Browse Forums Buying Land 1 Nov 26, 2012 12:38 pm Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 12Dec 09, 2012 9:25 am Saint Mike I found it fun to get a water bill - when I didn't have any meter or connection. "Oh, but you have the facility running by your block" ... they said. Admittedly it was a minor amount - but was still a surprise. I know, we should probably be used to it by now. Yet if they owed us money it would take forever to get it back. No bills= you're dead. Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 13Jan 08, 2013 4:54 pm Wind rating - normally it's is N2 I believe, we were rated at N3 and had to pay an extra $2,000. I think it goes up to N5, but I don't know the costs involved that far up. This was a cost we weren't prepared for though, we didn't even know there was such a thing as wind rating! Settlement: 10.02.13 Slab: 06.03.13 Frame: 08.03.13 Lock-up: 05.04.13 Handover: 03.06.13 Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59555 Brisbane Photography Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 14Jan 08, 2013 5:01 pm Retaining walls Our block has a slight slop from right to left so we have to have a retaining wall on the left side of the block. But in addition to the cost of the retaining wall we have to pay for extra safety precautions for the roofers, they are allowed to fall from the roof to the ground but can't have the potential to fall onto a retaining wall. We have a narrow block so they will be close to the retaining wall when on the roof. It added $10,000 to our build. Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 15Jun 26, 2013 4:32 pm Water sump We are building next to a water sump and the council wrote back to us and said for the 1 in 100 event of the water sump overflowing we have to build our house up a bit higher and have more retaining - $6000. Were not able to contest this, so something to bear in mind. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64434 Building our own custom design based on the Elwood by Dale Alcock Land settled - November Plans submitted to council - January Prestart - March Slab - 18 September Brickies - 23 October Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 16Jun 28, 2013 12:32 pm Section 173 (sub-divided lots) This meant that the previous owner could get away with not putting any connections to the block - not water, storm water electrical pit, etc, so we have had to cover all of these costs ($10K for drainage as we have to go thru another person's property, $3K for the pit). Also meas that we have to fulfill certain landscaping agreements made by the first owner and then paid approx $6000 to have the Section 173 removed. All up about $20K we didn't budget into our building Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 17Jul 13, 2013 7:45 am A few more legal point of discharge for stormwater. the distance can be hundreds of metres termites water tapping not pre-drilled watermain. boring under the road etc sewer long runs are expensive bad ground of any kind, especially deep fill flood country. so have to build up excavation removal of soil Section 173 agreements of other kinds. all types bushfire slope. fall of land driveway access ag drains and spoon drains trees lopping trees removal stump grinding There are many more and most can be determined if someone collects up and properly analyses the relevant data. Good design will soften the blow brought about by these things that people call hidden costs, but they are not really hidden. good luck all Re: 'Gotchas' when buying land - hidden costs 18Oct 01, 2013 1:14 am Definately watch sloping of the block. Had a relatively level block when the contract was signed - subject to soil testing and finance. The developer obviously tested the block, then built it up a bit more. Finally when the builder went to site they had to re level the block building up slighty at the front. Added an additional $4k in retaining walls that weren't originally required. Yeah I don't know why I came to a forum. Place is full of wierdos/pedos thought internet may help but I suppose I'll try my luck with someone in person. Cheers. I tried… 0 6638 Looking to tile the facade pillars rather than rendering. Builder is quoting 2500$ laying cost for upto 10msq. The 2 pillars come to be 16msq. So laying costs are 5000$… 0 7917 10 15978 |