Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 19, 2013 3:33 pm Hi everyone, Currently in the process of signing contract to build in Orchard Rise estate, Berwick. Just wanted to find out if anyone else is building/built there. Currently we are having some issues around the site cost (estimated by Simonds as 55K) and wanted to know what other people experience regarding site cost etc.. Apparently, the main problem is the garage and driveway gradient. Since the site has a slope - and garage gradient has to be 1:6 the whole house has to be cut into the ground. As a result - a lot of cut/fill and long retaining walls are required. I am not sure it is the best design - what other options we have? Regards, Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 2Dec 19, 2013 6:25 pm I could never bring myself to pay $55k for site fees! Are you in love with the estate? What makes it special to you? 19.03.14 - Land Settlement 15.04.14 - Building Permit 28.04.14 - Earthworks 14.05.14 - Slab Stage 20.05.14 - Frame Stage 11.06.14 - Lock Up Stage 03.07.14 - Fix Stage 15.08.14 - New Home Presentation Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 3Dec 20, 2013 11:23 am No, but it is too late as I already purchased the land. Never imagined that site cost can be soooooooo big. I need to investigate more my options: - maybe split level build where the garage is sitting a little bit lower (0.8m) that the house - as a result the amount of cut will be much much less.. Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 5Dec 23, 2013 7:40 am I find it staggering that the agent didn't inform you of the potential site costs for this lot. That's outrageous! It will be a nice estate and you'll definitely get value for money, but $55K is ridiculous. Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 6Dec 23, 2013 9:32 am The slope did not look that big when I inspected different lots. The slop is going uphill (i.e. from of the house is lower than back of the house). The lot has a interesting structure - it rises immediately for ~ 1m above the street level and then there is slight rise for the whole length. I will need to consider split level - actually only garage has to be "split" and put lower than the rest o of the house. Unfortunately - it seems that volume builders don't offer this kind of design at all. Going with custom build will probably have the same outcome in terms of money (save money on site cost but loose money because it i s"custom")... Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 7Feb 24, 2014 9:55 pm Just to finish the topic - - went with another builder (Rawdon Hills.) They proposed a special design which will work with the slope - i.e. garage level is lower than house level. That will reduce site cost and make much better design Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 8Feb 26, 2014 11:34 am That's a good choice. Uphill slope cost a bit more than downhill slope, but still better than leveling the whole block for volume builder. Good luck with your build! By the way, remember to keep close eyes on everything. Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 9Feb 26, 2014 3:52 pm Good luck. It's buyer beware I guess but you never know what the costs will be until the builder does a proper estimation. Sounds like you've got a good builder now. 55k is eye watering for something like site costs when you want to spend the money inside the house not on the dirt. I'll keep an eye out for your updates. Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 10Feb 26, 2014 6:54 pm Hey, we are building across the road in heritage my hill and we paid 12.5k for our site costs, but I do know people have had costs around 50k in the berwick waters estate as well, glad to hear you changed the builder and going with someone else, when do you start building Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 11May 15, 2014 2:01 pm Hello. I am new to this forum. We have just purchased in Orchard Rise. We have been quoted 5k for our site costs, however, we are on a flat block. Question, did anyone here have any issues with the details in the land contract? Our Conveyancer is suggesting we cross our some of the special conditions? Did anyone have similar advise from their conveyancer? Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 13Jul 29, 2014 12:31 pm Yes, in fact started building ~1 month ago. Base stage is complete, frame stage is in progress. Re: New Build - Orchard Rise Berwick VIC 15Aug 28, 2014 8:36 am Hi again, How is everyone's build going? Our land settles on Monday 1st Sept. Our plans & permits are all in place, so we are ready to start building straight after settlement. I would be interested to hear how everyone else is going. Is anyone else in stage 4 release? I have posted this before: We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports… 2 4410 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 17198 |