What factors should you be considering??
When thinking about starting the process of building your new home, the very first thing most people think about is where you want to live. And land tends to take precedence over any decisions that need to be made at this point.
Typically, there might be just a few main factors when you’re trying to find a piece of land to build on. They are things like, the suburb you want to live in and what schools might be in the area. Or maybe how far away will I be from amenities like shopping centres, parks, sporting and recreation hubs, possibly even medical services. And that is where location seems to finish up. Once you’ve decided on the suburb, you then take into account the next major factor, which is of course price. They’re pretty easy things to cover off, because we all have budget we want to spend on the home and land and we all have a maximum spend. Many people put the cost of the land as the highest priority when taking the first step. They want to get a good deal on the land, however, whilst people do take a minor look into home costs, they regularly do not look into what implications the type of land they purchase will have on their overall budget. Buying land is simple they say right? Get the size you want, for the price you want yes??
NO.
Buying what seems to be a fantastic piece of land at “the right price”, can be detrimental to the type of home you will get to put on it. There are so many factors with land that when it comes to building, that shouldn’t be ignored in these very early stages. Below is just some of the things we look at before we design a home for the site and these are things you should also have in the back of your mind when searching for land. It’s what we call a “Site Assessment”.
Site Assessment Factors:
Council Planning and Guidelines
- What will that council allow and what are the regulations there as well as possible tolerances.
Outside Site Factors
- Services (Water, Power, Sewer)
- Site Trees
- Driveways / Drainage
- Powerlines
Orientation Analysis
- What benefits of the orientation can you maximise for the block
Neighouring Property Analysis
- Privacy, Balconies, Outdoor areas, overshadowing factors
Site Levels and Retaining requirements
- This is a huge thing to consider, especially on narrow blocks and or blocks with undulations.
Site Works Cost Analysis
- Understanding the above factors will help you understand the overall Site Works implications.
It’s fair to say there are a lot of things to consider when buying land outside the usual things most people look at. And you can see from what we’ve briefly mentioned above, that a few minor hiccups can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. And when we talk to clients about their home, $20,000 – $30,000 can make a huge difference between a home with standard finishes and a home with that little extra shine.
So our advice is to be as thorough at the front end when you decide to buy land in order to help yourself with the overall outcome and to make sure all of the numbers stack up. Involve your builder as early as possible. It will help you choose the right builder to work with to build your home, because building is a learning experience and the reality is, if you have extra costs that “pop” up constantly, it tells you that proper due diligence hasn’t been done. So get on the front foot with your builder and make sure all factors are looked into so it doesn’t cost you any more than you expect it to.