I have a Few things I was wondering with regards to location/finding a suitable First Home

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  fantombloo on 03/07/2020 - 09:33

  +1

  250m2 patches of dirt around Leppington? WTF has happened?

  • 

    tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:35

    I know right. There are larger, but you pay a premium. Like I've looked menangle park has 450m2 in my budget but they aren't registering this year so I cant use government 25k :(

    • 

      fantombloo on 03/07/2020 - 09:38

      +1

      450m2 around that area being 'large' is no less a mindphuk.

      I'm obviously living under a rock, but TBH I like it here.

      • 

        tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:40

        Curse homogonised big developments!

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  tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:37

  Also is there an easier way to see if land is registered/registering this year without going around speaking to all the builders?

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  Banana on 03/07/2020 - 09:42

  +1

  What are the pros and cons of doing a "house and land" package, vs buying land, and building a house on it? Is it more streamlined/faster? Are you more likely to have cost overruns if you split them?

  Compared to what?
  Buying an old house?
  Pros: You can see what you are getting, structure tried and tested (sort of), if they are an older build then the quality is likely to be a little better
  Con: Someone else has been in it, it is not customised to the way you want

  Buy a land and source your own builder?
  Pros: You can customise it to the tee
  Cons: $$$$ and endless headaches

  I am looking at getting a bunch of deals and I know I just missed EOFY sales etc. How often do home builders usually have sales? What are my best bargaining chips with them? If I can get a bunch of inclusions that would be swell.
  EOFY sales are scams, they would discount when there is not enough demand, maybe during a pandemic, don't know. Find the deal that makes you happy, pay and never look back.

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    tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:44

    So I'm terrible with the terminology haha. Basically
    option 1: I go on realestate site and purchase land. then I go to builder and say "I have a land, plz put house on it"
    vs
    option 2: I go to builder and say "can you make me a house and land combo?"

    • 

      tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:44

      Assuming same builder ofc

      • 

        tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:45

        Bc to take advantage of all government grants (I like free money) I need to build rather than buy.

    • 

      Banana on 03/07/2020 - 09:50

      +3

      I went with option 1 and the custom builder was a nightmare from hell. Severe cost overruns + constant emotional blackmailing for the entire build. But who knows, you might get lucky.

      Option 2 would not be as expensive as getting a custom builder, and if you went with a large reputable builder, I assume there would be less of a headache. HOWEVER, if you are not happy with the generic floorplans they give you, be prepared to fork out a lot more money. Just to give you an idea, we wanted to change the floor plan, add in additional powerpoints (it was ~$100 per outlet) and additional downlights (also ~$100 per light), we were eventually $50k over the initial price point. Also, you would have little say over the materials they use in building and might end up with poor quality materials.

      My previous experience has completely turned me off from building a house and I warn people about that. But plenty of people are happy with their houses.

      TLDR
      Option 1 if you are after customisation, and have the time and $$.
      Option 2 if you ceebs, happy with generic floorplans and don't have a big budget.

      • 

        tsunamisukoto on 03/07/2020 - 09:53

        Thank you, that is exactly the information I was after. I did get the impression the builders might get salty if you dont go their land combo packages. In this case I kinda wanted confirmation of that being something they might do, vs "you are jumping at shadows tsunamisukoto"

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          Porker on 03/07/2020 - 10:47

          +1

          @tsunamisukoto: I too have experienced above option 1 (although not blackmail) and option 2.

          In my younger days, I was happy to take on option 1. In my older days, I have relied on option 2.

          I hate both to tell you the truth, it's just which are you prepared to absorb as a hassle/issue.

          Finance-wise, for me Option 1 was set with option to address issues as they arose, but on the whole (at least the builder I picked) stuck to budget. Option 2 for me had dead by a thousand cuts.

          Exactly as above, getting extra power outlets was $100 on plan. In the end, I attended the site when the electrician was here and I just paid him $40 extra per outlet to install. The builder for the volume company suggested this as to get power outlets installed at that time would've also incurred a $1000 penalty on contract.

          My builder for option 1, although did slug me on agreed additional costs, I won in the end because for example the dishwasher and other items were upgraded (fortunately) as the earlier selected models weren't available when it came around to installing them.