Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 29, 2014 11:51 am Hey guys! My husband & I are First Home Buyers. We have recently bought land in Mosaic Living Estate, Lalor & in my opinion paid a premium for such a small block 14x30.25 fronting a park. We have 3 small children and need 4bdrm, 2 living, alfresco & a bit of a closed backyard. The plans that we do like with builders are out of our budget due to site costs. The plan that is "just" over budget is livable but not ideal. My Mum said "why pay for something your not entirely happy with?" I agree, however, we want to live within our means, not put pressure on the family with a higher mortgage and yes it's our first home, so obviously not our dream home. I'm sure there will always be things you wished you could do differently, but my thoughts are do I pay for the plan I like and increase mortgage by $30-40k or do I suck it up in a livable house that is just over budget? I know this is an "how long is a piece of string" question? But would love to hear from FHB. Thanks heaps Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 2May 29, 2014 12:00 pm If you're in a position to delay building and save money, as the saying goes; 'eat crow', then I'd suggest you do that until you're in a position to get what you want. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 3May 29, 2014 12:06 pm Well, have you thought about designing your own house and going through a custom builder? They aren't always much more expensive, depending who you go with and as long as you're very clear on your budget. You just have to be willing to put the time into designing a house that has what you want, often I find builders plans don't have the best utilisation of space and they aren't specifically designed to suit your block. For instance, you can decide that having 2 living areas is more important to you then a full walk in robe and a big ensuite or that you can deal with a smaller garage. These might be things that the plans don't accommodate but would make the home more liveable for you. Also cutting back on the complex roof lines that builders plans often have can save you money. It will take more time and effort but you might end up with a home you're happy with at a price you can afford. Just a thought. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 4May 29, 2014 12:18 pm Tricky question and depends vastly on your day to day budget and finances. Have you worked out mortgage repayments for each different house and all your expensves now and in the future? How much of a squeeze on daily life will the bigger mortgage repayments be? We had similar dilemmas, how much to spend, but ours is destined to be our forever home. I did quite detailed budgeting and worked out with bigger mortgage repayments and underestimating our income how much cash we would have left over per week after ALL possible bills and expenses I could think of (I can't remember my calculations now, just remember that it felt okay!) ... so we felt comfortable to push our borrowing further to get what we wanted. I don't think we would have stretched ourselves so much if it wasn't our forever home. Also, if you stretch yourself income protection insurance is very important. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 5May 29, 2014 12:30 pm Thanks guys, MadamImAdam - wish we could delay & save more but our land is just about to title & we're moving into my parents to save to "finish" (interior/exterior) the house. Imille32 - we have looked at customer builders & they haven't been able to match the volume with our small budget for the house, site costs, and estate guidelines EmyN - I see what your saying, we are one income home, we have budgeted on his lowest possible income & that's very tight. No savings. But my husbands income fluctuates, he can earn anywhere from $100-$1,000 more a week plus based on OT. So Hence why Im contemplating, but I think wisdom is saying stick with a manageable mortgage And pray my joy (which it will) will come from what's within the house as opposed to the PLAN... LOL Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 6May 29, 2014 12:46 pm i think you answered your own question. Your eon a single income. you should be planing a morgage base don what you can comfortably afford if interest rates rise several %'s. It wont be your only home in your lifetime (for most people anyway), so dont over capitalise. Also if you do, th ebank could under value it and your eback to teh drawing board anyway. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 7May 29, 2014 12:52 pm Yeah i think you're stuck with a smaller home. You'll just have to really hone down your priorities and pick what you can. Blog http://tobuildahomeimprobable.blogspot.com.au/ Settlement Apr Council Jul Contracts Dec Earthworks Dec Frames Jan Trusses Feb Roof Feb Windows Mar Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 8May 29, 2014 12:56 pm EmmaW84 EmyN - I see what your saying, we are one income home, we have budgeted on his lowest possible income & that's very tight. No savings. Eeep.. NO savings? Nothing at all left after normal expenses? That is significant and unfortunately I think is your answer. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 9May 29, 2014 1:13 pm On his lowest income $50 savings And a tiny $40 left in account per week. That's with all our fixed expenses. Variable expenses we can only allow for when he makes more then the minimum budgeted income. My husbands taxable income is roughly $125-140k. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 10May 29, 2014 1:19 pm Everyone is dicated by budget, one way or the other. Some are lucky enough to make minimal sacrifices, others really have to compromise. The way of the world in all aspects, not just building a home. To me, what you have explained a 4br, 2 bath home with and alfresco and a bit of a yard in a nice area is more than "liveable". I get that everyone wants nice things and the nicest we can get for our money, but when you dont have any more money to spend - that's it. That's what you can have. As others have echoed, it's your first home. You dont have to be there forever, use it as a kickstart and the next house hopefully you can start to tick more boxes on the wishlist.. I wont comment on your finances, that's for you to work out - horses for courses as to how much you should be saving each week etc, but just as a bit of friendly advice - home ownership comes with added expenses and you need to budget for these also. Rates, water, levies, maintenence etc. The life you have inside the home will always be more important than the actual home itself, if it keeps your family warm, sheltered and safe - it's a winner The other stuff is all "nice to have" but only if you aren't a stressed out wreck trying to make ends meet each week. Stone benchtops and butlers pantries are lovely, but they sure as hell wont give you $20 when you need bread and milk. 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: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 11May 29, 2014 1:24 pm thats a good income for one person. Have you done a bufdget to understand where your spend is occuring each month? 40 savings even at the low end sounds like youre hemoraging cash smewhere, even with three kids. expensive car loan, personal loans, credit card debts, privat school feed etc. These are killers. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 12May 29, 2014 1:53 pm It is absolutely liveable. We are blessed to have this opportunity. Haha deluxes loves your last comment, it's funny we have no stone, no butler pantry, just standard inclusions. The only change we made was facade. Everything else is standard, standard, standard. My paramount priority is to live within my means. I guess I was thrown by loved ones comment hence the question, because yes I don't love it. Why? I feel that it may possibly be tight family/meals area & would love to have room to dine & somewhere for kids to play inside & outside. But ultimately it's who is in the house that makes it a house. We are looking at Burbanks Ascent 2500. Ponzu, yes my child does go to private school. No credit cards. No car loans (2 old cars getting us from A to B). No private loans. 3 children. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 13May 29, 2014 2:37 pm I looked up that house and it really is a great floorplan! I would be very happy living there with a family. You've got that extra living room for the kids (or for you to escape the kids haha) a nice big pantry, WIR... it looks really good to me. You're going to have a great home for your family and you're not going to cause yourself financial stress in the process, so I think you might be in a better situation than a lot of people out there. Please don't worry too much, I think it will be great and you should be excited. Is it the floorplan that isn't inspiring you or just the size? Because if it's really just the floorplan I would keep looking until you find something you love. Building is a hard process and we need to get you feeling excited about it! Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 14May 29, 2014 2:45 pm I wouldn't settle on anything I wasn't happy with, nor would I settle on something that was out of my budget. Keep looking, the right plan for the right price is out there... you will find it. My build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=68002 Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 15May 29, 2014 2:54 pm Thanks mikoyan appreciate your insight It's not good I'm not excited, but got to keep things in perspective. I think I've summed it up to this: " I like the house plan not love it. I like the cost cause we can just pay it. So then I love the house because we can just afford it." (That probably doesn't make sense) The size is fine. I like the width and length. We need to keep it btw 20-21m long max so we can have some type of backyard. So it's more the plan. I feel I have exhausted a lot of other plans from min 10-15 builders. The plan I love is $30-40k more, it has separate area for dining, wider family and kids area. Argh! I just got to get over it. Burnsfirsttime - agree, wise choices are never made in haste. In saying that my land is settling in a few weeks and I've already got a date to move out of rental into my parentals for the time of the build so... Yes, can't rush, but I feel like I've done my HOmework to it's fullest?? Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 16May 29, 2014 2:56 pm EmmaW84 MadamImAdam - wish we could delay & save more but our land is just about to title & we're moving into my parents to save to "finish" (interior/exterior) the house. If your partner is on 125k-140k ($1,700 - $1,900 per week) You should have no trouble saving over $1,000 per week while living with your parents, even with mortgage repayments on your land. Do that for a year before building, and you'll get what you want. Re: Not happy with house plan? Happy with budget? 19May 29, 2014 3:37 pm Lol. We're actually moving in to finish the house as we wouldn't be able too otherwise, so to move in to just buy the house will still mean we're behind because we will still need to have money to basics of completing a home. This whole thing is a bit stressful lol Coming back to your old stomping grounds, huh? Renovations on a budget can be quite the journey. It's like giving your house a new lease on life. The twist of not knowing… 1 3476 i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17278 5 10476 |