Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Aug 08, 2013 7:03 pm We are at retirement age and have 3 options with our dilapidated rural NSW asbestos-fibro, hardy plank house and granny flat. 1: Sell the 1ha land to new owners who want to build, they could live in the existing house then demolish it. 2: Owner build ourselves with a BIL who is in his late 60's and always wanted to build solar style. 3: Renovate the existing house ourselves either to live in or sell. Hubby wants option 2 or 3 which is his dream. The house was very old when we bought it 25 years ago and there were no builder's regulations when built so it breaks many rules. We are on brick piers on one side and the rumpus extension is not elevated at all. Don't ask about foundations etc as I have no idea. I had a hard time getting him to do urgent repairs when hailstones damaged the crumbling asbestos rumpus roof and allowed water in, damaging the ceiling. Eventually he put metal roofing over the top but has neglected many other needed repairs so is clearly not cut out to build. BIL also lives in a neglected house which needs to be sold. Our electrical and plumbing may need fully replacing, insulation doesn't help with wooden floors and thin walls. The granny flat has a rotting support beam due to the porch rotting. We have no income and are living on his meagre super which will soon run out. I don't think I could maintain the land if I were to be widowed and just want to sell, option 1. Would we run into council problems if we try to sell? I know house plans are not held by the council. I have no idea how much the DA would cost or the time factor. I could end up a widow living on a building site having to sell at a drastically reduced price just to survive. As he thinks I am hurting his dream of renovating, I need some legal, financial, regulation or other legitimate reasons to let him know his plans are impractical or impossible as he won't admit his ideas are beyond his capabilities. I know he needs a builder's licence and other paperwork. Would the council require a plan of the current house to renovate? Does that cost much? Could they determine that the current structure is unsound or needs major repairs before we can build additions? Re: Feasibility of Renovating Old Rural House 2Aug 09, 2013 10:26 am Wow! You've certainly got a few problems. I'm with you and think that you should sell. If you've got a buyer grab the opportunity. There will be heaps of up front costs: you'll need to have the existing house drawn up, an engineer to inspect and tell you what's what structurally, then the renovation plans drawn up and lodged with council for approval including stuff like Basix Certification etc, etc. Then if you are building yourself there's an Owner Builder's Permit to obtain, specialists to remove the asbestos, sub contractors to organise, escalating costs to worry about, etc, etc. If you get a builder to price, the order of cost would be $1,800/M2 of building. Hope this helps. Re: Feasibility of Renovating Old Rural House 3Aug 09, 2013 12:31 pm Hubby finally got it last night after 20 years of disagreeing. He sees I can't care for the land if he had an illness or injury. He realises it's our age, building difficulties and obstacles plus the asbestos at fault, not me stopping his dreams. We don't have a buyer and need to do serious decluttering after decades collecting family stuff, books, hobbies etc. Would we need any paperwork or house plans if we sell the land without the house in the value? Is that possible? Many thanks to this forum where I collected information about costs, delays, red tape and other hurdles people had to overcome so hubby could see it was not that simple to build or renovate. Asbestos is such a huge problem that we homeowners end up paying for thanks to past 'head in sand' syndrome by governments and others. Good luck to all of you in your ventures. You're all much braver than me. Hi Renee, Boundaries in NSW are generally shown on Deposited Plans. When they put boundaries into SIX Maps from these plans, there are various reasons that these often do… 1 2024 What you are looking at is fibrous plaster, true gypsum, it is cast on horizontal beds with fibers included to give strength. I has no Asbestos in it. Houses before 1985… 2 7143 Old Home Restoration / Renovation Hi, just discovered all these junks left behind under the floor. Could any of these be asbestos? Best to leave as it is or clean up? Thank you for your thoughts 0 8071 |