Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 30, 2013 6:39 am Hi ! These forums have been a wealth of knowledge to me, as I'm about to embark on building my first home. However, I am thoroughly confused about something. Our H+L package will be around $375,000, with a Pre-Start bonus of $5000. Obviously, this is not enough for all the upgrades and changes I want to make. We don't have thousands of dollars just sitting around, so my question is, do we make a million changes and upgrades BEFORE we sign on the contact/design and those costs are part of the mortgage ? Or do we have to fork out for that ourselves ? Thanks in advance Re: Pre-Start and Inclusion Confusion 2Dec 30, 2013 10:05 am Hi daturainoxia, We made sure that any major upgrades we wanted covered in the mortgage were included in our contract - these were mostly structural stuff like higher ceilings, upgraded heating etc. Then we left the cosmetic stuff for pre-start (eg upgraded bricks) and paid for these out of pocket (which made us upgrade less because we don't have thousands sitting there either!). Hope that helps! Re: Pre-Start and Inclusion Confusion 3Dec 30, 2013 10:30 am Hi daturainoxia, Add the major upgrades in your tenders such as brick, kitchen and other options that your builder can give. Have a look at the display house and ask for the upgrade list for that particular one. Then allow a provision for tiles and electricals. Also start getting quotes on landscpe, blinds, shutters,..... so you can add them in the total cost for the loan. Re: Pre-Start and Inclusion Confusion 4Dec 30, 2013 3:41 pm daturainoxia We don't have thousands of dollars just sitting around, so my question is, do we make a million changes and upgrades BEFORE we sign on the contact/design and those costs are part of the mortgage ? Or do we have to fork out for that ourselves ? Thanks in advance It really depends on how much you want to spend on upgrades, if its going to be a lot it might be better adding to the mortgage. Don't forget that there are other expenses besides upgrades ( see this link : http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2013/03/fin ... -find-out/) The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Hi All, see above image. The required setback from the rear boundary in my case is 5m, as you can see the shape of the site and location of the boundary is slightly… 0 8457 Just to makea point about this, an approach that some people have found sucessful in negotiating these rises down, Is to provide some workings to the builder, specifying… 4 81723 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 13758 |