Buying My First Home - Land and Building a House

L777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 00:17
Last edited 25/12/2021 - 06:36 by 1 other user

Hey guys, we are looking to buy our first house.

Currently interested with buying a land first in Stockland Minta in Berwick, VIC. 350m2 for $512k. Looking to build a single storey 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 2 cars for about $300k-$350k. Deposit 10% January 2022 and settlement in Feb-July 2023. Many friends told us about the risk, land slope, soil properties, those will give extra cost.

Pros:
Will have enough time to save up for construction loan deposit.
Build something we like
Land value will increase if we put deposit now.

Cons:
Extra cost?

Can I get your advice please?

Thank you very much!

Note:
We have combined gross income $137k. Mortgage broker said our borrowing capacity is $750k.

Any advice?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • SF3 on 25/12/2021 - 00:23
    +1

    Can i get your advise please?

    Advisor: You should seek advice.

  • salrock on 25/12/2021 - 00:24
    +1

    Go for double story if you wanna live 5 plus years here but if you wanna sell and build another than go for single story

    • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 00:29

      Thanks mate.
      Its more about the budget.
      Double story would cost 400-450k.
      Happy with single storey to start with.
      Just concern with some news about the problems may come up with the land? Like in gold coast
      Saw a complain in the facebook group as well about leaking groundwater that builders and council saying its stockland’s problem but they insist its not their issue

  • boomramada on 25/12/2021 - 01:28

    Only advice, find a good builder.

  • deeznuts1234 on 25/12/2021 - 01:33
    +4

    Hey congrats on beginning your search,

    Just wanted to share some advice, although settlement is expected in Feb-July 2023, be advised that it is more common than not that the title and therefore settlement runs behind and takes longer than the estimate. So if you are looking to move in ASAP that might be a risk to you, however as you pointed out in the pros, I believe it would give you time to save up for a construction deposit.

    Regarding land slope and soil properties, bigger estates such as Stockland Minta would definitely have more buildable land (good soil and flat land) and builders will usually give you a site cost allowance in your build contract (e.g. 10k included site costs). However, nothing is ever 100% so might want to be weary of possible site costs (for reference, I bought in a private subdivision which had about a 1.5-2m slope corner to corner and cost me 33k fixed for site costs).

    Another thing you list as a pro is that land value will increase if you put the deposit now, while in the long run (decades) that is true, it should be noted that this won't always be the case in the short term (next few years) so understand the risks with that.

    For your price range, I think a 3bd/2br/2garage can be had for less than 300-350k unless you are speccing it out to near display home levels (I did 4/2/2 26sq for 302k with decent inclusions).

    An extra cost I didn't expect was that I had to pay for the land tax pro-rata from the developer as they paid land tax. Once you build on it and it is your PPOR, then you are exempt from land tax, however as it is not the developers PPOR, you will most likely be paying for a portion of the land tax when settling on the land.

    Feel free to message me about anything as I went through the whole process this year.

    Happy holidays!

  • screensaver on 25/12/2021 - 03:54
    -4

    I would recommend allowing for a granny flat, easy extra income for life.

    • SBOB on 25/12/2021 - 09:02
      +3

      Granny flat…on a 350m2 block?

      • pharkurnell on 25/12/2021 - 10:56
        +1

        I cant believe blocks are that small these days.

  • Euphemistic on 25/12/2021 - 09:30

    Location location location. No point building a house if it’s too far to commute to work, too far from friends and family, too far from shops or no good for public transport.

    • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 09:33

      any opinions on Berwick/minta?
      its 20-30 mins for us to commute to work.
      her family is in the city but we only visit maybe once a week and i don't have a family in australia so not a problem for us.

      • Euphemistic on 25/12/2021 - 09:40

        Nope no opinions as I don’t know yet area. All I know is that new estates are typically ‘out of town’ which means more time in traffic commuting, further to the shops etc. they also lack services of more established areas like public transport and schools.

        • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 09:43

          there will be a new entry to M1 so its pretty good.
          however its quite far from the town center but schools will be available around the area.
          we don't have kids yet so hopefully in a few years time the area will be more developed.

  • Euphemistic on 25/12/2021 - 09:38
    +1

    Should also add, while you are looking at a small block and 3br house, don’t eat carried away with a massive en-suite, double shower and bath you’ll never really use. Don’t bother with a ‘parents retreat’ space or butlers pantry that will compromise actual living space.

    Try to avoid wasted outdoor space shy is too small to use.

    Project display homes are often furnished with smaller furniture items to make rooms feel bigger. Make sure you rooms are a usable size.

  • Derrick Crane on 25/12/2021 - 10:28

    When you choose your builder, make sure you get a fixed price contract.

  • kanmen on 25/12/2021 - 11:30

    Hey mate, what would you like to know? I'm building out there by myself although on a smaller land, with a smaller house and my timelines were a lot shorter which is what I wanted.

    • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 11:53

      Hi mate,

      are you building in Stockland Minta Berwick as well?
      if yes, i'd like to know if there is:
      Extra cost on preparing the land before build the house (levelling land slope, soil properties?)

      • kanmen on 25/12/2021 - 12:25

        No, I'm not in Minta but I'm in the area. Berwick does have some hills to it, luckily for me the land I bought was constructed by the developer on flat land. I would recommend going and having a look at the land or at least the general area to see whether there is a slope. Typically if it's on flat land you can expect minimal extra site costs. If the developer is constructing the estate it shouldn't have many issues.

        What builders can also access is a site map of each lot that will say what the slopes are of each block as it will be constructed, so for mine they knew there wouldn't be much variation in heights from looking at that. That said, I would budget accordingly. If it looks like flat land, maybe 10-15k leeway is a good idea. If there's some slope to the land 20-30k leeway would be smart as someone else said it cost them about that.

        • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 12:33

          thanks mate.

          Do you know if we can get a soil test report or something before we sign the contract?
          Also let say if the land has a slope, does it normally included in the house package?

  • ms_caz on 25/12/2021 - 14:35

    We bulit two houses in the Tulliallan Estate in Cranbourne, each with a different builder. In both cases our contract allowed for an "M" class slab (which I believe is "normal") but in both cases, the ground conditions called for a "P" class slab, which I believe is a "problem". What I think this meant is that the slab needed to be thicker and have extra reinforcing, which of course called for extra costs. I know that both builds had an extra 10 - 20 thousand added to the expected cost. Given that we had the same experiences but with different builders suggests that either this is an industry wide practice, or that our estate was particularly problematic - which I don't think is the case because it was fairly level and not reclaimed swampland .

    In terms of extra costs, don't forget about things like concreting your driveway, establishing a garden/lawn (your estate may have conditions on what this will have to include - ours did), fencing and other external factors eg letter box, clothesline, flyscreens etc. These are not necessarily big expenses but do add up. Internally, check to see if your contract also includes window coverings.

    Although the urban sprawl is well and truly eating up the land out here and you will need a car to get around, it's not entirely a barren wasteland devoid of essential services. You will find plenty of good public schools, access to hospital services, improving public transport, and quite a good deal of community service supports in the newer areas of the City of Casey. Obviously things could always be better, and it certainly isn't inner city living, but you will find many, many young couples and familes out here who havemade the same decisions you are making and who seem to be very happy with their choices.

    • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 14:38

      Thanks for your reply Ms_caz.
      If there is some extra 10-20k on top of the contract, can I included that in my construction loan or i have to pay in cash to cover it?
      Thank you

      • ms_caz on 25/12/2021 - 21:00

        I'm not much use to you here I'm sorry - I can't actually recall what we did. I think we must have included it in the construction loan.

  • godofpizza on 25/12/2021 - 22:53

    good luck with the build, also building in nearby. PM me if you need some advise.

    things to consider:

    When do you need to put the despoit down by early Jan/ late Jan?

    Have you gotten any quote from builders - there a heaps of display centres near cylde/cranbourne
    Considering most are away until mid Jan it will be hard to get a decent quote, before considering if it within your budget.

    TBH if your budget is $750 ( land is 512K ) is doesn't leave you with much to build. maybe only 200k?

    Have you been told about how much slope your block it? some builder charge alot for site cost or won't touch blocks with massive slopes.

    • 777dycg777 on 25/12/2021 - 23:00

      Hi mate,

      1. We will need to pay deposit late Jan. what i remember is around 22nd.

      2. No not yet. We are planning to go when they are open on the 5th. Will ask about the slope as they should have the record or more details from stockland.

      3. After I did some calcs on the repayments and our other expenses, we are thinking to take a 14 x 21 land which is about 450k. However our budget is now 700k. So we will have maybe 250k to build.

      4. We dont know the slope yet. For site cost, a few builders include them. Any advice?

      May i ask if you are building in Minta Stockland as well?

      Thanks mate

      Happy holidays

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join