Nick and Sian

Hia. Emmigrating to New Zealand and looking to building our own home in Bay of Plenty. Any advice as to cost or to be honest any advice would be welcomed.
Cheers
Nick and Sian

phil01

Hello,

we are doing the same thing but in Northland. First step secure a home loan for the purpose of a build project...if you need one that is. Then find a section of land you like, some people get the LINZ and Geotech reports on the land, down to you as the purchaser, we didn't bother as ours is on a new subdivision and we have neighbours either side of us and the builders we chose went and looked at the site and told us no issues as far as building was concerned. Then get a solicitor to deal with all the paperwork. Then find a building company to do your build. We have gone with Golden Homes, they can start with an off the shelf plan and change it completely to what you want! Thats it in a nutshell, pretty easy really.

Nick and Sian

Hia Phil Thanks for replying. Roughly how much does a new build cost where you are? 4/5 bedroom. Thanks again

BEVS

Have a look at the GJ GARDNERS WEBSITE.

danny.f

ok.

bourbon-biscuit

We're building a budget home in the countryside. We've choosen A1 as I really like the plans, which can easily be altered and they've been really great so far

http://www.a1homes.co.nz/

phil01

Our section cost us $180k it's a very small section but on a Florida type estate right next to the beach which we liked, as in got tennis courts, lakes, and our section looks out over the golf course and to the mountains. So pretty area. The house which is single level 5 bed or 4 bed and a study, 2 bathrooms, open plan dining, kitchen and family room and separate lounge, double garage is costing $220 and we are having a pool put in and the gardens landscaped which is another $40k on top. So in total is costing $440. We looked at two new houses on the estate both of the next door neighbours one was a 3 bed at $500k and the other a 4 bed at $540k, and that was with no pool so all in all we should be quids in!

phil01

We were initially going through A1 they are really nice, that was for our other section we were having a 2 storey house built with 4 beds and was costing $190...so yes they are good value.

bourbon-biscuit

We bought four acres in central hawkes bay, 10 mins from the sea in beautiful countryside for $110,000.

Our build plus land plus services plus some landscaping basics (shed, fences, some planting) will be approx $338,000. that's for a four bedroom home with 55m2 verandah with woodburner and ducting system, 2 bathrooms, fitted kitchen and laundry. It has linea cladding on three elevations, slider doors and a deck to the bedroom and french doors onto the morning sun filled breakfast deck.

Can you tell I'm excited

phil01

Yeah we considered the countryside, you can get a fair few acres for $100k in Northland, we look at one section with 27 acres for less than $100 but with having a 10 year old daughter we decided we wanted to be closer to the beach and around where her friends live and school is, we also didn't really want to be on septic tank and water tank no real reason other than we don't want to over complicate our lives, so opted for a little seaside type village that could be connected to the mains...that is the other thing to consider when building. We also chose brick and tile...don't know why we do like the weatherboard but we seem to get the tropical storms up here so thought that would be better. I think most builders provide the fully fitted kitchens with appliances and laundry rooms with the tub.

If you shop around you can get some real bargain land prices pretty much anywhere in NZ and build for quite a reasonable price, much cheaper than buying a ready built house in need of updating. I would say the other thing to watch out for is buy land with the titles through otherwise you could end up with land you can't build on until they come through which could literally be years!

bourbon-biscuit

Quite. We made our land purchase offer subject to finance and due diligence and to go unconditional after 20 working days and that completion would come a week after unconditional SUBJECT to title. I've heard of title taking yonks and really scuppering people's plans :curse:

Our land is right on the edge of the village where my daughter goes to school and she can't wait to move down with all her mates

Septic tank and rain water really needn't put people off. We opted for a waste water treatment system rather than just a septic tank as failing septic tanks are a real cause of pollution and hassle. Choose low water use appliances and invest in a decent filter and UV light and you have fantastic water supply We're also using water saving devices like spay heads on taps, grey water recycling (from bath, w/machine and shower) for loo flushing and low water use shower heads. We're in Hawkes Bay where the average annual rainfall is only 800mm so these measures seem prudent but in other areas I probably wouldn't go to quite such effort.

krissie

hiya
we built our own house in Tauranga....lot cheaper than buying one!!! 4beds, 2 bathrms, kitch, lounge dining etc $190,000 for house then price of land on top... the xtras can add up though....u have to keep track of these cos its easy to get carried away!!!!! we used GJ Gardner and they were fantastic!!

krissie

all depends on where you wanna live....house prices in tauranga have gone up loads......still can get the odd bargain section....

Leewales

when you say buy land with title? what do you mean by that? advice because as manwell said in faulty towers " i now nothing"

Ash1

Hi guys,

Sections (plots) are anything from $150,000 upwards depending on size and area. Build costs are approx $1,300 /square metre up to $2,000/ square metre, depending on the quality of finish and fittings.
Cheers
ash