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Another housing Dilemma!
O.K folks I've given out as much advise as time and Deb permits and now I need some back. Preferably from the eye of a potential buyer/home owner as opposed to my critical builders eyes.
Our dilemma is simple we have a choice of 2 blocks of land, we've done the list of pros and cons for both and are still undecided. Plot 1 is a nice 2 1/2 acre block, gentle slope down to a large well constructed dam, it's fenced on 2 sides and the block has had soil analysis done and the house site cut to face the dam. Power is on a pole at the gate and so's the phone. It's in a flood free area and would lend itself [imo] to a brick built lowset home or a traditional Queenslander. Plot 2 on the other hand is a very steep [I mean very steep] 5 acre block. it's atop of a hill and has breath taking 270 degree views of the local countryside, loads of mature trees/bush land. It also has power and phone at the gate. As I see it the only option here would be a pole home and I visualise wide verandas on the south and west side [the block slopes down towards the south] As I see it there would be extra costs involved placing a sewerage plant in this block as it's predominantly rock. A dam wouldn't be possible as the ground is to rocky and to steep. Both blocks would need tank water and both would need a treatment plant or septic tank. Both are on the same school bus route Price wise the small block is 100% of our equity whilst the bigger would leave us 20k as a down payment upon the construction costs. Any other things I should be looking at? what have I missed ? Which would you choose and why?????? :eek: :confused: |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
Originally Posted by cresta57
O.K folks I've given out as much advise as time and Deb permits and now I need some back. Preferably from the eye of a potential buyer/home owner as opposed to my critical builders eyes.
Our dilemma is simple we have a choice of 2 blocks of land, we've done the list of pros and cons for both and are still undecided. Plot 1 is a nice 2 1/2 acre block, gentle slope down to a large well constructed dam, it's fenced on 2 sides and the block has had soil analysis done and the house site cut to face the dam. Power is on a pole at the gate and so's the phone. It's in a flood free area and would lend itself [imo] to a brick built lowset home or a traditional Queenslander. Plot 2 on the other hand is a very steep [I mean very steep] 5 acre block. it's atop of a hill and has breath taking 270 degree views of the local countryside, loads of mature trees/bush land. It also has power and phone at the gate. As I see it the only option here would be a pole home and I visualise wide verandas on the south and west side [the block slopes down towards the south] As I see it there would be extra costs involved placing a sewerage plant in this block as it's predominantly rock. A dam wouldn't be possible as the ground is to rocky and to steep. Both blocks would need tank water and both would need a treatment plant or septic tank. Both are on the same school bus route Price wise the small block is 100% of our equity whilst the bigger would leave us 20k as a down payment upon the construction costs. Any other things I should be looking at? what have I missed ? Which would you choose and why?????? :eek: :confused: Personally option 1 sounds more viable!! but what do i know!! :D |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
Originally Posted by madsad
Mate regarding the sewerage side, you could bury a self contained twin pump package on your slope? if you want some detail just fire me a PM and i can e mail you some stuff.
Personally option 1 sounds more viable!! but what do i know!! :D I'm familiar with the various types of plants available here, ours here at my folks place is a single tank taylex treatment plant. From a builders point of view I see burying anything in solid rock as cost prohibitive that's what's putting me off that plot. I feel it would be the more saleable of the 2 due to the panoramic views, they really are wonderful but at what extra cost to the initial build price? Thats the scary thing :scared: The company I work for has a rock clause in the contract and it reads to me like an open licence to print money. |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
Originally Posted by cresta57
Cheers
I'm familiar with the various types of plants available here, ours here at my folks place is a single tank taylex treatment plant. From a builders point of view I see burying anything in solid rock as cost prohibitive that's what's putting me off that plot. I feel it would be the more saleable of the 2 due to the panoramic views, they really are wonderful but at what extra cost to the initial build price? Thats the scary thing :scared: The company I work for has a rock clause in the contract and it reads to me like an open licence to print money. Someones on the ball ;) I gave up trying to explain the fine print in building contracts a few weeks ago and that fixed costs are not really fixed, especially when it comes to rock/ slope or blocks of land that are sandy :eek: so easy to dig in but require a concrete plant in the foundations. Thing that people dont realise with rock is you dont have to excavate it, you can pin into it!!!!! with a pole type construction, however most people want to adjust a slab on ground plan they saw in a display village to fit on very costly. Another thing to be aware of degree of slope, some councils, maroochy is prime for this wont allow you to cut more than 1M! you need to build with the block. Try and get some money knocked off the block to go toward extra builidng costs, accept that even if you had level land the display home price will rise considerably. Pay an architech to design something that will pass the looney laws required to build on slope, and allow at least a conservative 30% extra, that of course is very much a guideline even after soil test bit hard to finalise price. All of this can be very worth it if the price of the home is not going to exceed what is reasonable to get back in a particular area. Other considerations, climate codes may not like building anything apart from blank walls on the west , summer sun = furnace heat so some councils can say no to designs with living on west, ideally garages laundres should be here. Resale, can be a problem getting people to accept this type of house cost more to build, buyers can often totally ignore the extra costs involved and expect to pay very little more than a house thats slab on ground as if all the extra work was done for free :rolleyes: |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
Originally Posted by jad n rich
Someones on the ball I gave up trying to explain the fine print in building contracts a few weeks ago and that fixed costs are not really fixed, especially when it comes to rock/ slope or blocks of land that are sandy :eek: so easy to dig in but require a concrete plant in the foundations.
Thing that people dont realise with rock is you dont have to excavate it, you can pin into it!!!!! with a pole type construction, however most people want to adjust a slab on ground plan they saw in a display village to fit on very costly. Another thing to be aware of degree of slope, some councils, maroochy is prime for this wont allow you to cut more than 1M! you need to build with the block. Try and get some money knocked off the block to go toward extra builidng costs, accept that even if you had level land the display home price will rise considerably. Pay an architech to design something that will pass the looney laws required to build on slope, and allow at least a conservative 30% extra, that of course is very much a guideline even after soil test bit hard to finalise price. All of this can be very worth it if the price of the home is not going to exceed what is reasonable to get back in a particular area. Other considerations, climate codes may not like building anything apart from blank walls on the west , summer sun = furnace heat so some councils can say no to designs with living on west, ideally garages laundres should be here. Resale, can be a problem getting people to accept this type of house cost more to build, buyers can often totally ignore the extra costs involved and expect to pay very little more than a house thats slab on ground as if all the extra work was done for free So far as we know there's no restrictions regarding the depth of the cut nor the development of the western side. My folks place is only about 7 k away and their place had no restrictions. It's on the border with Cooloola shire and Tairoshire. As far as ease of development is concerned the 1st block is so simple it's just a case of commissioning the builder. We know the lowset brick house we would build and also the colour scheme etc. We also qualify for a discount for being sub-contractors to them. Drawbacks are it would need landscaping and the garden would require maintenance. Neither Deb or I are gardeners. It has no views nor would it catch any breezes in the summer. :( I'd personally go for the sloping block, we've just been for a second look and there's about 25m of flat before the slope, looks like a big enough area to sit the front of a pole home on with the rest out on long poles. Just the views are so stunning, who cares about gardening on a block like that! A few more native trees and climbing plants and that would be it. It's a south facing slope so the Veranda on the rear would be shady and cool, the idea of a western one was to watch the sunset over the mountains. ;) Deb's worrying about the safety aspect and the added costs of construction. Though the timber pole home is cheaper initially by 40k than the price on the brick lowset we'd build, though I'm sure costs will escalate when the sites surveyed. :confused: I'll go take a few pics and stick them in the photo post gallery. |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
Originally Posted by cresta57
Thanks for the reply Rich,
So far as we know there's no restrictions regarding the depth of the cut nor the development of the western side. My folks place is only about 7 k away and their place had no restrictions. It's on the border with Cooloola shire and Tairoshire. As far as ease of development is concerned the 1st block is so simple it's just a case of commissioning the builder. We know the lowset brick house we would build and also the colour scheme etc. We also qualify for a discount for being sub-contractors to them. Drawbacks are it would need landscaping and the garden would require maintenance. Neither Deb or I are gardeners. It has no views nor would it catch any breezes in the summer. :( I'd personally go for the sloping block, we've just been for a second look and there's about 25m of flat before the slope, looks like a big enough area to sit the front of a pole home on with the rest out on long poles. Just the views are so stunning, who cares about gardening on a block like that! A few more native trees and climbing plants and that would be it. It's a south facing slope so the Veranda on the rear would be shady and cool, the idea of a western one was to watch the sunset over the mountains. ;) Deb's worrying about the safety aspect and the added costs of construction. Though the timber pole home is cheaper initially by 40k than the price on the brick lowset we'd build, though I'm sure costs will escalate when the sites surveyed. :confused: I'll go take a few pics and stick them in the photo post gallery. |
Re: Another housing Dilemma!
We've been for another look around the blocks today, felt like a mountain goat by the time we'd finished :D Anyway long and short of it is that I'm phoning the real estate guy tomorrow to find out exact dimensions of the 2nd block etc. to arrange a meeting with him and hopefully we will make an offer. I'm going to leave Sean at work while I go builder hunting :beer:
I've made loads of lists weighing the pros and cons of both blocks and although with block 1 we could put any style of house we wanted it doesn't have any views other then other peoples gardens whereas block 2's views are pretty spectacular, but a pole house would be our only option :rolleyes: So excited I can't sleep silly I know but that's the kind of girl I am :scared: Debs PS pics on the photo thingy |
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