Guest the terry's Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Hi all, having considered many options about realestate, has anyone had a house built whilst still in the UK, and then moved over there when it's finished? Did you encounter any problems? All replies will be gratefully sought. Helenx p.s. please feel free to add to this in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 You could probably do it if someone was here to oversee it, but there are loads of threads here about shoddy jobs and builders not finishing off houses properly and once you've taken ownership there's no comeback. Do you know what's around the block you want as well? Never, ever buy unseen. If you know the area and have a relo to advance it along, you'd be able to do it. If not, the time saving is really not worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpo1971 Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 Sounds a bit risky that. I wouldn't rent somewhere without seeing it in the flesh first so to commit to a build and a mortgage, no way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becontree Boy Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 We're having our house built 75km up the road. We started off our mortgage application in January, had bought the land by April and didn't see the builders go on site until a month ago. So far all that's been done is levelling off the land. We reckon we'll be counting ourself lucky if we'll be moving in by January next year. Bit of a fustration as originally we thought we'd be moving in last month! I know our experience is pretty common and it has required close management and plenty of interventions by us with both the builder and the mortgage company to get this far. How you'd manage the process from the UK, I don't know. At least we can drive up on a Saturday and check on progress. And we have Australian friends who have been through the process and have been able to guide us in. If you have someone who can check on progress on the ground, then by all means go for it. But please don't rely on the completion date neatly timing in with your migration plans. The other thing to remember is that if you start on your home project before you arrive then you'll probably miss out on all the first time home owner grants which are up for grabs from the federal and state governments. Here in Victoria that can be worth beyond $40k at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest the terry's Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Thanks all for your replies. Still looking into everything. I have another question....has anyone done a self build? What do you need in order to self build? Just to put you in the picture... We own a property maintenance business here in uk, hubby is a qualified plumber. We do eveything to do with building trade with the exceptions of gas, electrics and large amounts of brickwork. We are very interested to know how we could go about building a house ourselves. If anyone has done it we would definately like to know how you went about it, pitfalls and all. Thanks again all, Helenx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Owner-builder licences are looked after by the BSA here in QLD, google it and you'll find all the info you need, basically you have do a course to show you're competant otherwise you don't get builders' insurance if anything goes wrong (from memory you're liable for things blowing off the house and hitting people in the head for something like 13 years after completion, don't quote me on that though). There are some very in depth threads about exactly the same thing here so I won't start it all off again with my normal lecture about site classifications and effluent disposal, but if you have any questions about actually engineering a site and the groundworks and building standards it's a major part of my job so I'll be glad to help. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RachASy Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Sorry to go off the thread a bit, but OH is an Architect with over 10 years experience in UK. He is trying to find out how UK and Aus differ in planning laws/procedures etc to get a feel of how he would stand on getting a job but is finding it hard to find out this info. We are hoping to move to Qld. We believe that there are different rules for different states but how different is it to the UK planning regs? Any help appreciated as other avenues have been tried but the information isn't there. Someone must know or at least where to go for the answers???? Tks for any help. P.S We are also considering building our own house but that is a long way off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest patience Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 My brother who is a builder in Oz has offered to build us a house when we get there. After self organising a complete house renovation in the UK, I don't think I cope with the stress. How to let him down gently LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linziwilson Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 We bought a block of land and built a 3 bedroom house on it whilst we were still in the UK. We saw the land for sale in Corindi Beach and knew it was too good to miss ! We did a huge amount of research on the area and builders and sent my husbands family down to check it out ! We picked Hopwood Homes (based in Coffs Harbour) to build the house and have had a fantastic experience with them. From start to finish, the house build has been stress free and they have been so accomodating with us being in the UK for most of the build. The high attention to detail and excellent communication meant that we always knew exactly what stage the build was at. Hopwood Homes are about 5% more expensive than other building firms but we would recommend them in an instant ! Our home is absolutely gorgeous, and built within out timescale and budget. All the staff are super friendly and quite happy to run through anything over the phone or by email. We were in oz to make our selections (fittings, colours etc) but other than that, the entire process was done with us in the UK. We've ended up with our dream home and at a fraction of the price you'd pay for it in the UK ! Plus Corindi Beach is a gorgeous area and we're really happy we picked the north coast NSW. My husband used to be a tradesman and so he found it hard not being involved in the building process, but he's been really happy with everything and now that we are back in oz, he's really pleased with the standard of workmanship in the house. All in all, I know it would seem to be a stressful thing to do, but if you need to build whilst you are in the UK, so long as you find a reputable builder, it doesn't need to be a headache ! If anyone is moving out to the north coast of NSW we would thoroughly recommend Hopwood. Don't hesitate to message me if you need anymore info. Linzi Wilson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I know this is a "how long is a piece of string" question but can you buy land and build a 3 - 4 bed house for around $400,000? ?? we would love to build our own house but the budget may not be big enough ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest linziwilson Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 our place cost $400,000 its a 3 bedroom house on half an acre 300m from the beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Fantastic - Thanks Linzi and $400k covered the land and the build? so roughly what is the cost to BUILD the 3 bed house? Thanks lots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Your cost depend a lot on where you are; north of Bundaberg cyclone ratings kick in which virtually double the cost of a build as everything has to be built to a much higher standard (if you're interested I can give you the Australian Standards for cyclonic/non-cyclonic areas, they're pretty dull though), whereas with increasing southerly movement you're more likely to be building with cold-insulated materials and cavity brick, which don't really exist in the temperate places. 400k will buy you a basic house-and-land in a cyclonic area, but something way nicer further south. If you check out the websites of some of the major builders you can compare prices between regional centres, try G J Gardiner and Dixon, both of which I think are nationwide. And beware the quoted house price; add 30-50% onto that for the finished product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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