Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 11, 2015 7:08 pm Hey guys I had ruled out building a new house for my first home, but a new housing estate has opened in my town with very reasonable prices so I thought why not build. So its my first home, I'm no millionaire and on a single income. I hope to get my block of land next week (fingers crossed) when they go on sale. I'm going with Allworth Homes, I'm looking at a few models (all in the Priceleader range) but I don't want to set a particular model in my mind until I see the exact block shape/size and speak to the bank again on Thursday. I'm choosing between the Horizon 3 and the Encore 3 (the Encore 4 is only $3K more so that's also a big possibility). I could go for a bigger house but I don't need all the space and I'd rather have a smaller budget so if I happen to go over I'm not in the ****. I've been looking through the board and just wanted to say hey, but if you have a major do or don't, or any praise or warnings about Allworth please feel free to let me know Re: First home owner...what am I thinking? 2Apr 11, 2015 7:24 pm I have no comment on Allworth but my 2 cents. I assume you have your finances in order? Pick your land first before your house, you do not know what will or won't fit. The more problems the land has the higher your site costs. House, the price you have is not the price it will cost. Site costs, BASIX, upgrades, inclusions, aircon, etc will send it UP!. Re: First home owner...what am I thinking? 3Apr 11, 2015 7:34 pm Welcome to the neverending daydream/nightmare that is building a house D I'm also on a single income and buying my first home, it's certainly doable. One thing I did was pick land titling in the future (bought in July, titles were April.. now July). This meant I had the land locked in, but had months and months to save for the build). I'm in a much better financial position now then when I first applied to the bank, and have managed to extend my construction pre-approval 10k. Advice.. um... Check everything carefully. Think long and hard about what you want, and wherever possible try to see things in real life (i.e. go to display centers, display homes). I've changed my minds so many times, things I was SO sure I couldn't live without when I first starting looking at the house, I've now realised I really don't need. Try not to get caught up in the idea of a house, focus on the practicalities. You can always change things later. When it comes to upgrades, my suggestion is 1. Anything structural & can't be changed later (i.e. higher roof, roof sarking), 2. Anything that is difficult to do in the future/will save you money in the long run (i.e. zoned heating, upgraded insulation), 3. Anything that adds value to the home, 4. All the little finishing touches (you can always do these later). Focus more on the structure of the house then the finishing touches. I was so excited by the idea of porcelain tiles or a double kitchen sink, but I never thought about eaves, or roof ventilation. Don't expect anything to be 'standard' or 'included', I was surprised by how many things aren't built into the house unless you ask for them/pay for them. Eaves is a good example, I just assumed every house would have them, but they don't and it was a 3k upgrade for me. RESEARCH. Read articles about energy efficiency, ventilations, passive orientation.. small decisions made now can save you a lot in the future in terms of heating/cooling, cleaning/maintenance. Bashworth's guide is fantastic, you'll see his posts a lot. And lastly, get an independent inspector, there's a few good recommendations on H1. Re: First home owner...what am I thinking? 4Apr 11, 2015 7:40 pm Oh, on the subject of finance.. Check things out. I found out I have to pay a 1k levy to the council to build.. I'm also getting title insurance (Recommended by the conveyancer) which is $360, conveyancing fees another 1k, fencing, landscaping, grout sealing, moving costs, upgrades, stamp duty.. price just goes up and up.. Plus there's paying for service connections, different rules around stamp duty and grants. If you can, find a good broker, they will help you navigate it all. Just beware unexpected costs! And don't buy land without finding out what site costs look like if you can help it. Most builders with displays in the area will already have some basic information on what the site costs in an estate will be for each lot. i.e same size lot, 4 of them in the same street, a few houses apart.. Carlisle home package.. same house on every lot.. yet some were 5k less than others due to the site costs. I had unfortunately already bought the most expensive lot. Lucky for me my site costs are 5-10k max. I've heard people on the forum have had costs over 70k!! Re: First home owner...what am I thinking? 5Apr 12, 2015 9:02 am Congratulations for taking the leap! Building a house can be a truly rewarding (both financially and otherwise) experience. Beyond the practicalities I say get excited about it! Enjoy the challenge, and embrace and overcome the trials and tribulations along the way. There is such a great reward and you get a real sense of accomplishment when those hot little keys are placed in your hands. Be warned, you might get bitten by the building a house bug and want to do it again...and again! Re: First home owner...what am I thinking? 6Apr 12, 2015 10:15 am Hi flstsb, we're building for our first home too. The others have raised good points so far - try to focus on things that you can't change later, and things that will make the house more efficient and cheaper to live in, then worry about upgrading cosmetics. For example, for us we have the world's most basic laundry (nothing but a tub) because the upgrade options with our builder were ridiculously expensive. We're going to do an IKEA solution after handover and then look at perhaps renovating it with a proper solution in a couple of years. Think about what you really can't live without, and squeeze in storage everywhere. Keep resale value in mind, but also don't get so hung up on it that you build your house for someone else - it's YOUR house and you want to love living in it, because that will show through in how you care for and decorate it, and then that will help with resale anyway Enjoy the process! Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 isn't a garage level with the rest of the house a given? pretty sure they 'came around' long time ago. if you have a flat block, the garage is usually level with the rest… 1 17511 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27433 |