Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 20, 2010 1:13 pm Apologies firstly if some questions have been posted already and secondly for the many questions I have - some vague and "how long is a piece of string" I know, but I am really just starting out down the build it or buy it road and contemplating if it is worth dragging my family through the process. If I do build, it will be to a tight or specific budget, so I am trying to ascertain where the surprises are likely to be if we decide to take on a build. I am yet to secure a block on the Gold Coast and this will most likely be influenced once I find answers to some of the below. 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block? 2. Am I likely to pay more for a more eco friendly build over the current industry standard build? 3. Are project home builder likely to be able to offer me a cheaper alternative to a custom builder (assuming design, specs and finishes were similar)? 4. If I do choose a project builder, can I deal with certain finishes, fixtures myself or are they likely to want to lock me in to absolute completion? 5. Anyone else build on the Gold Coast who can give me some advice? Many more questions but I'll leave it at that for now. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance. Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 2Jan 20, 2010 2:43 pm Hi and welcome. I am by no means an expert so here is my 2 cents worth... Answers in red: 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block? Overall, yes - excavation costs some to mind? Your site costs may be high to reflect this. 2. Am I likely to pay more for a more eco friendly build over the current standard build? Not sure but a lot of standard/project builders are moving towards green building. You'd have to research it and also decide how much 'eco friendliness' you want in your home. 3. Are project home builder likely to be able to offer me a cheaper alternative to a custom builder (assuming design, specs and finishes were similar)? Yes - we are building a custom home and builder adds approx 8% to their 'base' cost 4. If I do choose a project builder, can I deal with certain finishes, fixtures myself or are they likely to want to lock me in to absolute completion? Sorry can't answer this one as like i said before we are custom building. I assume you could go externally for certain fixtures (flooring, appliances etc). They just deduct the cost of them doing it from your base price. 5. Anyone else build on the Gold Coast who can give me some advice? In Melb Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 3Jan 20, 2010 2:49 pm for example, i am building on a sloping block (850mm fall from back to front diagonally across a 30x20m block), and i am up for around 15000 in additional site costs from the standard (building with EB) Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 4Jan 20, 2010 3:25 pm Build or Buy 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block? 2. Am I likely to pay more for a more eco friendly build over the current industry standard build? Excavation, piers, taller foundations, retaining walls, maybe issues with the driveway if it's really steep, yes, likely additional costs. Eco friendly, that really is a piece of string question. There are expensive eco-friendly features, there are simpler things you can do with really useful benefits, there are things builders seem to be including as standard these days, there are things you can add later and there are things that aren't feasible to add later. I can't help with the Gold Coast but where we are there is a requirement that new houses meet a certain energy efficiency rating so even the basic starting point might be somewhat eco friendly. (It's questionable to me how successful they are in achieving a comfortable energy efficient result but that's a whole other long discussion.) Correct orientation of the block and using a plan that is designed to take advantage of that orientation shouldn't cost more. As mentioned, it depends on how much eco friendliness you want. Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 5Jan 20, 2010 5:31 pm Build or Buy 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block Hi, Like the other posters have mentioned there is increased site costs, retaining walls, etc. One other thing to think about is that you will not be able to pick any house you like, you will be limited to designs that will work on the block. Cheers Still not in. Don't ask!? Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 6Jan 20, 2010 8:19 pm Build or Buy 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block? 2. Am I likely to pay more for a more eco friendly build over the current industry standard build? 3. Are project home builder likely to be able to offer me a cheaper alternative to a custom builder (assuming design, specs and finishes were similar)? 4. If I do choose a project builder, can I deal with certain finishes, fixtures myself or are they likely to want to lock me in to absolute completion? 5. Anyone else build on the Gold Coast who can give me some advice? 1. Sloping blocks are usually more expensive to build on. But it depends. How much "slope" are we talking about? 2. The energy rating requirements mean that you're house will probably be somewhat eco friendly. Some builders add extra eco features to their package because they know it is important to consumers these days. We got additional insulation in our base price. 3. A custom builder quoted us more than double the price of a project builder for more or less the same size and finishes. 4. Depends on the builder. Varied greatly for us - some were happy for us to do almost anything. Others wouldn't hear anything about it. 5. No idea about the Gold Coast Trying this building gig one more time. Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 7Jan 20, 2010 8:29 pm Please accept my apologies for typos - using a phone is a challenge When we were starting, we wanted to have a slopping block as we believed it would allow more creativity to the design. Unfortunatelly our combined incom was not enough to support or creativity and after comparing approximate estimates for site costs being 10K for a level block vs 50K for a slopping we conceeded. Indeed there are differen degrees of slopes - some are more expensive to service, some are cheaper. The worst case is when the slope goest from the street level toward the house - storm water management and drainage become a lot of a challenge... a quite costly one. All energy, green and other stuff is more a marketing hype rather than a reality, IMO, completely contradicting the basic economical logic. Global Warming??? - nah... talk to the Poms about it Basic logic tells me that going with high volume project builders will be a cheaper option.. Could be wrong - unfortunately I have not built that many houses to compare... Doing own finishes - not sure as it may affect insurance and finance questions... As well as warranty... Overall, to me building vs buying is a complex question and no straighforward answer seems to be possible - different people have different needs and capabilities. Considering factors of accomodating your needs such as 2.7m ceiling which is rare in most of new dwellings - you better go with building your own (probably)... Cost savings? Depends - in NSW you don't pay a stamp duty ok building a house - therefore it is possible to build say a 750k house (actually 450k after deducting land at 300k) and pay zero stamp duty - a saving ~30 k... However if the budgt is muh smaller - buying an existing house will be much cheaper - while house is being built you will still have to pay rent, mortgage etc... So yeah it all depends indeed. Best of luck with your decision making process! ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Help with many questions before I decide to build. 8Jan 21, 2010 1:07 pm Build or Buy Apologies firstly if some questions have been posted already and secondly for the many questions I have - some vague and "how long is a piece of string" I know, but I am really just starting out down the build it or buy it road and contemplating if it is worth dragging my family through the process. If I do build, it will be to a tight or specific budget, so I am trying to ascertain where the surprises are likely to be if we decide to take on a build. I am yet to secure a block on the Gold Coast and this will most likely be influenced once I find answers to some of the below. 1. Is it true (in most instances) that building on a sloping block is likely to be more expensive than building on a flat block? 2. Am I likely to pay more for a more eco friendly build over the current industry standard build? 3. Are project home builder likely to be able to offer me a cheaper alternative to a custom builder (assuming design, specs and finishes were similar)? 4. If I do choose a project builder, can I deal with certain finishes, fixtures myself or are they likely to want to lock me in to absolute completion? 5. Anyone else build on the Gold Coast who can give me some advice? Many more questions but I'll leave it at that for now. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance. 1. Yes building on a sloping block is more expensive. The reason being more labour and more materials. For example we are building on stumps on a slope, it was extra as we needed longer stumps & more concrete. 2. Yes you more likely to pay extra for an eco friendly build as many builders will not include this as standard. 3.No. Larger builders aren't always cheaper. We found with our house a custom builder worked out cheaper, by thousands! Our block was on a slope and we built on stumps. Alot of the larger companies refuse the build on stumps and charge a fortune if you wish to change anything on the plan. 4. Sorry not sure Hope this helps I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6745 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15678 You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14352 |