paying for it; they cost roughly around $500) a soil test on the specific site before exchanging contracts? With the soil test results in hand, the builder could potentially offer site works under a fixed price, removing that uncertainty. The difficulty is the timing. The land has been released now but is not being built up until January. Everything would move along before the soil test was able to be done. We would have to pay deposits well in advance of the soil being testable. Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 5Oct 07, 2013 9:17 pm I would never buy land without a soil report. Surely there'd be a clause in there somewhere to get out of the contract if the soil report is unsatisfactory to you. By the way, I'm just up the road from you! Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 6Oct 07, 2013 9:39 pm Quote: We got our own site works report done prior to signing up Was this in a new development? This is a new land release, and the blocks we are looking at are cheap. We are concerned that if we wait for the blocks to be filled and compacted they will be sold to people that are more willing to take the risk. Quote: I would never buy land without a soil report. Surely there'd be a clause in there somewhere to get out of the contract if the soil report is unsatisfactory to you. I would have to double check but I believe that they won't do a contract subject to soil test on these blocks. I really have no experience buying land, especially land that doesn't really exist yet. Quote: By the way, I'm just up the road from you! Haven't moved yet! Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 7Oct 07, 2013 9:41 pm Yes, get a soil test from a qualified 3rd party - shouldn't take more than a week. If you're paranoid, check that the builder will trust the results of the said 3rd party. Edit: just noticed there'll be some filling & compacting going on later. That could complicate things. Re: First Timers - Site Cost Concerns 8Oct 14, 2013 9:13 pm hello, i'm thinking of building my first home at fernbrooke ridge too, i haven't bought the land yet, still looking around.. but i'll probably settle for fernbrooke ridge even though i understand the soil will probably be a P type.. why? because i can't afford anywhere else The way i look at it.. as an example WOODLANDS estate soil type apparently is usually A,S or M but cost about $40k more; whereas a slab to mitigate the E type soil will be $20-25k, so you'd be paying an extra 15k in total anyway for a similar estate but then i think building on good soil is better than having an engineered slab Thanks for all replies. I just noticed now the pictures I added to post right on top of page were wrong. I attached pictures showing "current" and my "suggested" floor… 9 14609 Regardless of wall hung toilet or floor pan toilet your feet will be right on drain, seems to me the waste should not be in that location given the design. Also are you… 6 7020 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 36900 |