Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 20, 2008 10:59 pm DH & I are thinking of building - we've never built before always bought established homes. We have no idea of where to start other than find a block, builder etc.
We have heard it's cheaper to build off the plan than build a display home - is this true? Also, other than the land/house, site works costs what else are we up for? I'm really after any info any one is willing to share!! Thanks heaps!!! Yolly Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 2Sep 21, 2008 7:03 am I think the first point of call would be find a block.
If you find a house you love first, it seems to be more dificult to find a block to suit it. Maybe start looking at displays and get an idea of cost then you can work on your budget. Good luck with it all, its and exciting time for you. Paula Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 3Sep 21, 2008 9:10 am Find a land to build on
Plan a house to suit your requirement the land Your house keep it simple don't go bigger than you need , that way you can use quality materials and methods without going beyond affordability insulate well double glaze with thermally efficient windows avoid dark colours as they tend to overheat your house in summer!! design for energy efficiency and comfort all year round use healthy materials Hope this helps Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 4Sep 21, 2008 9:21 am We found the display road path was cheaper than using a custom builder. I'm sure that others have found otherwise. I'd find the land first so you know what your limitations are in terms of size and slope and how many stories. Then I'd research every builders floorplan on the internet and drive around and see them. This will help you work out what you want in terms of how many rooms and their location. Then find the closest display home floor plan and get it costed and take it too a custom builder for a pricing too. Then you need to do your homework on builders and read every topic on this forum - it is invaluable. And don't settle for something that might do - hold out till you find what you want (within budget). Fi has moved in!! Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 5Sep 21, 2008 9:33 am Go and look at lots of display homes, get the plans and note down on them as you walk through what you like and don't like. Also see if you can get some pricing so you can begin to get a feel for what things cost. Our experience was that as soon as the sales reps find that you don't have land they don't bother hassling you
By looking at lots of homes we found out what each of us liked and didn't like, luckily for us it was very similar. Its a very rewarding experience(so far ) Good luck! regards sean Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 6Sep 21, 2008 12:05 pm Hi
It depends on ur expectation:- If ur budget driven and not want a customised unique home then project / volume builders would be the best bet. If you have specific plans in mind the most project builders will not make major structural changes to existing standard plans. Smaller builders are good for this but they come at a price. We spent a lot of time more than a year visiting display homes ( what we definitely wanted what we could afford what we could compromise and what we could do without) and learnt a lot along the way. One thing we learnt is what we see in display homes is not included in their advertised price. Dont take anything for granted - question everything even what appears to be simple/basic Good luck Regards beegee Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 7Sep 21, 2008 4:43 pm Quote: keep it simple don't go bigger than you need , that way you can use quality materials and methods without going beyond affordability insulate well double glaze with thermally efficient windows avoid dark colours as they tend to overheat your house in summer!! design for energy efficiency and comfort all year round use healthy materials Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 8Sep 21, 2008 4:55 pm Yolly DH & I are thinking of building - we've never built before always bought established homes. We have no idea of where to start other than find a block, builder etc. We have heard it's cheaper to build off the plan than build a display home - is this true? Also, other than the land/house, site works costs what else are we up for? I'm really after any info any one is willing to share!! Thanks heaps!!! Yolly Hi Yolly, welcome to the exciting world of building. When you build it is cheaper you dont have to pay all that nasty stamp duty tax, that you pay on a established home. But, the best piece of advice IMHO is to have a set limit to what you want spend, all display homes are maxed out with the lovely little luxury's so just keep that in mind. If you are going to build with a volume builder, they will practically only build on a block that is flat as a pancake, or they will charge you through the nose for excavation. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 9Sep 21, 2008 5:21 pm we have just finished building a new home over buying established 4 homes in 14 years.
My advice would be check out all the homes trying and find a design that needs very few changes because these can cost that was the advice given to me buy my cousin who is a build ,list everything you want and those you must have and those things you can go with out.because unless you have lots of money its like buying a new car there are many extra options available remember only what you can afford.In my house would have loved the spa option in ensuite but that was extra 4,000 decided to put towards a pool instead. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 10Sep 21, 2008 10:54 pm Great question and lots of great replys.
My advice would be to keep checking here - read through everyones journeys to get an idea of what really goes on. I'd also set a budget right from the start. The endless options to upgrade are all tempting and its very easy to convince yourself that you 'need' these things. Alternatively, you'll know how much $$ you've got available to play with Also, don't underestimate the time it will take to build. When we found our land over a year ago, we thought we'd be moving into our new house right about now, but we're still about a month away from even starting construction. I know others have had delays for various reasons, while others have had quick and easy builds. From my experience it's no where near as straight forward as buying established, but surely its got to be worth it in the end. Good luck. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 11Sep 22, 2008 9:28 am JellyLegs Also, don't underestimate the time it will take to build. When we found our land over a year ago, we thought we'd be moving into our new house right about now, but we're still about a month away from even starting construction. I know others have had delays for various reasons, while others have had quick and easy builds. From my experience it's no where near as straight forward as buying established, but surely its got to be worth it in the end. Good luck. I agree with this! We bought our land in March 2007 and thought we were being conservative in thinking we might be in by March 2008 ... construction hadn't even started by March 2008 but I've found that once construction does start, it's pretty quick (so far .......... touch wood ........) Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 12Sep 22, 2008 9:50 am Hi Yolly,
What to do next depends on where you are starting from. The best thing to do is to establish a budget and stick to it. When we were at your stage, we : - quickly investigate on the net where we would like to live and get an idea of the cost of land. - quickly checked out on the net the houses that are available to build and how much they cost. - Estimated how much money we would make from selling our house This gave us an idea of our budget, so we checked out the display houses to see if we actually liked any. Having found some that we liked, we went on to sell our house. After all you don't really know your budget if you are relying on the sale of your existing house. Once this was sorted we got serious in looking for house and land. One of you requirement for land was location. I work a long way from where we are building, so having close access to a train station was important. We also have 2 young kids, so being close to parks, child care facilities and schools were also important. Good luck, Adrian. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 14Sep 22, 2008 11:37 am Quote: Spot on windowexpert, but it's much easier and cheaper to build a MacMansion than a house like that Hi Chris Not always more expensive but it requires determination, lots of research to get the right materials for the right price and a strong stand in dealing with builders and architects. But the result is outstanding If you have ever lived in a real house you never want to go back to those gutless MacMansion style boxes of crap which are saunas in summer, fridges in winter and still very expensive to run... Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 15Sep 22, 2008 12:32 pm Hi,
So does the 5 star standard in Victoria not mean much? We are contemplating double glazed windows but they aren't cheap and not sure how much they will save in heating / cooling costs. Dale. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 16Sep 22, 2008 2:34 pm We found that the cost of building as apposed to buying are pretty much line ball. The pluses were that you get exactly what you want and it is a brand new home.
First things first, decide on where you want to live and then select a builder there are heaps of display homes around with various styles, it is a long process to check them all out but worth it is the long run. Re: Contemplating building - where do we start? 17Sep 22, 2008 2:59 pm windowexpert Quote: Spot on windowexpert, but it's much easier and cheaper to build a MacMansion than a house like that Hi Chris Not always more expensive but it requires determination, lots of research to get the right materials for the right price and a strong stand in dealing with builders and architects. But the result is outstanding If you have ever lived in a real house you never want to go back to those gutless MacMansion style boxes of crap which are saunas in summer, fridges in winter and still very expensive to run... Keep trying, windowexpert, we need to get this into our heads 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 110567 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 |