Bix

If you had gone for one of those CEC kit houses you could have relocated it up the hill

wanderingwombat

The ones you can take home in a box trailer and erect with just the missus???

WW

youngy73

normall the machines are around $150 an hour. i had a large loader, an excavator and a roller. they were there all day from 7 till 7. considering i had one quote for $24000 i was quite pleased.

youngy73

we had the bobcat tidy all the levels up and have had the retaining wall footings dug. we need to dig the holes for the piers next week and then get them concreted.

Ozzidoc

Lovely

moneypenny20

So are you the first building up there or are there others along the road? Be good to have a nose at others building once you're in

youngy73

no, im the the first one in there. we dont actually own the land yet as its not titled so its a bit of gamble at the moment.

wanderingwombat

Can the council issue a building permit if the land is not titled?

WW

youngy73

we find out on monday.

wanderingwombat

So you've started building without approval on land that is not yet legally yours???

That is high risk...

WW

youngy73

thats why its a bit of a gamble. we probably wont go as far as the slab until we have title but by getting the earthworks done, the retaining wall built and the piers in gets us going without spending heaps of money. we have a contract on the land and all the developement work is done, just no title yet. i have a letter from the developers solicitor giving me the go ahead to start building but the plans are not approved yet. this is probably because there is no title but we find out tomorrow. every month that goes by will cost us $4000 when we have to start paying for the land so by doing what we have done so far has probably saved us $4000. so there is some method in the madness. also if we get a couple of cyclones like larry and monica this could delay things even further so as it was dry we decided to the earthworks. as you know the wet season can drag on a little bit and heavy rainfall in may is not uncommon

Geelong Gent

A developer purchased a block across the road from us in Oct 2007. It had an old diplated house (not suitable for living or renting out or doing up).

He requested a long settlement ie Feb 2008 (5 months) during which time he went through the planning process for 4 units/townhouses. He then on sold the land with plans and permits the week he settled.

The contract for sale is the important piece as you cant pull out of it once both sides agree (or at considerable cost).

Hope this gives you support Youngy.

Ozzidoc

An aunt was the seller in a similar situation. 12 month settlement delay.

With hindsight, she realised that she should have asked for some kind of additional deposit or extra money should the contract have fallen through.

I suspect that maybe the contract's benefits to her were not strong enough in her eyes, and that there was also an emotional element to this. However, she felt that her hands were tied and she could not move ahead with her life until the place was off her hands. Kids had moved out. She wanted to travel and do other things, but didnt have the cash.

(It was her home, a mortgage-free million dollar property and this was approx 15 years ago.)

youngy73

just a little update. we cannot get approval from the certifier until we have the title. so although we are in a position to start the build proper and have an ok from the developers solicitors to get started my balls are simply not that big to invest serious money until we actually own the block. all the earthworks are done, concrete piers are dug and poured and the retaining wall will be completed next week. i will post some photos when the wall is done.

painter man

Completely off topic youngy but did you a couple of weeks ago meet a couple on holiday from coventry who said they knew a painter who was hope fully heading up to townsville.I you was the said person small world innit.
Good luck with your build.