New house.... Corner plot

sundeepguntu · Dec 23, 2016 4:03 pm

Hello Forum members,

I am looking at a plot in stage 1 in Lara, Victoria. Its being handled by First National real estate.

https://www.firstnational.com.au/buy-re ... 1819100368

Its plot no 23 on this pic. JG King has given us a good plan with 3Br and 2 living. the long side of the road is where the main entrance will be. Council wants no fence on the road facing but the sides can be fenced. (which is the way others houses are in that area). JG King is going to do the landscaping + fencing and then its on us to maintain the nature strip.

After reading through a few threads I have a bit of an idea about the pro's and cons. This area is a quite residential area and this road doesn't connect to any major roads, so hoping road traffic to be minimal to normal. The house will be close to the primary school (700 mts) which is our main priority and also close to public transport (Bus).

Could anyone give some thoughts on this. I am keen to leave a deposit in a day or two and then shop around other builders.

julia1301 · Dec 23, 2016 9:15 pm

Hello sundeepguntu!
Welcome to lara, we are currently building with jg king in the lara central estate

As to your block and house it all sounds great! Have you given thought to house placement on the block so you can take advantage of natural northern sun and then to have less harsh western windows etc for energy ratings etc?
Otherwise it sounds like you've chosen a great block nice and close to the school etc.
Good luck with the building journey! Its quite an exciting time and this forum is a wealth of knowledge

sundeepguntu · Dec 23, 2016 11:17 pm

Thanks Julia for your reply.

Good to know your going with JGK and all the best with your dream place.

Our plot is a bit irregular on both ends and also is the corner plot. So, was a bit hesitant at the start, but the location and the surrounding area gave us a positive vibe.

Also, will look into the placement of the house. Below is the floor-plan given by JG King. Going by this, the front of the house faces W, the living room/Kitchen come on the E side and Garage comes to the S.

JG King said its going to be around 8 months for construction to finish. This is a bit long for me,as I end up paying interest on the loan for this period. So still weighing a few options and going to talk to a few other builders to get an idea of what is in offer.

Please feel free to give me suggestions.

sundeepguntu · Jan 12, 2017 2:48 pm

If anyone can help me here.

My builder gave me a form to be filled along with the contact mentioning a couple of surveyors. These are approved by the builder and we don't need to pay extra.
Then I asked him about appointing an independent building inspector to which he said that they wound charge me an extra 3k.
The consultant was explaining that the surveyor is the same person as the building inspector.
My understanding would be that inspector checks for the build quality in our interest. Like pre slab craving and hand over stages. But the consultant was adamant that there can only be one surveyor for a build. But I was talking about a building inspector.

Can anyone please help me here.

TashPaul · Jan 12, 2017 3:23 pm

The builder will have their own surveyor who will sign off on the stages.

This is different to an independent building inspector, who you can get to come in and check the build over at certain stages - preslab, pre-plaster, PCI, etc. I am not sure why this should mean the builder can charge you an extra $3,000.00. It may mean that the supervisor has to be there at certain times, but that is all.

The surveyor and the inspector will essentially be doing the same thing - checking the work at each stage. However, the surveyor works for the builder and the inspector will be working for you (so will tell you everything). Getting independent inspections is up to you, and to your benefit if they find anything that needs fixing,

I didn't even tell the builder we were going to have an independent inspector until we were going to site (after contract signing etc).

Hope this helps.

surtees · Jan 19, 2017 12:18 pm

Yes the builder has an inspector he is meant to sign off everything meets building code and they will use their surveyor, for you own peace of mind/protection you can bring in your own independent inspector which you have every right to do.

Are you still going with JG King?

bank · Jan 19, 2017 12:48 pm

Your consultant must have been confused and thought you were talking about the building surveyor. Ignore them and hire an inspector if you wish. This does not take the place of the surveyor, they are correct that there can only be one of those.

Since the VBA rules changed last September you now have to appoint the building surveyor yourself. This is the form they gave you. You can chose one off their preferred ones and they will cover the cost or if you chose a different one and they will charge you $3000.

sundeepguntu · Jan 20, 2017 11:46 pm

Thanks for all your replies. The consultant kept cutting us off and was trying to prove himself right.

Long story short, we also had issues with the easements (because its a corner plot) which was informed to us just before we were about to sign the contract. Now we booked in the next plot which is 28 * 14 and are going with Simonds Express (Argyle model 4 BR)

Very smooth process and when we expressed our intention to have a private inspector, the consultant's reaction was very positive. All signed and just waiting for our finances to come through.

Love this forum and guess its time for me to start another thread with updates on the building progress.

Happy times to everyone.
Sunny

surtees · Jan 21, 2017 6:50 am

Ah bit of a pain about the easement but soinds like you have had a postive outcome with changing blocks good to hear. Hope the build goes well can wait to watch it.