Building Costs

[Jane & Craig]

Hi there,

We will hopefully be moving out towards the end of the year and would preferably like to be mortgage free :o ........well we can always hope!

Am I being stupid or really naive when it seems cheaper to get a house built than to buy a house and land package. Are there any other costs involved and if so, has anyone any idea of how much?

Many thanks for your help with this.

Jane

[dglamoore]

Hi Jane

I must admit from the uk our dream was to build but that has completely changed now. There are lots of hidden costs to building and the price can rise a lot from the brochure prices for a house. You have to pay on top for footings, higher ceilings, extra sockets, lights etc, landscaping, aircon, any upgrade from basic units in kitchens etc, the list goes on and depending where the build is there may be compulsory extras you have to pay for as set out by the local council.

After looking around there is a huge selection of nearly new houses on the market and you can get some really lovely 'older' houses at good prices too. We also found a lot of the new builds are on smaller plots of land.

It is worth having a good look round some display houses here and chatting to some of the sales people to get an idea on the extras then look are established houses and see what you think. :) All part of the fun!!

Lisa

[Tyke]

I'll agree with "Da' Boss Lady" (Lisa).

We do invest in property here and have noticed a "Fad" by people here towards new builds.

I'm not saying it is wrong ,but you can buy houses a few years older for less now.It's as though they are "second hand" Or perhaps the price of new builds are driven up by demand???

The process of a new build can be very expensive and stressful - you really have to take into account ALL of the extras and the extra time paying rent / mortgage.

Some friends of ours have a block of land but now if they can find an established house that ticks all the boxes they'll sell the block.

Another friend has just moved into his new build and is rushing to get everything done (nothing wrong with that), but it does seem stressful.
Especially if you are new to this country.

Looking around at properties for sale this last few weeks I've seen several I'd move into if I did not want to live on acreage.

HTH

:)

[Jane & Craig]

Thanks very muchy for the feedback. I thought it was too good to be true. Looks like it could be back to plan A then.

Thanks again
Jane:)