Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Nov 01, 2014 7:32 pm Hi everyone, This is my first time posting on the website so I am hoping that someone maybe able to offer me some advice/tips. I have a block of land on the coast of Melbourne and are looking at two options. To be honest the way I will go will be down to cost as my budget is quite tight. I was initially looking at building a kit home by Harkaway home's and looked at there price list's and it suggests to double the price displayed to obtain the complete cost of the home. Looking at the home's as nice as they are even the cheapest maybe a real stretch. So I started looking at the alternate option of purchasing an existing home and having it relocated to my site. I have seen some good homes for sale around the 80K which includes the cost of the house, removing and relocating the house and restumping). However I am trying to determine what the real cost maybe if I went down this road. Given that I don't have any experience in doing this before I was hoping for some advice from the forum from someone who had done it. I am really in two minds as to what to do as it will come down to the cost Any advice would be really appreciated. Cheers, The Dec Re: House removal / relocation 2Nov 01, 2014 8:53 pm Hey Dec I was trying to sell my house and there are a couple of things to watch. Your almost always guaranteed to have some asbestos either in eaves, behind tiles or under flooring. Legally they are not allowed to transport a house with asbestos. That being said I asked the removal company what would one realistically spend to get the houses liveable? Basically they said you wouldn't get much change from about 150k + house Not sure if that helps but there are some beautiful old houses out there. If I build again, I would consider Harkaway. Look for the user Cinder, the built a beautiful house through them...I'm quite jealous I love her house. Re: House removal / relocation 3Nov 02, 2014 1:40 pm When I looked into it I thought Harkaway homes sounded a good price at first because it is only a kit, but once you include building costs they actually seem quite expensive. We ended up moving a house and my answer would be, that for what you get, it is cheaper than building new. Ie. it may be possible to get a cheaper new house, however, if you are moving a house that has high ceilings, hardwood floors and other 'nice' features, to build the same new will cost a lot more. There are a couple of catches. Councils are not always keen due to people having moved them and not finished them off, leaving an eyesore. Not sure how banks feel about lending for them. And now with energy ratings, you may find that you need to bring it up to 6 star. This would mean at the very least insulation in the walls and roof. If the exterior cladding is sound and doesnt need replacing the cheapest way to do this would probably be factor in the cost of re plastering all the walls in the house, and fit insulation while you go.(You wouldn't have to pull out cornices or ceiling panels if there are any). We re plastered most of the house anyway as much of it was uneven and had about 35 layers of old wallpaper that would have been a lot of work to remove. It also depends on the house you buy to move in the first place and the state it is in. You can buy as a package from house removalists, or you can buy houses privately for next to nothing, (or get them free), and then engage house removalists. We did the latter. We found our house in the trading post For the ones they are quoting $80,000 on, if they are in good condition and a state you would live in them pre-moving, the costs on top re the building would probably be minimal. It would be such things as electrical connections, sewer/ septic, telephone, gas, permits etc that would be costs on top. If you choose a house that you would want to extend or renovate then hat would bump up the building costs. Re: House removal / relocation 5Nov 02, 2014 9:07 pm Thanks for all the advice most appreciated. TJILPI yiu mentioned that you have moved a house. Can I ask are you located in Melbourne and if so which removal ist did you use. Crazy kin terms of Cinders house you were right it is a beautiful home. Having read the posts I think it was built by Highview homes. To be honest I hadn't heard of them before and looked at their website and I was really impressed. The company I eas thinking of using if I do the new build is Harkaway Homes. Cheers Re: House removal / relocation 7Nov 03, 2014 10:14 am I have done a removal home - a colonial . Would not do it again. The council will require you to bring them up to smicko standard internally and externally, electrical and plumbing need to meet new specs, and its is too much work, and costs too much, because the same or less money you could have done a brand new kit home. Its a no brainer. A lot of removers are cowboys, do not expect quality work. Are you going to be up there when they screw the roof back on to make sure they do it properly? The guys I used were ok, but they still didnt shore up everything properly. Some of the workmanship was just sh0ddy. If you think a perfect looking house is going to survive a relocation without damage, think again. You do know they are going to cut it in half, right, then rejoin it? "However I am trying to determine what the real cost maybe if I went down this road." Even if the house ends up perfect, to get tradies to get it livable, you'll be looking at 30-40K, and your council may want a substantial bond until you get it is finished , mine was 50K, you up for that? You wont get interest on that money either. Energy efficiency measures could end up costing you quite a bit too if it doesnt comply. Only reason to do a removal home is for sentimental reasons, or shifting a colonial into an inner city area where people seem to pay big money for them. Out on a rural block? New home all the way! Re: House removal / relocation 10Feb 11, 2015 3:48 pm I am interested in people's experiences on the other side of the fence (giving a house to someone for relocation instead of demolishing it) and if they thought it was worth the hassle. Re: House removal / relocation 11Feb 26, 2015 8:54 pm Leksie: We're getting our house taken away. We listed it on Gumtree for free and got a lot of interest, a lot from people who had no idea about the process and we knew pretty soon who to take seriously and who was just curious thinking it was too good to be true. It has been a hassle - the first gumtree person sent his removalist out who measured it all up. We sent the guy a contract and then never heard back from him. He stopped answering calls! So we listed it again, had a woman who'd been doing it for years lined up, then after Christmas she called and said she couldn't secure land so couldn't take it. So we listed it a third (and we decided last) time, and have found a gentleman who also does it for a living/has been doing it for years. We haven't bothered with a contract with him as he seems so genuine, he's been out to measure things about 4 times to get his site ready for the house. Other problems we've encountered include Council - they want to know where it's -going-. So it's not just a demolition DA, but a house relocation DA. It hasn't been approved yet so could prove tricky. I'll let you know more as once it's approved by Council we'll call our guy who will be on site within 2 weeks of us giving the go ahead and will have it gone 2 weeks later (weather dependant). Re: House removal / relocation 12Feb 26, 2015 9:20 pm cat_dunc Leksie: We're getting our house taken away. We listed it on Gumtree for free and got a lot of interest, a lot from people who had no idea about the process and we knew pretty soon who to take seriously and who was just curious thinking it was too good to be true. It has been a hassle - the first gumtree person sent his removalist out who measured it all up. We sent the guy a contract and then never heard back from him. He stopped answering calls! So we listed it again, had a woman who'd been doing it for years lined up, then after Christmas she called and said she couldn't secure land so couldn't take it. So we listed it a third (and we decided last) time, and have found a gentleman who also does it for a living/has been doing it for years. We haven't bothered with a contract with him as he seems so genuine, he's been out to measure things about 4 times to get his site ready for the house. Other problems we've encountered include Council - they want to know where it's -going-. So it's not just a demolition DA, but a house relocation DA. It hasn't been approved yet so could prove tricky. I'll let you know more as once it's approved by Council we'll call our guy who will be on site within 2 weeks of us giving the go ahead and will have it gone 2 weeks later (weather dependant). Unfortunately that's how it goes. It's getting harder and harder to relocate homes especially with asbestos. Demo is more costly, but absolutely no hassle and can be organised and complete within 2 weeks Re: House removal / relocation 13Feb 26, 2015 9:24 pm Yes it sure ISN'T a quick process. We first advertised probably this time last year - so a year in the making. If we needed it gone quickly we would have to have demolished the house. Depending how it all goes we may still need to demolish, but fingers cross not as it would be nice to see it not go to land fill, and of course save us the demolition cost. Re: House removal / relocation 15Feb 27, 2015 1:14 am Crazyk I found a guy that took all of the timber from my house and recycled it. The demo guy saved a 2 x 10 cubic metre bin in dumping costs. Did he pay you or was it a love job? Re: House removal / relocation 17Feb 27, 2015 2:21 pm You could advertise it on gumtree "come and take whatever you want" - to save extra dump costs. 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