Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 21, 2008 1:01 pm hi all,
Me and my partner have just been to F@irM0nt and got a quote on a house. total price is $135000 which includes $6000 for floors and $9000 backup for footings and some other stuff. Realistically how much should we be budgeting for extras? Everyone always seems to go over budget, we would like to not go over $140000. Is it possible? Unfortunately this is our first house so really dont have much of an idea on how much this can blow out to. Thanks heaps all! Re: help with budgeting 2Jul 21, 2008 1:39 pm Hi kranskydan
I think all of us here understand what you mean. As far as budgeting for extras is concerned, it really depends on your preferences. Also, it depends what are the standard inclusions that your builder offers. Most of the times, builders do not offer stuff like deadlocks, locks to windows which are absolute necessary. Now this is just the begining of countdown. When you did your walkthrough of the house, did you ask the sales consultants about the extras that are built in the display house???? They should be able to give you the prices staraight away. Also with electricals you can end up spending couple of thousand dollars, then comes driveways, pathways, concreting landscaping, which is expensive as well. We are building with PD and we were very adamant that we will go very slow on upgrades but at this stage we have already spent $50,000 (including timber flooring, carpeting) on extras. Before this we got a quote from M3tricon, the base price was $163,000 but the extras ended up $65,000(including timber flooring, carpeting) So, as you can see all the builder are pretty much the same, once you are in the process of building EVERY thing comes for an extra price. However, you might be able to avoid this if you can manage to remain away from temptation. The best thing to do is to tell your sales consultant to add each and everything you think that you like and then when you get a quote, start narrowing down on your choices by eliminating the things that you can live without and get to a budget that suits you. Hope this helps. All the best and do let us know how you go. Re: help with budgeting 3Jul 21, 2008 1:49 pm Hey there,
Um, looking at your post, your allowing $5k for extras? um...good luck!! hehe we're building with PD and have prob spent just over 50K from base price...some structrual stuff that cost a fair penny (like extensions to bedrooms & alfresco, as well as fixed site costs) and then most little stuff that add up... like homeishome has said, if u can stay away from temptation and stick to a budget, then you'll be ok... but if u ask anyone here that is builidng, its very hard to stay away from temptations i would realistically say that 5k is defientely not enough, and would recommend going through the house and your budget again... Re: help with budgeting 4Jul 21, 2008 1:57 pm Just to give you an idea, I'm looking at building for $140,000. But have allowed additional $60k for items below:
- contingency (footings, unexpected upgrades, etc) - independent inspector - fencing - flooring - driveways & concrete perimeter - landscaping - RWT & pump - stormwater piping - TV antenna - light fittings - a/c - curtains - other (clothes line, water filter, letter box, wheelie bins, roof vents, etc) Chris Re: help with budgeting 5Jul 21, 2008 2:05 pm As a guide I used the same principle when building my house as when I budget for civil engineering works.
- Concept design (pre quote) add 40% to initial estimate - Once you have a firm quote reduce to 25% of quoted price - Once you've gone to contract allow 15% allowance on contract price Guess what my $160k house I built 10 years ago finished up at about $200k or 25% over the initial quote price from the builder but I'd allowed for $225k when I went to the bank. Scary...yeah....but it's better to be prepared. Oh and this link probably helps with a reality check on budgetting..... https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=4086 mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: help with budgeting 6Jul 21, 2008 2:27 pm Hi there, it really depends what the base price includes. Do you need driveways, landscaping, clothes line, letter box, heating or cooling, tiling, window fittings and site costs. I don't think it has to be as expensive as 60K extra, but 5K may not be quite enough, we had to spend about another 20K on top of our base price. Re: help with budgeting 7Jul 21, 2008 2:33 pm Sharee Hi there, it really depends what the base price includes. Do you need driveways, landscaping, clothes line, letter box, heating or cooling, tiling, window fittings and site costs. I don't think it has to be as expensive as 60K extra, but 5K may not be quite enough, we had to spend about another 20K on top of our base price. Sharee....good point my estimate was on an unadorned house but including site costs....no driveways, landscaping (cheaper for me to do), window fittings, light fittings so all + variations came out of the contingency of 25%....I'd assumed that the $135k was for a fairly modest house without all the accoutrement. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: help with budgeting 8Jul 21, 2008 2:52 pm Hi kranskydan,
I'm not going by what I'm doing as I'm building with my mum so it affords a lot of financial freedom. BUT before that decision was made, I had looked into building something cosy just for myself and DS. You said your price includes floor coverings and pretty much site costs. You can get away with it for 140k and have it be perfectly fine but with a lot of work to do. My advice is put the money into things that you feel are needs rather than wants and that cannot be done after handover. But I believe it can be done. Sheets as curtains, planks of wood as paths, etc, etc and do those things one at a time after you move in. Sit down and go through everything and be brutal. Just split everything into needs and wants. Eliminate everything that can be done after handover. Then prioritse what's left on the needs list. Mentally work down the list, until the money is gone and see where you are. Your comfort level at that point will tell you whether or not you're being realistic. There's no rules for upgrades, I'd guess this forum has people that have upgraded 5k, people who have upgraded 250k and everything in between. But with discipline, I preparedness for a little work and a realistic expectation of how finished off your home will be, your goal is achievable. And of course we'll need photos!! Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: help with budgeting 9Jul 21, 2008 2:57 pm damm!! I thought it was going to be cheaper than this (my bad)
driveway, paving / concreting we can wait for. RWT and fencing is on our list of things to remember about but not in the budget - the budget is for house only. Things in budget form lists above are Flooring is only carpet and tiles not a fan of wood floors. Light fittings (we get some form builder and we will make do for now) windows come with locks and so does doors form builder. We are looking for something that is nice that we can live in, work on when the $$$ comes in and also be low cost. thanks for the advise we will recheck our figures! Dan Re: help with budgeting 10Jul 21, 2008 3:04 pm kranskydan We are looking for something that is nice that we can live in, work on when the $$$ comes in and also be low cost. Sounds like you're on the same path as what Jo was saying....when I costed our first place I worked out the cost of everything (drives, window coverings, appliances, bedding, furniture....etc etc) and did what Jo was saying do what we could afford and work on the rest later.....don't fall into the trap of whacking everything on the mortgage....unless you can afford it.....everyone has different circumstances..... We went six months with a brick pallet path, MIL's sheets for curtains, and a PVC pipe for a letterbox.... ....just wasn't that important... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: help with budgeting 11Jul 21, 2008 3:13 pm Quote: But I believe it can be done. Sheets as curtains, planks of wood as paths, etc, etc and do those things one at a time after you move in. Things like pergolas can be done later and my friend built a house about 12 years ago and, other than the tiles in the wet areas, did not have any floor coverings for about 2 years, just cheap off-cuts of carpets, until they could afford it. If you are haveing down lights (big upgrade) they will need to be installed during build, but if you are haveing conventional lights, light fittings can be delayed, a bare bulb does the job. check what they mean by 'windows come with locks', vented locks, (ie ones you can lock in open with a key) are extra. This wan't a big cost but was something I didn't realise with our house. Also what about airconditioning; I presume you will need some form of heating and cooling and this is unlikely to be included in base price. PS: what does RWT stand for? PPS: Chris, are wheelie bins not provided by your council? Re: help with budgeting 12Jul 21, 2008 3:30 pm air con is being upgraded to reverse cycling with 6 ducts throughout the house, might be inverter system depending on price...
BTW - Anyone know the difference between reverse cycling and inverter? RWT = Rain water tank, according to land encombrances we need a 20,000 litre which will be plumbed through the house and we can change to mains if we run out. Bins should be covered in our concil rates. Mailbox will be made out of cardboard boxes once we have moved in, lol. cross fingers it doesnt rain. furniture we have so thats ok. My main worry is the from of the house, landscaping i dont want it to be yuck for to long. cheers Re: help with budgeting 13Jul 21, 2008 3:37 pm kranskydan My main worry is the from of the house, landscaping i dont want it to be yuck for to long. When is the house due to be finished....plant for the seasons not due to artificial timelines....if your planting in the middle of summer it's a complete waste of time because you won't be able to keep the water up to your young plants. We moved in end-September, the developer said that we had to establish the gardens in three months, I didn't as by the time we were ready it was the start of the summer. Developer sent a letter saying my front landscaping should be have be done, I ignored it, it's not as if they can evict me.... but by Spring the following year my front garden was structured and planted. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: help with budgeting 14Jul 21, 2008 3:41 pm RWT - rainwater tank, - yes, of course
20,000L tank - that's HUGE!! We upgraded our tank size and its still only 5000L. Landscaping: save $$$'s by doing yourself. We are doing that, most of the charge for someone to do it is for the labour, easy DIY, no qualifications needed. Our contract says front yard landscaping needs to be done within 6 months but that is very subjective - lay down a weedmat and some stones, that could be called landscaping, then add plants when time is right. Re: help with budgeting 15Jul 21, 2008 3:48 pm Hey....if you Scottish thistles could be landscaping....
Edit....I just realised that could be taken the wrong way....as in national flower....not as in....doesn't matter..... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: help with budgeting 16Jul 21, 2008 9:04 pm Helyn,
I'm sub-dividing and building two. So, one extra set of bins required. Whether the council adds the cost to the final building approval, or I've got to buy them myself, in the end, it will come out of the same pocket. Not sure about other places in SA or Aust, but most Adelaide metro councils have 3 bins (wouldn't be surprised if they cost $400 total). Chris Re: help with budgeting 17Jul 21, 2008 9:16 pm My parents live in Adelaide, they have 3 bins (1 rubbish, 1 recycling, 1 green waste), we live in Whyalla, we have 3 bins too, system a bit different from Mum and Dad's but same principle, I think this is standard in SA, not sure about other states, they do lag behind with recycling, can't believe they don't have deposit on cans/bottles, this has been going in SA for at least 30 years. Re: help with budgeting 19Jul 22, 2008 5:04 pm What is the standard kitchen and bathroom package like? You may want to upgrade the benchtops now - it could be tricky to do later.
When it comes to extra costs - our rule was that we would include anything structural now - anything that's difficult to change - e.g. you don't want to re-tile your entire ground floor after 2-3 yrs. But you can easily change light fittings, taps, carpet. After 4 years - we're in! Hi there, long-time lurker but first time posting. I've bought a house 2 and a bit years ago and last year we had some major water damage on a converted pergola area… 0 7925 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12462 Thankyou so much 😀 I've decided on White on white for doors and trims, White on white 50% on ceiling and Mt buller for walls. Fingers crossed it will look OK 😀 2 7148 |