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Hi Guys,

 

I am new to the forum & have been living in Mandurah for around 2 1/2 years now.

We absolutely love it here & are about to lodge our PR.

 

Once we have this we will be looking to build.

I actually work for Ventura homes so naturally we feel building new was the way to go.

 

Has anyone had this process of build new or buy established?

Want to gain more information on buying land, building restrictions & site costs?

The experiences we have had so far nobody ever explains this in enough detail & if anything we would feel more confused.

 

Friends of ours actually brought some land to build & didnt know their exact site costs which ended up being far more then they had budgeted & now they cannot sell the block or afford the home design they want.

 

Since arriving in WA I have built around 200 homes as a supervisor & recently got into the Design Consultancy side, I am more then happy to help anyone

struggling to decide which way to go. I can give you advice on sites works costings, design options to maximize the block of land as well as time frames & any hidden factors no other consultants will explain in enough detail.

 

 

Thanks, have a great day :)

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/John-Barnes-New-Home-Design-Consultant-572218846279101/

Edited by john barnes
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@john barnes ….. we are about 12 months from looking at land / build options .

 

However my question would be - how much of the design process can the client get involved with ? For example if i wanted to move wondows about to make most of scenery/certain view etc ?

Im just interested as in the UK i built high end properties and my archetect really made the most of each build ………… But yep really all im asking - is do you pick what house you want ? -or do you pick type closest then say we need to change this this n this ( before build starts obviously ).

 

Thanks in advance

 

Paul n Lisa

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Pegg

 

we built our place last year.

 

You our can be very involved and change lots of things as long as the shape of the house stays the same. For example, we started with a house that was a 4x2, but, we turned it into a 3x2 so one room was massive as my wife works from home as an artist. We also turned the entire back of the house into glass as we had a view.

 

Some changes will not cost anything, some cost, but some can actually reduce costs. For example, put in an extra window can reduce cost, but then add big double glass doors adds cost as you need extra steel.

 

The he big thing to remember when looking at builders and show homes is that what is included in the initial price is very different to a show home. For example, the standard electrical inclusion only covers one socket per room. Try running a kitchen on that! So, you need to budget for all that and you don't get a final price until you do pre start which is a month or two after you have already signed.

 

The he other issue is to watch ground works. The OP implies some companies give guaranteed ground work prices. This is misleading as it is at best a partial guarantee. You need to investigate this yourself before you buy the block. For example, speak to neighbours about any issues they had. Also consider getting it proffessionaly investigated before building. For example, if the building company estimates $10000 for it and you hit clay, then that can blow out by 200k!

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Pegg

 

we built our place last year.

 

You our can be very involved and change lots of things as long as the shape of the house stays the same. For example, we started with a house that was a 4x2, but, we turned it into a 3x2 so one room was massive as my wife works from home as an artist. We also turned the entire back of the house into glass as we had a view.

 

Some changes will not cost anything, some cost, but some can actually reduce costs. For example, put in an extra window can reduce cost, but then add big double glass doors adds cost as you need extra steel.

 

The he big thing to remember when looking at builders and show homes is that what is included in the initial price is very different to a show home. For example, the standard electrical inclusion only covers one socket per room. Try running a kitchen on that! So, you need to budget for all that and you don't get a final price until you do pre start which is a month or two after you have already signed.

 

The he other issue is to watch ground works. The OP implies some companies give guaranteed ground work prices. This is misleading as it is at best a partial guarantee. You need to investigate this yourself before you buy the block. For example, speak to neighbours about any issues they had. Also consider getting it proffessionaly investigated before building. For example, if the building company estimates $10000 for it and you hit clay, then that can blow out by 200k!

 

your house sounds fantastic @verystormy !! did you sell it or rent out when you returned to UK ?

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My daughter and her husband built a new home from scratch and it took almost 2 years from start to finish. They had many problems along the way... from issues with the Land Registry, the Developer, and finally the Builder. All those issues actually came down to the fact that no-one was talking to anyone else. And this was probably because they bought a block on what had previously been a small farm... it was rezoned to residential.... blocks were sold by developers who suddenly disappeared when builders came along! So many issues involved... but 2 years later they are finally in their house. Shame about the feral neighbours that even the cops and the council can't control. Daughter and SIL are just waiting for their house to appreciate in value so they can sell it and move on!

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  • 1 month later...

Hi,

 

Im new to this forum. Its nice that you are offering help to people who need advices. We built a house about 3 years back with Commodore-BCG. they took nearly 1.5 year to complete. They took 7-8 months for approval as it was our 1st home we were not knowing lot of hidden tricks but we are very happy with the material they have used. Till date no cracks nothing.

We want to buy one more land and built agian but with a different contractor this time.

We are trying to target Rossmoyne and willenton area. Can you please suggest if you know any land available in those areas.

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Don't forget there are many other ways to build a house. One option is to purchase a site, employ an architect and design team to design and document the house that you want, rather than modify one out of a plan book. This approach allows you to go out to competitive tender with a selection of builders which can give you best value for money in terms of the construction costs, rather than being stuck with a particular companies extra costs which is where they will try and increase their profit for extras and changes, all after you have signed up with them.

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Hi,

 

Im new to this forum. Its nice that you are offering help to people who need advices. We built a house about 3 years back with Commodore-BCG. they took nearly 1.5 year to complete. They took 7-8 months for approval as it was our 1st home we were not knowing lot of hidden tricks but we are very happy with the material they have used. Till date no cracks nothing.

We want to buy one more land and built agian but with a different contractor this time.

We trying to target Rossmoyne and willenton area. Can you please suggest if you know any land available in those areas.

 

I doubt very much that you will find much in the way of vacant blocks in either of those suburbs. However there are older homes in those suburbs on the market, and the current trend seems to be buying an older home and demolishing to rebuild. Can be an expensive way to go though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you decide to buy land / build, the two biggest issues to think about are covenants and ground conditions.

 

Many suburbs will have restrictive covenants that cover a range of things. For example, we visited an area called Timbers Edge where many of the houses are timber and we loved them, but few suburbs allow them. Our suburb also had covenants that require owners to build the party wall from limestone blocks. So, instead of being able to put up a colour bond fence down the garden for a matter of hundreds it cost 20k to put up two limestone walls.

 

The other important thing are the ground conditions. Builders allow an amount for preparing the ground with an assumption that there are no issues. If there are issues you will need to come up with the cash on top of your mortgage. So, our block had some large stones in the sand. These had to be dug out at a cost of several thousand. But, because we had spoken to the neighbours we had been warned of it and had a geotechnical inspection prior to buying so we could budget for it.

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