First time buyer - home & land packages?

[Guest loop the loop]

My partner is considering buying a house in Sydney (nearer to the city as he can get) but we can't really find anything suitable on the market for the two of us plus our dog. Having a dog means we need a garden, and there isn't really much out there it seems. We don't really want to pay a million bucks for a house, and don't mind living about an hours commute outside of the city, as he plans to work in the CBD and I plan on going to study at UNSW.

 

His parents will be putting in some money towards to house (for investment purposes) but I was just curious to know if we would be better off getting a home and land package?

 

I've seen prices quoted for as little as $187k for a 4 bed 2 bath house (although we probably wouldn't need a place that big!)...but there is nothing about the extra costs involved (land, and other fees).

 

I'm completely new to this, so I was wondering if anyone could explain how it works?

 

Of course, I am just curious as I don't even know if we can find home and land packages in Sydney! See...I'm completely clueless!

 

Cheers :confused:

[windswept]

Hi!

 

I'm in Perth, so no specific knowledge of Sydney as such, but a couple of things struck me when I read your post.

 

1. A house and land package for $187,000 is going to be a helluva long way from the city. These kinds of packages (in Perth, at least) tend to be on the very outer metro areas, so please look into the locations where these companies say they build. I can't imagine you'd be up for a two hour commute (one way) into the city, every day, at least from what you've indicated in your post it wouldn't be ideal.

 

2. Also, whether you go for a house and land package, or are just looking at building generally, always, always, ask for the 'list of exclusions'. This is the stuff that isn't included in the builder's costings. For example, a lot of builders in WA don't do the whole driveway - they do the first metre or so in front of the carport or garage, and to have it carried down to the road, is an extra cost. This would be covered in the list of exclusions. Really it's stuff average people would in no way 'exclude' if they build, so it's basically a list of the items that cost extra when you build.

 

Good luck!

[Guest chris955]

Reading the OP post that is the house price PLUS the cost of land etc, you would not get a house and land package anywhere for under $200,000. The cost of land is a 'how long is a piece of string' question really. You could pay 200k or 600k or much more. There's just too little info to really help you I'm afraid. Bear in mind that often developers will buy up a large parcel of land in an outlying area and build a new estate but infrastructure may be limited, eventually the city will reach it but it may be some time. That's what we are seeing in the Brisbane area. Also remember that if the price looks too good to be true there is a good reason.

[Eera]

As a rule of thumb add 30 to 50% on the cost of the house, then the land cost on top of that, also bear in mind you get charged rates from the second you buy the land, regardless of whether you actually have a sewer or bins. Also, check what site classification they're basing it on (it will say in the small print at the base on the advert "Based on Class S" or something. Unless you're on very sandy soil you won't get a class S, going to a moderately clayey site (Class M) won't cost that much more, but if you have a very clayey site, or a fill platform that's not been engineered, the slab alone will cost about 20 to 30k more to lay.

[Guest loop the loop]

Thanks for the info! Yeh, the 187k was for the house only, not the land, and the location was way out of the city. Also, I think it would be best to just go with an already developed home because of the plans getting council approval - which I've heard can take up to a year.

[Guest brooksey]

My land in Qld took 3 weeks to get passed for a house of my design. You can buy the land, pass an owner builders licence (8 hrs ish ) on your ownfor a lotless than employing a big builder

[Mongrel]

My land in Qld took 3 weeks to get passed for a house of my design. You can buy the land, pass an owner builders licence (8 hrs ish ) on your ownfor a lotless than employing a big builder

 

And you hire rellies for nowt to build it:biglaugh:

[Mongrel]

Thanks for the info! Yeh, the 187k was for the house only, not the land, and the location was way out of the city. Also, I think it would be best to just go with an already developed home because of the plans getting council approval - which I've heard can take up to a year.

 

Council approval takes weeks