Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jul 31, 2010 11:49 pm Hi everyone My name is Michael AKA ( buildme ) Myself, My Wife Jenny, My little girl Morgan & Little boy Mitchell & Mavis the cat don't know where to start and need some info. We are in the investigation stages of looking at purchasing some land around the Ballarat area, hopefully around 5 to 10 acres with a view to building a Paal Kit Home on it and cladding it with Mud Brick. It is a 10 year project who knows maybe 20 but i want to get my family out of this silly city called Melbourne where we rent in Glen Waverly at a silly $375 per week with no hope of ever getting a silly box that is really worth around 150K asking 800K What should we look at first to get started with a block of land ? You see one on the net, get in touch with a shark called an Estate Agent who promises you everything yet has no idea What do you do if you find a block ? sign a contract subject to Soil test ? Flood zone ? Bushfire zone ? even allowed to build a house subject to council approval ? What taxes are there depending how many acres you purchase ? Anybody out there that can start us off would be great, just a small step would be great Cheers, Mick. Re: How To Purchase Land. 2Aug 01, 2010 12:13 am Hi Michael, Your poor wife is the only one without an "M" name! Anyway my advice would be to do some looking online (say domain or similar site) and get an idea of prices in the area you are looking at. Maybe also a family trip to Ballarat might be good in order to scope out the particular area of town you like (in your case I imagine being close to a good school would be a must). If you do manage to find a block you like then yes you normally contact the agent who's selling it & make an offer to the vendors. If they accept that's where the fun starts You will get a contract for the land; make sure you get a solicitor or conveyancer to look over it and explain everything to you BEFORE you sign and make sure the purchase is "subject to finance" (if you are relying on a bank for the purchase monies) or subject to anything else you want to explore (for example bushfire attack level or zoning). Provided that all goes well in addition to the purchase price you will most likely have to pay stamp duty, bank fees, transfer fees & legal/conveyancer costs. Plus of course water rates & council rates for as long as you own the land Hope that helps & good luck with it all. Re: How To Purchase Land. 3Aug 01, 2010 12:13 pm hey mick congrats wanting to get out of the rat race we did best move we made now a few things with acerage to be careful of 1. dont rely on the agent saying you can get a building permit they just want to sell the land. now this goes for any block residential or acerage. get the block number or lot number of the agent ask the agent what council the block comes under ring the council ask for the planning dept tell them u are interested in purchasing the land but want to know if there are any restrictions on building a home on this land mind you this wont gaurentee that you can get a permit but if you cant then they will know that 2. look at the surrounding land see what houses are around and what the lands been used for eg. wheat,sheep,cows ect 3. power power power this is a big one you may see power poles on the land but this dosnt mean the land has power ring the power supplier in this area i think its powercore they have a website. give them the lot number and ask what it would cost to get power to that site it can get very expensive on acerage up to 50 grand in some cases so you need to factor that in 4. banks will only lend you 80% of land value so u need 20% deposit 5. if you are planning on living on the land in shed or caravan while you build once again ask the council if they have any restrictions on that 6. dont let the agent bully you by saying we have other people interested its a tactic and although sometimes true mainly its not 7.never pay the asking price drop a massive chunk off the asking price and this gives you room to move up keep in mind you have the power not them if the agent senses hesitation they will get you 8.hilly sites may look great for views but can add $1000s to the cost of building 9. keep in mind distance from schools and shops. if their is a school bus in case your car breaks down a deep freezer is a must and a supply of long life milk lol 10.also consider buying an old house in ballarat 1st and renovating it there are still some bargains and you can make a quick 50 grand 11. owner building is rewarding but can be very frustrating im sure theres other points ive forgotten but hopefully this helps good luck with what you decide stay safe happy building Re: How To Purchase Land. 4Aug 01, 2010 12:59 pm Thanks for the info Grom If you put Jenny as Mummy then we are all MMMMM yes, weird I know. Thanks for your tips. We have had drives around and a look to get the feel for the area as well. Gees thanks for that BS, Bingoshelley that is not the other BS. this is the sort of info I needed, I have been on the right track and glad I haven't leaped at anything. I notice you help a lot of people on this Forum BS and it is really great because this sort of stuff can hurt you financially which we can't afford to do anymore. Really great advice, Cheers, Mick. Re: How To Purchase Land. 5Aug 01, 2010 2:01 pm your very welcome this site is a god send for owner builders ive learnt so much and saved heaps from others mistakes made a few mistakes myself lol cheers BS lol stay safe happy building Re: How To Purchase Land. 6Aug 01, 2010 5:48 pm Nothing of value to add, except congratulations on making the decision to own your own home. Building is definitely the cheaper way to go (but I am biased ) good luck <edit to add> good decision to get out of Melb as blocks are cheaper and the volume builders usually include more ie: carpet/tiles throughout and airconditioning. Hi guys, Iām currently looking at a house i want to buy but the building inspection has picked up a number of issues with the brick piers under the house. I took a… 0 4460 Hi, This is my first post. We are planning to buy new home via House and Land (H&L) Package around Boxhill/Gables/Marsden Park in Syndey. Googled reviews for most of… 0 10466 Very good points. Thanks so much ponzutwo for your advice. Appreciate it. 2 10367 |