Can it realy be this easy??

[Stella]

Can it be this easy or are we missing something???

In one of the areas we have been searching for new PPOR (already established) we wandered into a land sales office & were told of a new release to be two weeks from then (making it Easter Sat). We looked at maybe 3 display houses & thought of all the horror stories we have heard over the years and thought nah not for us -too much hassle, too expensive etc etc.

Then, after looking at yet more existing houses, making offers & getting no where (apart from depressed), friend steers us to mutual acquaintance who works for a builder in the area.
Basically off we go & have a chat, seems building not as 'difficult' as it used to be apparently, find we like the display floor plan so off we go to land office - given sheet of land to be released & now here comes the surprising bit - we find the perfect block, chat to builder who can fit not the perfect plan (block no good) but my second choice of floor plan which fits perfectly with what we want.
Thought it was supposed to take months of searching & planning & agonising & arguing??

Are we missing something (apart from having to get some finance for land asap) or have we fluked it?

Oh yeah - and this is going to cost less than buying one of the established places in the same area that we have been looking at??
Cheers
Stella

 

[GIDDO]

Hi Stella,
I have also noticed that builders packages seem to be decent value.
Having built 3 times I would suggest that there are always a few hidden costs.

Interest costs for hanging on to the land, and the progress payments on the house while it is being built.(watch out for contract fine print specifying nil penalties if builder goes over his time.)

Soil test may not be ideal. Can be a few thousand for foundations if soil test proves worse.

Extras can include

Retaining walls if req
Fencing
Landscaping
Light fittings
Mail box
clothes line

Then you have got your outbuildings like garden sheds and other sheds if req


Don't forget your window furnishings and sec screens.

Regards Giddo

 

[mja]

We've built before and we'd do it again in a heart beat. We purchased land in May 2005, settled in August 2005 and moved into our finished house in July 2006. We could have easily just purchased a house and moved in straight away - but we kept telling ourselves that because it was our design, the wait would be worth it. It was.

I guess the hint is to budget for all those costs that Giddo mentioned above that the builder doesn't usually handle - stuff to fully complete your home.

For every success story of building, usually there's a horror story from someone else, just to balance it all out.

Good luck!

 

[RumpledElf]

Building is one of our options, and the thing that is putting us off at the moment is the length of time between getting land (which for us could take some months - subdivision) and having the house finished. The builder we spoke to before the FHOG was tripled said the wait would be about 18 months, I'd guess it is longer now. There's also the finance issue, having to get a bridging loan for that long wait instead of just being able to sell and move straight across. I just get this feeling that if our situation changes dramatically in that 18-24 month wait, which is entirely possible, that we would have signed up for something that is at the bare minimum of what we need because of our current income and come the end of the long wait we won't actually want that design after all. Unless we choose a small design that you can extend, but the average modern house plan doesn't seem to lend itself to extensions ...

 

[AUSPROP...]

picking the plan etc is easy - it's getting it thru council and then hoping the builder is half decent. If the builder delays, is incompetent or goes broke then you have big problems.

 

[Stella]

Great info thanks guys. Inclusions with this builder include
Fencing
Landscaping
Light fittings
Mail box
clothes line - plus a bunch of other stuff. Will be 'turn key' - all we need to do is window coverings apparently. Using one of their plans with a few changes to suit our lifestyle.

Will be bugging my poor with mb (again) today as to best way to do this as our PPOR is only going on the market today & build time has been quoted as around 18 weeks so it could be an interesting time ahead if we sell quickly or take longer to build! Is getting exciting already - much better than continually house shopping!
Anyone have a spare room

Watch this space!

Cheers
Stella

 

[AUSPROP...]

build time has been quoted as around 18 weeks

they usually qualify this by saying it is from time of the slab pour. How long to get to that point is like how long is a piece of string.

also, ask to see their order book, then contact some of the clients or drive past the sites and get a feel for how long they are taking. A friend just spent 2 years battlign a prestige builder here in Perth. they got their house in the end after much stress

 

[Stella]

A friend just spent 2 years battlign a prestige builder here in Perth. they got their house in the end after much stress

OMG I would go crazy with it taking that long!

Have asked for a list of a couple of local places & there is a palce the same as the one we have picked being built somewhere nearby we are going to have a look at too.

Cheers
Stella

 

[RumpledElf]

Yeah, some stuff is slow. It just took us 6 months to get a subdivision app through council, I hope their building apps are faster. Took 5 months to get the water connected to our house. Apparently Telstra can take around 6 months to connect phone lines to a new house. Probably explains why the old coots living in their kid's house across the road from ours while they are waiting for theirs to be built - they were there when we got our house 10 months ago, and are only just showing signs of moving out now.

And therein lies the reason I'm so dubious about building, despite the convenient block of prime land located 5 metres from our living room ... I still have to wait for a plumber (5 months last time), fencer, SA water, ETSA, lands and titles for the actual land app, then finance approval or my current house to sell, building approval, building (it was a transportable company that quoted me 18 month wait), then all the services connected (plumber and ETSA again). Urgh. I know its slow out here becuase we are country and the current building boom is just insane, but you hear the same thing in the city too.