Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 21, 2007 3:53 pm Hi all,
I'm a soon to be first home owner.. have built up a deposit and am looking for a break into the market. After months of research into pre-established homes I am now starting to think about building a home. Im based in SA, looking to buy/build around the gawler area. Im still tossing up what is right for me, 1) A pre-established home will require more stamp duty than that of house and land package - less fees and charges?? 2) a pre-established home can have hidden problems (ie water heater on the way out etc) that may require attention at any time 3) You dont have the flexibility with a pre-established house (extras, heating, cooling preferences etc) 4) A pre-built house will be in an older area, less visually appealing than a new house and not feel as nice And i do understand a $100K home with extras can blow it out to $120 K ish. Then there is the fences/ heating/cooling, driveways, gardens, floor coverings, curtains, light fittings etc etc I have spoken with a work colleague who has just built and he has filled me in, but I would like further comments on a decision - it would be much appreciated. If I were to buy a pre-established home I am looking around the $275K.. Re: build or buy pre-established 2Jul 22, 2007 9:48 am Just as a bit of a comparison:
We were looking at buying an established house, but after looking at some in the area we wanted, that were not too old (less than 20 years) we were looking at $250K+ We then decided to start looking at land, as then you can build what you want, include what you want and end up with "your" home. We found blocks were $100K+, but then stumbled across our block which was a bit less, in a great area, etc and we just jumped in and bought it - our thoughts were land $95K + house $150K = $245K - no more than buying established. We then found a house to fit the block and us but starting price was $160K - alright that's only $10K more, still cheap... the we added all those pretty bits and pieces and our house is now pushing $200K so all up we'll be up for nearly $300K (some of which we had already) - but it's a lot more than we initially intended to spend being first home buyers/owners. My advice - forget looking at "base prices" - whatever the "as displayed" price is for a house is probably close to what it'll end up costing you (and then some). There wouldn't be many people who wouldn't add extras. Oh, and then there are site costs (we didn't have much, so can't complain but some have tens of thousands in site costs alone!). Just do your homework and I'm sure you'll be right. I think finding good land is a major advantage if you decide to build. Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: build or buy pre-established 3Jul 22, 2007 2:03 pm Hi there,
I have own 4 homes pre-established homes now and spend proparly $80,000 in total doing them up.I have decided its time to build the home we want I guess it all comes down to research and want you want and how long you place to stay in the house. Either way there are extra costs involved We started of with a small home begin first home buyers then we got no help with a first buyers money then we sold and slowly made our way up the propery ladder until we had build up enough equity to build a new home so we ended up we were able to pay cash for our land and garage and only had to borrow for the house All I can say it there are extra costs in both and you should weight up the pros and cons of the suitation. And remember only get what you can afford not what the bank said you can borrow and remember sometimes we cannot also have the extras Yvette Re: build or buy pre-established 4Jul 23, 2007 11:22 am I think it might be a bit risky if you never own a house before and would like to start with building a new house.
Don't forget that it takes ages to finish a new house. You might also need to put into consideration the extra $ you have to pay for your rent during the long period and it's like paying 2 morgages at the same time, plus lots of other possible problems (e.g. dispute with builder ...etc). Always do your calculations carefully and leave some margin/budget in case something goes wrong... Good luck! Re: build or buy pre-established 5Jul 24, 2007 1:25 am Thanks guys,
I think the fact that it seems most people's budget seems to get blown out makes me a little scared to build. It would be great to get the house you want, but I think in the end it will end up costing more than I probably first realized. I don't want to miss the boat so to say, and as it is the land (not the house) that is on the continual rise, would it be a better decision to buy the land now and builder later on and continue to rent? I fear in 12 months, home owner ship may be out of the question (luckily SA hasn't cottoned onto VIC's prices yet ) Re: build or buy pre-established 6Jul 24, 2007 9:04 am Jasoni,
My suggestion is that the first thing you do is sit back and relax. Property prices outside Perth are not going up and my guess is that they will continue to be steady (and actually fall in real terms) for a few more years yet. Renting is not bad way to go, as long as you save the difference between the rent and what you would be paying on a mortgage. This is the key. If you do this you'll be doing better than those that buy. Whatever you do, don't buy land and then let it sit there. You will be paying for the land while not using it. This is dead money. Only buy land when you are ready to build. So look for something you like in land and look at display homes while aggresivdly saving. Once you've found both, know enough about how much everything will cost and have, say, 10% deposit, go for it. Cheers, Casa Re: build or buy pre-established 7Jul 27, 2007 2:44 pm ahh...the age old debate...we too walked down this same path before finally being led to buy our land and build...the thing, i'm pro-established and dh is pro-building...we finally took dh's path for several reasons...
1) established houses come with established problems..and unless you or dh are handy with tools of have friends or family who are & are willing to help, it can be costly to upkeep...that said building a house aint no walk in the park either 2) when you build a house there are so many things you need to look out for (site costs, building costs, exterior of the house etc) plus you need to set a budget for drapes and even a simple thing like a letterbox which you will not have to worry about in an established house. 3) When you build you get what you want the way you want it...in an established house you will have to "make so"... 4) stamp duty cost on an established house would basically neutralise the 1st home buyer grant..then again you will have to pay stamp duty when purchasing land anyways...(smaller amount though) at the end of the day, dh and I are building because we found the land we likes in an area we liked with good school, amneties etc...someone had always put down a depsoit on that land..so we made a decision that if for any reason the deal fell through, we would buy it...and if not, it was never meant to be ours....in short, deal fell through and we are now blessed owners of 604 sqm of pure Oz soil All the best with your decision. Re: build or buy pre-established 8Jul 27, 2007 3:18 pm Do your research and spend some dollars on some suburb reports.
I've used this site several times. http://www.homepriceguide.com.au/products/homepriceguide/index.cfm?source=apm Some small change upfront might save you $20K in the purchase process. They also have free suburb profiles predicted increases etc along with stats on the type of people who live there, incomes, people per hosue job profiles, etc etc etc, all very good stuff to evaluate what you are about to buy into. I also do reviews of nearby suburbs so you can see what they are doing too. Then with the report I check out the latest sales in the area - say 6 months then work out a rate per M2 for the house land in that area, then add or remove some dollars for each particular house ie nicer worse etc. and then put on the increase % to make it todays market rate - Then I have good feel for the area - if it's overpriced etc. Gawler has sort of gone in some areas so do very good research and the new road is going to help it out there so be near but not too near that one would be my suggestion. Re house and land Versus established - I'd go established - It gets you out of rent - into a place of your own and then you can work out what you want in your next house- They say it takes 3 houses before you really know what you really like in a house. Get an engineers report and you should be fine. Yes little things will happen but thats part of house owning. Same with cars. Good luck and have fun. Steve Re: build or buy pre-established 9Jul 27, 2007 3:48 pm That's a very good advice, Yak_Chat!
Regarding the report, sometimes if you are lucky, some real estate agents provide those information for free when they try to attract customers. When we were selling our property a few years ago, 2 real estate agents provide a full report for the whole suburb just to get our business... Or if you have been keeping an eye to the suburb you are interested in, you can get lots of information from Internet, local paper, ...etc. Just monitor & collect a few months data will give you a better idea of how the market goes in that area. Re: build or buy pre-established 10Jul 27, 2007 4:55 pm Jason,
You will also find these 2 articles good toread and understand existing houses. http://www.archicentre.com.au/survival_kit/diy_checklist.pdf 21 tips on what to llok for when buying a house. http://www.littleblackbooks.com/thku/21TipsHouseInspections.pdf I'd also go to a lot of auctions - so you are not so nervous / overwhelmed when the bidding starts on a place you want. and don't be afraid of losing out on a place - if it was not right - it was not right Leave yourself a generous budget so when things go up like interst rates, rates and maybe some repairs you have some cash in the ready to cope with it. Cheers Steve Re: build or buy pre-established 11Jul 27, 2007 5:51 pm Thank you Yak Chat & Ahuang!
Really appreciate the wealth of information you both have in this ...a real help to newbies like me we have never ever owned a home in oz...and we are so new to this...we are still contemplating on whether we would finally build or sell the land that we purchased (it has appreciated by 15k so far...but we're holding on to it for now)....we are currently contemplating a steel-framed home....but that would be another topic all together Thanks again ! and hope you have lovely weekend. Re: build or buy pre-established 12Jul 27, 2007 8:33 pm Main reason we are building is because we get exactly what we want, not someone else's place which we then have to spend money on.
If you can find a place you love, which won't require a lot of changes, then go for it. Building is exciting - but it's more stressful, takes longer, and will probably cost more in the end. Good luck with whatever you decide! Ideally you would engage a landscaper to give you some insight what they may need in the space to make your vision come to life… 1 14227 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 14169 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 9173 |