Need Help with Land Choice (Melton)

[janiyaha]

hi all im new to this, found this Forum online, looks great.
Im a first home owner (well be bery soon) at the moment im looking into buying a block in Melton (Melbourne), at the moment me and my hubby are confused with choices, we have waited for a new Land Release called Atherstone, this is a Lend Lease Delfin Community, which is goi9nmg to be very community based like caroline springs, probley is they told are much cheaper prices before the release, now that the release has come land is about $10,000 higher than they to9ld us. So in there 1st (stage 1) they only have 2 510sq blocks with a 16m front and 30 depth,in the whole of stage one, all the blocks are so small there about a 12m front or even 10m front. Im dissapointed, melton is meant to have large blocks at a great price. This block is $177,000 and is titled in June 2012, which gives me and my hubby 7 months to save for the house deposit.]

Im stuck because i came across a lovely area in the mean time that is quite built up, Botanica Springs (Melton), and i have found a lovely almost 1 off, 18m front 580sq block, for an awesome $163,000, only problem is the land is titled and i dont have the deposit for the builders yet, only land and stamp duty is saved, and the block also has a storm water easement at the back of the block, what do i do? are easement bad? do they de value your property? i dont know what to do please help me......much needed and appreciated

 

[Aaron_C]

Don't panic. Sewerage easement are extremely common and are nothing to be concerned about. Just make sure you don't start digging up in that part.

Have you signed any contracts yet? Or are you still looking?

 

[janiyaha]

Totally lost in thought

Thanks for your quick reply Aaron, no i havent signed any contracts yet, as of this weekend i well, just dont know where, go for the cheaper land that is bigger, BUT i dont have them builders deposit yet, so i asked for a titled extension on the land for at least 90 days, problem with this is the Vendor may want me to pay his mortgage fees for 90 days, thats not gonna be easy dont know if thats gonna happen, and then theres Atherstone a new and upcoming community that at the moment is just farmland, its a long project, and the land is smaller than propsed and the prices are much higher, buy about $10,000 in Melton (i asked why) and they said it Delfin lend Lease we can....

I dont know what to do because Atherstone gives me 7 mths to save comfortably for the House, but the land is higher, and the blocks and surronding blocks are much smaller..... arrgghh this suxs.....

Im totally LOST.........

 

[Aaron_C]

I understand. Is there any particular reason why you place so much emphasis on a wide block? And as for your purchase - have you seen a bank/broker about how much you/your husband can afford for the property? Because sometimes you can buy a property with only 5% of the purchase price in savings - or you can get the savings from other sources like friends/family...

 

[janiyaha]

i have the savings for land and stamp duty atm

With the wide block not really except its needs to be no smaller than 15m frontage as the house we are getting is wide.

i have always been happy with 15-16 frontage but its like when u go shopping and u see something that is supposed to be out of your reach but it ends up not being out of your reach.
Well with the finance side of things with have done the hard yards and saved up more than enough for land deposit 5% and even stamp duty on the land, as for the house savings nothing yet thats why Atherstone was within reason, as the land titles in June giving us time to save save save, but its costing more, and is smaller, and in a new area, stage 1.

What are good question to ask banks when applying for a home loan, just to be safe and know what i need to?

 

[Aaron_C]

Ok that makes sense. You have to ask your broker/bank how much you can afford to borrow (given your income) long before you are signing ANY sale contract. There is nothing worse than buying a place without your finance sorted out. Get that done first. Don't worry too much about the land release - there's plenty of land in Melton so if you miss out on this one, I can assure you that plenty more will be available in due course.

 

[BradW82]

Hi janiyaha,

I dont know if this will be of any help to your situation but my wife and I were in a very similar situation last year .

We were looking at our first block in Melton as we could not afford to get into caroline springs which is where we are renting , so we went for a drive out there and had a look around . We went to Botanica springs where we were told all the land was sold and what was left was sold to builders. So away we went over to Melton South . We were not interested so then to Arnolds Creek . A few display home workers laughed when we told them we were looking at spending about $130k and said all the land was gone . We then went next door to the land sales office and snapped up 17.7m x 35 m block for $152k and felt very lucky as it was the last block . Well in the meantime we realised we did NOT want to live there and it became more painfull by the week so as of about 2 months ago we decided to put the block on the market . Sudenly there is about 3 or 4 new estates in the area , we cant sell our block because of this and the priced have dropped A LOT . So we are building on it as our first IP .

The moral of the story is , live where YOU really want to and dont be fooled into thinking there is no more land available resulting in a bad decision.

We could have bought a big block in Botanica springs for the same price or less if we had not rushed and listened to the trickery of sales people . We are now buying in Springlands in Plumpton which is 200 metres from our front door in Caroline springs and while it is a smaller block , its where we want to live .

Hope this helps somehow !!

 

[drfunk]

I really wouldn't rush this OP. I think someone in another thread summed up this area very nicely.... "Melton is an island in a sea of land"

Don't rush, save money, and consider whether you actually want to live in melton

 

[Property Meister]

have a read of Yesterdays the age about estates, a big half page article about estate property sales,

it was also on the age website, but I cant seem to find it just now,

apparently sales have dropped 60% compared to 12 months ago

 

[Giddyup]

Hi janiyaha,
Sudenly there is about 3 or 4 new estates in the area , we cant sell our block because of this and the priced have dropped A LOT .

Are you the desperate to build your own house? Melton will be hit harder than most areas with the property down turn because the rental vacancy right has gone from 3% to almost 12% in a year. There will be some investors that will be offloads 2 - 3 year properties at a discount. Buy something like that and you could pick yourself up a bargain compared to the cost of building yourself.

 

[Tony3008]

have a read of Yesterdays the age about estates, a big half page article about estate property sales, it was also on the age website, but I cant seem to find it just now, apparently sales have dropped 60% compared to 12 months ago

"Melbourne's once booming house-and-land market has gone from being in overdrive to a slump in the space of a year. At its peak in 2010, home buyers were purchasing about 1400 lots a month for homes in new suburbs like Wyndham Vale in Melbourne's west and Clyde on the city's south-east fringe. But now land sales have slowed to about 600 lots a month, according to the National Land Survey Program report by Research4 and property analysts Charter Keck Cramer. ..."

http://theage.domain.com.au/real-es...plummet-to-sevenyear-lows-20111109-1n7eu.html ?

 

[Aaron_C]

When times are tough people flock to quality and not that stuff in Werribee

 

[RightValue]

It is cheaper to buy an existing near new house in that area than buy land and build.

 

[meggala]

"It is cheaper to buy an existing near new house in that area than buy land and build."

very true and you can get an even bigger block lots of land in melton no rush plenty more coming as well.

 

[Melbournian]

i would think the high demand properties in melton would be the ones where ppl wanted to hang near the mosque. religion thing.

know someone who particularly wanted place near to the mosque so he could do his 5 x prayers aday.

 

[JWR]

Rent in Melton for 5 years and then buy one of the 5 year old houses you would have built yourself for a big discount. With the large supply of land the prices won't go up by much I don't think in the short term.

Alternatively, buy an old house with big land and build a new house in a few years when you can afford it. Cheaper entry and the land you want.