Canberra OB Reno & extension or KDR

Hi all. First post here, hopefully I can track my journey from a twinkle in my eye until the day we move in.

I'm sure many of you have had that gut feeling for years, and I suppose all I have right now is that gut feeling and a desire to build my own place. I must satisfy that desire and get my hands dirty soon or I'll go mental!! It's getting near to 20 years since I almost did it, I tried to buy an old building for £14,000 when I was 23 back in my native Scotland, but I couldn't raise the money. I was a recent former student and my girlfriends dad was a builder. He was going to give me a bit of a steer, but I wanted to do it all on my own. Turns out he knew someone who was looking for a place like that, so when I declared myself out, he bought it for £14,000, and flipped it a week later for £28,000!!!!!

So here we are, years later in Canberra with a different partner, 2 very young kids and no 'father in law' ready to step in. We bought a place in Downer, ACT on a 733 sq m rectangular, very flat block, an old ex Govy 3 bed, 1 bathroom house. Front facing north. We bought it to do something to it, either add to it and fully renovate or knock it down and start again.

Our time frame we set ourselves is 5 years from purchasing (Feb this year). That's financially driven so if I can get it done cheaper than we expect then it might speed up our start date.

In terms of next steps, I plan to extensively research the OB route which is slightly different to the UK. I need to make sure I understand what's involved and make myself completely comfortable with the process. I need to get s plan together for costing it up, and see how long it might take.

A lot to do, and I'm sure it won't take another 4 years to get the job done..... will it??? ?