Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Aug 16, 2019 6:12 pm Hi, I have heard that it is near impossible to get finance as owner builder these days. My partner and I are looking to buy some land in the countryside (vic) and would like to build on it one day. We run our own fabrication business and work a lot on residential construction around Melbourne already. My partner has a degree in architecture and we have a fully kitted out workshop to make a lot of the elements from steel and wood. We feel we are well placed to be able to build our own place, We however do not have a building license. Has anyone had any luck getting finance as OB lately? Also keen to hear from people who have applied but weren't successful. We don't have a lot of equity but we do have the time, tools and experience. Re: finance as owner builder 2Aug 17, 2019 10:47 am annack Hi, I have heard that it is near impossible to get finance as owner builder these days. It's tight, But all my clients aren't having problems, there is always Money available for the right projects You will need to provide Building Information Modelling (BIM) Data, proofs, project planning, What if Simulations ... etc,etc to the banks Forget about the "How good My House will look... WOW ? Architectural 3D BIM rendering presentations " Banks don't fall for that trick any more, Sadly, those days are long gone, lessen the liability by presenting facts. Interestingly, It's basically no AEC data/proofs..no loan and is driven by google Goodluck Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: finance as owner builder 3Aug 20, 2019 1:29 am It is much harder now. You will need to provide all details in format that the banks want. You will definitely need someone from the industry for help on this one. I work with my supervisor/pm to work all these out. Nice looking presentations, concepts, etc.. forget it. Banks are not interested in these anymore. They want facts.. so proper quotes for everything is almost a must. I am going thru mine now. You also need to find the right broker to help you with. Not all brokers know how to deal with owner builder for a start. I have been working with my broker, supervisor and the target bank for two months finalising things. For me, things are not as hard since the block I own got more than enough equity to cover the build. The bank will also need to know a detailed schedule for your build and you need to demonstrate that you have enough working captial to complete the house (ie: enough money to cover at least 2 stages of building. This would be the hardest part.) and buffer for unexpected events. Good luck!! Re: finance as owner builder 4Feb 22, 2020 9:32 pm I guess I better start talking to them earlier than later to understand what they need in terms of paper work and quotes. Re: finance as owner builder 5Feb 23, 2020 9:23 am We carried out a major renovation as owner builders. We were also told we told finance would be challenging. My understanding is banks don’t like lending to owner builders as they tend to run out of money before the build is completed. We met with the bank manger who had his “no face” on until we presented our plan. I think the key is actually understanding the role of a builder. A lot of people see the builder as the person who builds the house. The role of the builder is however to manage to build of the house. So you need to go to the bank with a documentarian stepping out the project plan not just drawings of the finished product. The project plan should be broken down into tasks eg installing kitchen cabinets and milestones eg completion of kitchen. You should also list you resources and have your resources assigned to the correct tasks with estimates of time and cost. We used Microsoft project as we use this for work. A free option is Open project https://www.openproject.org If nothing else doing this task will help to understand the task in front of you and time, costs involved. If would also help to have market research on what a finished house to the standard you are completing would be expected to sell for in your location. Some people may want items such as a resort style pool etc. In the wrong location you may not see a return on the money spent on items consciences over the top. No bank should ever lend money if there is no chance of recovering the debt if the wheels fall off. Re: finance as owner builder 6Feb 23, 2020 9:40 am Good feedback. I will do something similar. I have done most of the pricing research but haven't selected all tradies as yet. Good to know the steps you took. you were just referred to get advice from your solicitor. This is a legal matter. Separately, why would you use a buyers agent for a house and land package? 3 57697 Hi VK, Think it's worth investing time in an Owner Builder course to equip you with basic knowledge on Australian Building Industry and its regulations. Also, I suggest… 11 23610 |