TINGY Posted 31May, 2018 Report Share Posted 31May, 2018 2 hours ago, GC9911 said: Lee, you are about to enter a world of pain. I just finished a reno/build additions (my sixth to date) that the builder estimated @ $330K but I allowed $500K & I’ve all but used it (this does include some additional things we added along the way that weren’t part of the original estimate). I have 46 years experience in the building/facilities management business & IMHO the old adage of allowing 10% extra doesn’t cut it anymore, add 20/25% to the estimate to avoid the shock. Personaly I’d move. Greg's correct, move, it's cheaper in the long run, mostly. I am about to do some minor reno's and i have some friends helping (doing it cheaper for me) and the stories i hear about knock down rebuilds and quotes blowing out is just ridiculous. I live in an old suburb and this stuff is happening all the time around me, be prepared to lose a year out of your life. I hope you have 50-80k in the kitty just because you will probably need it for all the unforseen stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 31May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 31May, 2018 1 minute ago, StevepGT3 said: In 12 months time the vent thread is going to blow up ?? I have no doubt whatsoever. If the build doesn't go ahead at all, I'll be there whinging about her indoors! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 31May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 31May, 2018 1 minute ago, TINGY944 said: I live in an old suburb and this stuff is happening all the time around me I hope you have 50-80k in the kitty just because you will probably need it for all the unforseen stuff. Only this morning we looked at how many homes have been demolished and redeveloped into multi dwelling sites within 4 streets from home. 70 homes (a.k.a boxes) have gone up within what I thought was 5 years, but it's actually 2-3 years. The end of our street was a big council park that now has 40 homes built on it which is bloody sad if you ask me, yet speaking to the council guys the other day they said theres much more to come. Re a spare $50-80k. Only with the sale of the 911 would we have that, yet she knows very well there is no way in a fit would I sell that to help pay for a set of wanky taps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleazius Posted 1June, 2018 Report Share Posted 1June, 2018 Just move. I did a reno where I added 2 extensions to my home 2 years ago. I estimate it was 3x the cost of building from scratch per square metre, and that was a tiny part of a huge 20mth reno / landscape / pool job (so there were efficiencies there because of scale). Unless you absolutely love the location and the position, sell up, you'll be at least $200k ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 1June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 1June, 2018 I spoke to the bank today, and my optimistic (aka stupidly low) budget got blown out by $100k or more pretty quickly as others here have said it would, plus the land value including build would probably exceed the finished market value of the property. That, and the increased monthly mortgage plus renting costs for a year in a time when I have fluctuating workloads (a.k.a great money to really shit money within a month) makes it a bloody stupid and unaffordable idea. I havent told the missus as yet, as I spoke with the bank informally just to get an idea of what we can do/afford and how much we'd be looking at. For 'her' sake, I'll take her to some display homes to get some spec home prices (I've had some brilliant custom built homes advice privately here, so thank you for that. You know who you are ?) and take them to the bank to get it in black and white, yet as much as I'd like to have a new house built on our land and area, I think we're pissing in the wind. I've looked at endless homes for sale in other areas with what we would be reasonably happy with, yet they're the same price as what we have now, but they're in areas we don't wish to live in for various reasons, so that's pointless. Seems a reno is the go, yet I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that idea. Just shoot me now ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troubleshooter Posted 1June, 2018 Report Share Posted 1June, 2018 Semi reno Lee, kitchen bathroom laundry an extension and a lick of paint - for the missus .... and leave most of it to her to organise. And for you, you get a good mancave and concrete ..... and play and drive your car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevepGT3 Posted 1June, 2018 Report Share Posted 1June, 2018 5 hours ago, LeeM said: I spoke to the bank today, and my optimistic (aka stupidly low) budget got blown out by $100k or more pretty quickly as others here have said it would, plus the land value including build would probably exceed the finished market value of the property. That, and the increased monthly mortgage plus renting costs for a year in a time when I have fluctuating workloads (a.k.a great money to really shit money within a month) makes it a bloody stupid and unaffordable idea. I havent told the missus as yet, as I spoke with the bank informally just to get an idea of what we can do/afford and how much we'd be looking at. For 'her' sake, I'll take her to some display homes to get some spec home prices (I've had some brilliant custom built homes advice privately here, so thank you for that. You know who you are ?) and take them to the bank to get it in black and white, yet as much as I'd like to have a new house built on our land and area, I think we're pissing in the wind. I've looked at endless homes for sale in other areas with what we would be reasonably happy with, yet they're the same price as what we have now, but they're in areas we don't wish to live in for various reasons, so that's pointless. Seems a reno is the go, yet I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that idea. Just shoot me now ? I would trust the advice on this forum regarding building and finance far more than any emotional Porsche advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-S Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 On 5/30/2018 at 10:25 PM, LeeM said: So we're looking at maybe (probably) knocking down our place and building something new Anyone gone through this and can steer me in the right direction as to where to start and what to look out for? Try our bank first, or a broker for the finance? We owe $200k, current property value is anywhere from $450 to $550k (going by recent sales and similar properties on the market in the area) It's a 1955 built 3 bed house that probably needs $100k worth of work to basically gut the place and tart up nice, yet we think that will be a waste of time and money as we're over the nostalgia/old home thing. We already have a major builder and site supervisor we want to use with a couple of their standard house plans that we'll tweak a bit (I install robes and shelving in a lot of their builds, and their attention to detail is much higher than I see with other builders) Any advice appreciated We have a rep from someone on here coming round this arvo to start the conveersations off.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 been buying and doing up houses for the last 10 years mate. My 5 year old has lived in four different houses... It is great way to get ahead. Seeing as you are in such a great equity position you could always renovate to sell. Design and build to flip. You have to be smart with cash and really know your target buyer, but not a bad way to get a tax free living. My next build is shaping up to be a modular factory one. As others above have attested to the cost to rent while you build is a major cost factor. Any builder that tells you it will take 12 months (when it should really take 4) actually means 15. With Modular we knock down the house as soon as they start the build in the factory. Three months later it is being delivered to site and a few weeks later we move in. Means we can get get on with our lives and rent close by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-S Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 Yeah the premium of the modular build is often outweighed by the rent and other costs, certainly something we’ve been considering. 6 months end to end is attractive. We could easily split our block and build side by side, it’s one of our options for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 1 hour ago, Troubleshooter said: Semi reno Lee, kitchen bathroom laundry an extension and a lick of paint - for the missus .... and leave most of it to her to organise. And for you, you get a good mancave and concrete ..... and play and drive your car That's what I'm thinking mate. We have a decent kitchen already thankfully (and I'm in that trade anyway) and I've painted a few walls but admittedly it's crap and I should stay away from a paint brush and roller! Bathroom was the first thing to get the nod a few years ago, yet we (me) have been lazy about that one. We have a loungeroom that was basically an enclosed verandah which is all aluminium and glass, so you can imagine how hot that gets in the summer and freezing in the winter with a gas heater and small wall air conditioner. We had a quote a while ago to knock down/build that, and I basically told the builder to .... off. I have a double garage/mancave that is lined and sealed with tv, couches etc, plus another half that again for the car, so I'm sorted there already, tough I am going to open it all up so that the 911 is in the mancave and the other bit is just for tools and the other crap I hoard. 1 hour ago, StevepGT3 said: I would trust the advice on this forum regarding building and finance far more than any emotional Porsche advice. That's why I'm here mate. I've received numerous messages with advice, plus the posts here have been amazing, so thanks to you all for that @turboT Great advice mate, cheers. We're just bloody confused at the moment. Well, I am, as her indoors is just looking at what kinda taps and wall colours she wants ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troubleshooter Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 As above renoing sounds like your sort of halfway there Lee. Women love painting and all the detailed effort that goes with it (even if they don't know it hahahaha). Another thought Lee. You're a tradie and possibly on wages. If it's reasonably easy to get another job, why not quit and take 3 or 4 months off and do ALL (except electrical) the tradie work yourself. If you are working weekly at half rates of what a trade company charges for labour, ie ... if you're paid $50 P/H at work and a tradie charges you $150 P/H, you could be $30000 or $40000 in front ......... and a relatively enjoyable way of working overall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 8 minutes ago, Troubleshooter said: As above renoing sounds like your sort of halfway there Lee. Women love painting and all the detailed effort that goes with it (even if they don't know it hahahaha). Another thought Lee. You're a tradie and possibly on wages. If it's reasonably easy to get another job, why not quit and take 3 or 4 months off and do ALL (except electrical) the tradie work yourself. If you are working weekly at half rates of what a trade company charges for labour, ie ... if you're paid $50 P/H at work and a tradie charges you $150 P/H, you could be $30000 or $40000 in front ......... and a relatively enjoyable way of working overall! My woman hates painting which is why I did it all. Amazing how quick you can paint a hallway including cornices with a spray gun! Never again Contractor/sole trader mate. Paid per job, not on wages. Am going to be doing some part time maintenance work when I have lean weeks like this one. No work, no pay. Installing on wages is a mugs game, as you'd be lucky to get $30/hour and have to bust your arse for the muppets that run these companies. Pass. The maintenance gig is actually something I want to do for the future (less physically taxing than what I do now), and the bloke I know who wants to take me on has a government contract (had it for years) and regular work doing varied tasks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 8 hours ago, Mike-S said: Yeah the premium of the modular build is often outweighed by the rent and other costs, certainly something we’ve been considering. 6 months end to end is attractive. We could easily split our block and build side by side, it’s one of our options for the future. https://www.modscape.com.au/gallery/#videogallery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 Like the Huf House company I watched on Grand Design once. Amazing engineering So! Further to the idea of knock down rebuild, it has basically had the big kabosh put on it. I spoke to the bank yesterday and today to get an idea of what we need finance wise/can and want to afford (our proposed budget would have been in the realms of some PFA members garages!), and it just doesn't suit us to go to the expense of a total rebuild plus renting for a year etc etc I was keen on the idea before I looked into the finer details, yet with the fantastic response and advice from members here in this thread and lengthy private messages and texts, I'd lost interest pretty quickly. The hard part was going to tell the missus that the financial side of it was not going to be viable to be able to have her 2 bathrooms and fancy taps. Oh dear ? Well that went better than I expected today after I showed her the financial spreadsheet (aka scribble in pencil on a notepad), and we're now planning to reno the inside of the old place to bring it up to a home that we like living in, and plan to do an extension a little further down the track. We're under no illusion that this won't be cheap, yet the bank has already said they'd probably approve what I have over estimated an interior reno would cost. I know a few tradies pretty well who own their own business and do good work, so I'll be contacting them soon to get some quotes to take to the bank. I can do a few things when it comes to working on a house, yet in all honesty, I don't want to, and I'd rather pay someone to do the job right the first time, not a half arsed job that takes weeks or months to complete. I really can't begin to express my sincere thanks to all here who have offered their advice/experience with building a house, as you've all not only saved us a lot of headaches with time and effort researching building a house, you've also saved us from what I think would have been financial suicide. MANY thanks from the both of us ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike-S Posted 2June, 2018 Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 2 hours ago, turboT said: https://www.modscape.com.au/gallery/#videogallery We’ve looked at a couple of their builds locally as I’m a real fan of offsite manufacture (was involved in it back in the U.K.), unfortunately these ones were nothing to write home about. Reminded me of the static caravan we had in North Wales as a kid. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 26 minutes ago, Mike-S said: Reminded me of the static caravan we had in North Wales as a kid. ? Fookin pikeys ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 3June, 2018 Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 14 hours ago, Mike-S said: We’ve looked at a couple of their builds locally as I’m a real fan of offsite manufacture (was involved in it back in the U.K.), unfortunately these ones were nothing to write home about. Reminded me of the static caravan we had in North Wales as a kid. ? epic caravan mate ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 3June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 Just got back from looking at some display homes to keep the missus happy, and their basic prices made her eyes pop out. I can safely say now that we won't be building a new house! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TINGY Posted 3June, 2018 Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 @LeeM it's probably safe to say you would be pretty handy doing what you do, is an owner build not out of the question to do your reno's? Unless you are in a hurry this could work for you and save some cash as well doing some work yourself, get the pro's in to do the major stuff and do the finishing yourself, from the sound of it it's not beyond you. Do the plan's, get the DA approved and start when you are ready, call in a few favours off your mates and the contacts that you know, could be easier for you if it's not a massive re-build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 3June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 That's basically the plan @TINGY944 I won't be touching a paint brush or roller, as I despise painting and have already sorted a painter at a great hourly rate. Also tiling is an art to do right, so someone else can do that too. I'm not mega fussy, Yet I just picked 2 show homes tiling to death with their finishing, and the site supervisor should be shot for missing it. I'll do the demo work and the stuff you don't see, and maybe some 2nd fix jobs, yet sanding and any paint prep can bugger off! Bathroom is first, as that's small and resembles a dodgy 80's caravan park, so it's top of the list. Then every other room will get tarted up with new robes, carpet etc. We're just going to plan it all out in order and get it started asap. We have a decent amount of room out front for an extension, yet what that will be I have no idea, then the back room needs to come down and rebuilt so we'll have to talk to someone about a design and get some quotes. I'll buy all the materials required for all jobs and just pay any contractors an hourly rate, as I don't wish to pay their mark up prices which can sometimes be double cost. That's what I do when I've done cash work, and I know that's what most other trades do too. After looking at build prices today, It's going to be a lot cheaper than doing a knock down rebuild and we won't have the headaches associated with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC9911 Posted 3June, 2018 Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 Probably unnecessary advice, but finish one room at a time, fighting on multiple fronts is a recipe for a dogs breakfast unless you have project management experience. Also finishing one room at a time gives you achievement confidence & inspires you to keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFX Posted 3June, 2018 Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 3 minutes ago, GC9911 said: Probably unnecessary advice, but finish one room at a time, fighting on multiple fronts is a recipe for a dogs breakfast unless you have project management experience. Also finishing one room at a time gives you achievement confidence & inspires you to keep going. I second this. Much MUCH easier to live with doing one room at a time and living in a building site as little as possible is a big plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 3June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 3June, 2018 12 minutes ago, GC9911 said: Probably unnecessary advice, but finish one room at a time, fighting on multiple fronts is a recipe for a dogs breakfast unless you have project management experience. Also finishing one room at a time gives you achievement confidence & inspires you to keep going. Absolutely! I often wondered why some people had 5 or 6 unfinished rooms when I was doing retail/established installations, yet although I'm impatient with most things I've been guilty of it myself lately, as I lose interest pretty quickly when I'm not getting the finish I want. It will cost more, yet that's why I'll pay a professional to do the job right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboT Posted 4June, 2018 Report Share Posted 4June, 2018 16 hours ago, MFX said: I second this. Much MUCH easier to live with doing one room at a time and living in a building site as little as possible is a big plus. says the man with three cars on the go at once ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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