Hi everyone... my first post on Homeone... hoping some people out there have done something similar or have some advice for my family and I.
What we are doing:
- My wife and I bought land in Kenthurst (North West Sydney) with my parents with the idea being we build an attached dual occupancy. Basically my parents will literally be next door (call us crazy)... but this is the only way we could afford 'the acreage dream'.
- What we are after is ensentially a 'custom built' dual occupancy
- Bushfire rating will be BAL29
- Town water, power and phone are all already right at the build site. We will require our own sewerage and storm water though.
- Build site is quite flat (less than 2m drop)
- Budget is one of our biggest concerns at $600-650k. At $650k we will literally have spent all we can afford so would prefer to stick to $600k with some in reserve.
- Willing to do the flooring, window coverings, painting, appliances, driveway, etc. ourselves if we need to get costs down.
- Total combined floorspace of roughly 500m2 - single storey only.
We are at the point where we need to decide what builder to use or if we even want to see an independent designer/draftsman. We arent after a fancy architecturally designed home... just a well thought out floorplan.
It is preferable that the builder has had some dual occupancy experience.
What we are trying to decide on:
- Whether to pay a builder a design fee and use their designer/draftsman. Generally this seems fairly good value but they retain the copyright of the plan. I have had a few builders tell me they can do this ranging from $2000 upwards.
- Whether we engage an independent designer that can (hopefully) design to our budget and we own the plans. We then get multiple builders to produce a tender and choose the one we feel is the greatest value. Worried this might cost more / take longer / be more risky... etc.
- If our budget is even realistic.... (maximum of $1300/sqm - i.e. 500m2 = $650k) for everything.
Has anyone done something similar?
Preferably acreage, dual occ, bushfire rated... but anyone's advice / experience is very welcome.
It is very hard to know what direction to go in!
Cheers and looking forward to chatting with you.
Dave