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House Building Queries - Open Thread


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Daughter and SIL received all the council approval last week and builder advises slab going down in next two weeks.... woohoo! 4 months delayed thanks to developers stuff up with Landgate, but finally moving in the right direction!! Eerily, the pre-start meeting with the builder took place on their wedding anniversary... not planned that way.... good omen after the constant delays we reckon!

Edited by Rossmoyne
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Ross, try to get them to get the builders to commit to commence of building or even better plate hight. They need to push as "normal waits are about 8 weeks for building to commence. But the more you push the more you get. We have started pushing and our time frame has moved from late March to January - early February.

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Ross, try to get them to get the builders to commit to commence of building or even better plate hight. They need to push as "normal waits are about 8 weeks for building to commence. But the more you push the more you get. We have started pushing and our time frame has moved from late March to January - early February.

 

Thanks Stormy... they are pushing a bit, but as they are living rent free with me until the house is completed, they are liking the way their bank balance is increasing, so in a way are happy with the status quo! Bet you and Mrs Stormy are getting excited now you can see the end in sight....

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Things going well for you now VS, wont be long and you will be moving in, our brick work should get finished this week, we already have all the materials on site for doing the second floor slab, the SS is hoping to have the second floor scaffolding down by xmas, its been 14 weeks now since slab down ............ouch, Rossmoyne, you better dig in, its going to be a long wait with having lodgers :biglaugh:

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............ouch, Rossmoyne, you better dig in, its going to be a long wait with having lodgers :biglaugh:

 

 

Ha ha Druid... actually it is working out very well for all of us as it has meant that I can go away on many trips and not worry about my pets. I have hardly been home this year... hence my frequent absences from PP! Off away next week and won't be back until a week before Christmas, then I have a visit to Margaret River in February and then the "big one"... 6 weeks in England! Might find it hard to be home based after all this travel though! And also I have someone to do the housework and gardening.... win-win all round I reckon! Rossy

Edited by Rossmoyne
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Things going well for you now VS, wont be long and you will be moving in, our brick work should get finished this week, we already have all the materials on site for doing the second floor slab, the SS is hoping to have the second floor scaffolding down by xmas, its been 14 weeks now since slab down ............ouch, Rossmoyne, you better dig in, its going to be a long wait with having lodgers :biglaugh:

 

That is exciting. It is very fast once the brickwork is finished! Up till then everything seemed in slow motion, now there are different trades almost daily.

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On the subject of keeping pushing - but slightly earlier in the process...

 

Once your builder submitted your plans to the shire, did you follow up with the Shire's planning dept at all? Just wondering if a quick call to make sure everything was received and is in good order is worth it, or if I'm just being a control freak PM again!

Edited by Nikkis2000
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On the subject of keeping pushing - but slightly earlier in the process...

 

Once your builder submitted your plans to the shire, did you follow up with the Shire's planning dept at all? Just wondering if a quick call to make sure everything was received and is in good order is worth it, or if I'm just being a control freak PM again!

 

They might not talk to you about it Nikki.... you know as the builder is your "agent" so to speak. Worth a phone call though maybe?

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  • 4 weeks later...

A tip:

Landscaping / gardening is not the same here as the UK price wise.

We knew it was going to be expensive, but bloody heck it is expensive. We are looking at about $6k for basics - growing our own grass (you need soil delivered) and a few plants

fencing, gates, dividing walls are also incredible. We have already put the wall up between us and one neighbour. The cost was $3500 each (it is split between the two houses). so, another $3500 to get the other one done. Then the front fence / gate between the house and dividing wall is coming in at $4000.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah you Have to be a bit rich to build in burns beach now ;). Lovely view and pad is looking great. We loved a show home house from home group but would have to be in Amberton if we want the shiney new house build, saying that if the recession does hit and the bottom falls out of the housing market there could be some bargains.

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We bought the land a month before we decided on Ben Trager to build, we had already negotiated with the bank that we do a house and land package, they were fine with it up until they had to pay out money, so we had a time limit to get the building contract in place, before title, doing a house & land package saves you a couple of thousand on stamp duty etc & you can negotiate a better deal with the bank.

 

Burns Beach is the last patch of coastal building land, this is the lifestyle we came for, its been hard, but when we eventually sell in the UK it will all come right, at the moment we have a massive Aussie mortgage, just to compliment our UK one, we only just scraped the minimum deposit together after saving like mad for a year

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We were going to build. Looked at land. Realised that where we wanted to live the last remaining blocks were priced at such a high level we could actually buy an existing house in the same street for less than we could buy the land and build! So we've bitten the bullet and bought a house. In fact, the rebuild costs are only $100k less than what we've paid so it looks as though it was over capitalised by $350k based on the price being asked for the same block size in the same area! So my advice is do your maths beforehand and make sure you won't be overcapitalising on your dream house build.

 

We always dreamed of building but at least we can move in and enjoy our new home straight away! So chuffed...and excited! We're moving in a couple of weeks so let the packing commence...again!!!

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Here are a few of the hidden costs of building we are encountering so far (we are about a month from completion)

 

boundary walls. The rule is they are split between the relevant neighbours. A single limestone wall will be about $7k - so allow $3.5k each wall.

 

Fences are cheaper, but still allow $1k per side.

 

Gardening. Shockingly expensive. The best qoute we have had for turf was $1000 for enough to do part of the front. You also need soil which costs about $60 a trailer and one trailer covers about 4sq meters. Pebbles and things can be more. We have thought about putting crushed rock. But, it works out about $190 for 4 sq meters.

 

Additional paving. Allow about $20 per meter if laying yourself.

 

Curtains / blinds. If you want tailor made, then $2000+ per pair. Ready made from $200 per pair.

 

Letter boxes - allow $200 as a minimum.

 

Washing lines. Allow $100

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