Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 02, 2014 6:17 pm Hi all. Firstly, fantastic forum. I've just spent the last couple of hours scouring through different posts for information and ideas, but I feel at this point the best way forward for me is going to be starting a new thread for advice. I'll try keep this as brief as possible. Here goes… So, I have recently moved to South Korea for work. I will be here for 9-12 months at this stage with possible extensions. Selling my assets and relocating has freed up some cash and I am now in a position to do something I've been thinking about for at least the past 12 months. That is, building a home for my parents. They're in their mid 50's and due to some unfortunate circumstance throughout their lives they've never found themselves in a position to be able to build their dream home. Financially, if I can get away with the land + build process for less than $500k, this will put me in a position where I will be able to go again at the end of my time in Korea and buy/build my own place. However, this is not a hard limit, it is more of a preference. Also, costs of building a shed/workshop and fitting a pool could come later and could be shared between myself and my folks. I have pre-approval for $500k and close to $70k in savings currently. Up until 2 weeks ago I had never considered building. I was more drawn to the idea of buying established. However the more I looked at house prices and considered my options, I realised that my move to Korea, and my parents being in stable accommodation presently opens up a real opportunity to build a new home without the usual costs associated with finding accom during the build. I had minimal time in Perth after returning from a training course before leaving again (just under 1 week), so this left me in a mad rush to read/learn/visit as many places as possible before I left. I discussed my situation with a Sales Consultant from Dale Alcock who I must say has been absolutely sensational in providing advice over email up to this point. Just before flying out, I was trying to decide between 2 options: 1. Building in the new Peet estate at Golden Bay. (450sqm-550sqm for $209k-$270k). 2. Buying a block in the established region of Golden Bay (800sqm+) and building a new home there (i.e.: blocks such as http://www.realestate.com.au/property-r ... -200976475 or http://www.realestate.com.au/property-r ... -200917555) - looking at $260-$280k for 800sqm. Feedback from DAH was that the blocks I was looking at contained >1.5m slope across the block, rendering them unsuitable for building. I was told site works would be prohibitively expensive and again advised to look toward the established estates, now stretching the search further south to Meadow Springs where $230k would get 510sqm. I've been quoted roughly $450k for the entire process including a new DAH 3x2 in that area. My issue is that originally I had 2 criteria in mind: 1. space for a pool for Mum as this is her absolute favourite pastime, especially in the Perth Summer. 2. space for a workshop for Dad. This is where he spends >75% of his waking hours currently. No exaggeration. While they've assured me they'd be stoked with a 500sqm block and Dad doing his work in the double garage, to me - if I'm going to do this, I want to do it once and do it right. I just can't see things fitting onto a 500sqm block. While I'm assured there would be room for a 7x4m pool, I can't see any location for Dad to spend his time (i.e. shed/workshop). While he won't say it, I believe he'd feel "trapped" on 500sqm. I know that there would be costly land works associated with levelling a block. Before I can rule this out, I need to know how much "expensive" is. I know this would cause headaches, and its not the easiest option. But for me, I want to do it once knowing for the rest of my parent's lives they are in their ideal place. I don't want to build something and move them into it, then spend the next 30 years thinking about how good it would have been to have that bit more space. If you have managed to read this far, thank you. I apologise for drifting. I could have said so much more and I hope to use this forum as a tool to help me in the process over the coming months. Thanks Re: Building from Korea 2Sep 02, 2014 8:26 pm I can't comment on prices in WA. But just had to saw - AWWW and WOW - that is lovely - they must be great parents to have such a thoughtful lovely son (I assumed dwayno). I think it is really important to fit the things that give your life pleasure into your home - sometimes at the cost of other things - eg smaller minor bedrooms/less living areas. Re: Building from Korea 3Sep 02, 2014 9:19 pm ^ snap Bluesteel. I totally agree. I don't have either of my parents and this is so beautiful. I hope you get some Perth folk help you out. You could certainly do this in Adelaide in a new estate. If you're after a bigger block you might consider buying a dilapidated house in an established area and demolish. But I imagine this would be very difficult to arrange from overseas. You really need someone here you can trust to do your research (go and visually inspect). I agree to have your block levelled if its not flat. Our block sloped one metre towards the back. We opted to have fill added, levelled and retained. Our neighbours each side got a 'cut and fill' which seems like they are in a hole. Different if you are on the high side of the street or have a much deeper gradient that is impractical to fill. Or perhaps there is plenty of vacant land behind to look out at from the rear, so cutting down might not be such a big deal. These are things I think you really need to see to decide. I guess you dad could check it out. Re: Building from Korea 4Sep 02, 2014 9:58 pm TomCat ^ snap Bluesteel. I totally agree. I don't have either of my parents and this is so beautiful. I hope you get some Perth folk help you out. You could certainly do this in Adelaide in a new estate. If you're after a bigger block you might consider buying a dilapidated house in an established area and demolish. But I imagine this would be very difficult to arrange from overseas. You really need someone here you can trust to do your research (go and visually inspect). I agree to have your block levelled if its not flat. Our block sloped one metre towards the back. We opted to have fill added, levelled and retained. Our neighbours each side got a 'cut and fill' which seems like they are in a hole. Different if you are on the high side of the street or have a much deeper gradient that is impractical to fill. Or perhaps there is plenty of vacant land behind to look out at from the rear, so cutting down might not be such a big deal. These are things I think you really need to see to decide. I guess you dad could check it out. Hey Tomcat, Was just contemplating this, we have decided to split our house instead of building/filling/retaining up about 600mm - it probably works out similar retaining or splitting for us. What were your reasons to fill and build up? apart from the living in a hole scenario... Re: Building from Korea 5Sep 03, 2014 1:04 am Only the one reason ... We hated the idea of living in a hole. Oh and that it looks terrible from the street. I think our neighbours were disappointed. And we are so much higher than them now. lots of light. Splits are beautiful. We also thought about that but we're on a corner so the side of the roof would look ugly. It didn't cost that much to do what we did. We got the fill from adjacent blocks who were happy to give it away. Really worth it. But split level is a perfect option. Re: Building from Korea 6Sep 03, 2014 9:35 am Good on you. We are building in Mandurah and we bought our block and started the whole build process while living in Seoul! We did see the block ourselves first but only for 5 minutes! We know the area well though. I'm not much help with prices, but if you check out some site costs on this forum for blocks with no significant slope you'll get an idea of minimum prices. To contribute just a little information, our block is 750sqm with less than 1 metre variation in height across the block. We have a provisional sum of $20K for earth works (plus retaining walls which I won't go into because ours are special!). Have you considered non-brick housing that does not require a concrete slab? I know nothing about these and I know they are uncommon in W.A. but you should be able to find some examples on this forum. (e.g..http://www.ecodesignerhomes.com/en-us/whyframe.aspx) Personally I like bigger blocks, but you can only do what you can afford. http://www.housebythewater.wordpress.com From blank block to new home in Mandurah, Western Australia. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65564 Re: Building from Korea 7Sep 03, 2014 2:49 pm Hi! posting to follow - we're doing something similar can't comment on site costs for uneven blocks sorry. We bought a 520m2 block in Yanchep but we won't need a shed although we'd like to add a small pool later too if possible. Will follow your build with interest good luck in your search! Re: Building from Korea 8Sep 03, 2014 8:44 pm Hi all, thanks for the feedback. While I'm not posting to receive pats on the back, your kind words have been appreciated and have helped to ease some of my imminent stress. A few posters (and private messages) have suggested looking into building a split level design on a sloping block. I must say, that up until yesterday the idea of building a split had never occurred to me. In fact, truth be told I had to google 'split level house' to understand what people were referring to. While there are obvious advantages to this style of home, I think given the objective here is to build a place for my parents to grow old(er) in, I would like to avoid using stairs anywhere on the block. Since I posted the topic, I spent a bit of time yesterday looking at what my money can buy me in terms of an established home now that the search area has been widened further south to Meadow Springs. I must say, a dollar certainly stretches much farther down that way. For the amount of money I was quote to build a 3/2 on a 500sqm block (without pool or shed), I can purchase an established 4/2 with a pool and large workshop on a 900-1000sqm block. This is astonishing, and for this reason I'm finding it very hard to come up with reasons as to why this is not the best approach for me. I know the romantic notion of building a brand new place still has some appeal to me, but certainly any 4/2 house that has been build in the last 20 years is going to be streets ahead of any 1960's mining town house that my parents have lived into up until this stage in their life. Further to that, the very fact that the house would truly be "theirs" means that the money that has been saved can be spent on renovating the floors/finishings etc to achieve a more modern feel of a new home. It also dodges all the complications and sleepless nights associated with building from another country while opening up the potential to spend my christmas break back home with family in the house I have purchased while abroad. I believe bluesteel summed it up perfectly in the first reply when he said "I think it is really important to fit the things that give your life pleasure into your home"… To my parents, it is the time spent outside by the pool/under the patio/working in the shed that will bring them the most joy for the rest of their days - not an island bench and 6x6 garage from a new build. I'm finding it hard to look past this at the moment. If anyone feels I'm missing something here it'd be fantastic to know . Re: Building from Korea 9Sep 03, 2014 8:50 pm You are on to something there! http://www.housebythewater.wordpress.com From blank block to new home in Mandurah, Western Australia. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65564 Re: Building from Korea 10Sep 03, 2014 10:34 pm I'm in 100% agreement with that if we had that as an option would have done it in a flash. I have the same considerations re the house being easy to live in for people growing older. Buying an established house would also save your parents from having to deal with the new garden and all the niggles that go wrong with a new house. Unfortunately for us it wasn't possible to buy an established house as we're foreigners so the FIRB mandates that we couldn't buy a 2nd hand house... would have been much easier for us and my parents if we could! Re: Building from Korea 11Sep 05, 2014 5:29 pm I think another issue you have to consider is renovations can get quite costly. Especially if you need to start involving structural engineers. I guess that's the beauty of building vs renovating where you get to start on a blank canvas and the builder tells you if that is possible. go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110570 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11035 |