pickletheplacid

Everyone had any experience building their own property in Perth, Australia. I plan to build my house when I get out there in August 2003, but would like any advise, info, contacts of builders, is planning permission a straight forward process, general land prices, material costs, rules and regs etc.

pickletheplacid

Ruffy

This internet address i found in australian news
www.landcom.nsw.gov.au

pommie bastard

Did build in Perth and got ripped off but thats the way it is ,there are loads of builders and its very easy to do .
Watch the cost of earthworks most will not include this and can work out pricy try and do it yourself , all extras builders make a third mark up.
Do not get carried away at prestart just ask for what they can do cheaper like changing lay out , everything else do yourself.
You will have to hassle the builder every week to get anything moving and get used to being lied to.

Land now thats the down side land has sky rocketed in Perth forget beachside unless you have $200k plus for a good block 20km plus away from the City , watch Brighton Beach Estate one its a suburb back from the beach , two its got Homeswest houses mixed in .

Sea or river views will double the price of most blocks but they make the money on resale , so location counts.

The rule of thumb is buy a block for $150k you need to spend at lest $200k on the house to make it a good investment.

Try this site for land

http://www2.reiwa.com/content-home.cfm

Builders

http://www.mbawa.com/find_builder.cfm?mode=search


If want a good one try these boys top firm not to expensive


http://www.wbn-homes.com.au/

pickletheplacid

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pommie bastard
Did build in Perth and got ripped off but thats the way it is ,there are .........

Sounds like the build process is similar to that of UK - land sky high, spend approx £150 on land and £50-80 on build.
Location, location , location.........

Having said that most UK builders a real graphers.
Although in Aus I don't suppose you have the weather to contend with.

Thanks for the links, all are very good and ones I haven't looked at before.

pickletheplacid

pommie bastard

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pickletheplacid
Had a new home built in the UK just picked a style and paid the asking price , heres its far from that straight forward the show homes are great and many , but question what you will get in the home price they quote.
Plus beware of prestart this is where the builder makes his cream , you turn up as in the UK to pick details and get contract drawn up , then the hard sell starts just remember the person over the other side of the desk is a sales person .
Good luck it can be fun but ring the builder twice a week and look at the site every other day , also never believe anything the builder says unless its written down ( on the contract ) or you see it in stone.

Ps give these cowboys a wide berth I wish I did Don Russell Homes a name I shall never forget 11 months of hell on wheels.

Ceri

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pickletheplacid
I'm building here (Brisbane) as we speak. Weather - my house was actually held up because of the heavy rain a couple of weeks ago, part of my land got washed away - we're on a bit of a hill overlooking the bush (reserve is backing on to me).

And yes - check out the building every day! - I've already pulled up the builders on two mistakes - watch them! . My house is in frame stage - going up fast now. It seems to go really quickly after the slab - the slab was the longest wait.

cheers

pommie bastard

''Frame stage'' do they not use double brick in QLD as in WA ?

pommie bastard

No offence but bin this crap paper before you get taken in , its bull for the deluded and lives off immigration .

Ceri

lol, land of fibro up here, bricks seem a fairly new concept

It actually depends - most brick housing here where I am anyway, are single, you get the odd house for sale which will say "double cavity" - they actually list it in the estate agents ad's as a selling point. most of the big building companies do not do double cavity brick-, I suppose they might if you ask them though. You get what you pay for in other words. mine is single same way as most are built here.
Houses are cheap for a reason.

pommie bastard

Each state sets different stardards those in WA are nearly all double brick but none have insulation in the cavity which is required in the UK plus roof insulation is an extra .
You get what you pay for in WA too the guys I know in the trade say that they would not get away with the methods they apply here in the UK very iffy and cheap .
The big mistake we made was to many big windows great for sea views and light but let in heat and the wind played a tune on them in winter that made sleeping hard work at night.
Good luck with your new home it can be as stressful as immigration but it fills in the time and cuts out boredom.

SteveBannister

If you've got Sky Digital, watch a programme called 'Hot Property' on Discovery Home & Leisure. It's an Australian house-buying programme that follows 3-4 couples over a number of weeks who are buying, renting, building, retiring, house auctions etc. The new-builds are quite informative as they tell you some of the regulations for the different States as well as loads of things to look out for. Ten times better than the poor UK copy of this programme on UK Style and the like, where presenters feel the need to 'help' and wannabe celebrities called 'locators' and 'house designers' get involved. It's just basic house hunting but tells you about contracts and how the system works over there. Always best to go prepared.

Ceri

Big windows - oh no, our house is going to be all windows - big bay windows and glass patio doors. That's why chose our builder - it was for the design of the house We want to take in the views.

All ready had a meeting with the sparky - $1000 extra/on top for the wiring I want - for fans , extra lights, double sockets (price does not include the fans/fittings - this is for the extra wiring - things which were not included in the original price) . Tried telling him I want the light switch outside the bathroom - "why do you want that, most people want them inside just in case you're in the bath and someone switches the light out" - my reply was " I'm British! unless it's on a cord - I want the switch outside the bathroom - ever heard of electrocution - wet hands" - it's hard work aye. arghhh! They actally had a socket over the bath on the plans - moved that straight away, sparky thought that was a bit dull/dangerous himself .Heaps of things you need to work out.

pickletheplacid

I'm planning on doing a good job on the build i.e. double brick (breeze block) and render. I suppose I could cost a single wall and dry line it - depends on the saving. I'll also be working along side the builders so will have the ability to check what there doing in real time.
Sounds like I could really save some money if I did all the footings, foundations, services, my self.

Hopefully if all goes well and I make even a small margin on the build of my house I'll then start up a little property company building really high quality houses.
Any UK builders moving/ living in Perth that want to start a small business just let me know.

pickletheplacid

pommie bastard

The windows can be treated with foil all kinds of shades are available paid out $800 dollars to have my town house done it is a good idea lets in light and keeps out heat , if you go this way get at lest 3 prices they vary a lot in cost.
We spent $20k at prestart then paid another $40k to finish off inside and landscape the back included a pool that cost $12k, so I understand your problems all minor things cost and add up.
The biggest pain was trying to get our cowboy builder to finish off and put right the stuff ups a common moan here , the tin roof ( colourbond) was still being worked on 4 months after we moved in .
The sad part was after 12 months we got tired of the area and and the beach life which in winter in Perth means getting blown of the planet I did wonder why most coastal homes look like bunkers, also we had a home that took all weekend to clean and the block was far too big for us .
The good plus was it sold quick and we found a new home more suited to our needs , I wish I had just sat on the block and not built in 3 years the block I had has moved up 300% in price land on the coast (sea front) in the Northern suburbs is getting harder to find unless you move 60k away from the city



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Chris000

hi, we're building in Brisbane at the mo but had a really hard time with the banks to lend us the money as we havn't been in Aus a year as yet.Previous morgage of twelve years in the UK meant nothing as 'we hadn't got any credit history in Aus'! To convince them they would like 20% deposit thankyou very much.And that was with all the banks.We also brought a sizeable deposit from the sale of our UK house. Beware.I hope that its differant in Perth- but i doubt it!!!!.good luck with your plans,but it may take a little longer than you plan.
Chris & kate. :scared: :scared: