Catalyst wrote:

I believe interest rates will be low for a while but they can't stay low. THIS is when it gets interesting. If it's true that new time investors are buying we may see some correction when some can no longer hold onto properties. When interest rates go from 5% to 8% in a short time it will hurt the unprepared. On a $300,000…[Read more]

mentee wrote:
Hi alfrescodining, I was thinking the same way before but was limited by the window on LHS of entry, this will significantly reduce the living area. Even by reducing the size of the kitchen.

    But you would avoid having to touch the kitchen at all.  The new bedroom wall could start just after the window. Living/dining area could…[Read more]

Why not put the third bedroom at the southeastern end of the house and reduce the size of the lounge/dining area? and avoid destroying the kitchen.  

There is no minimum bedroom size under the BCA. States or Councils might set one though.  You should at least make the wall of the third bedroom go past the end of the window facing southwest.  Also check if the Council requires extra car parking based on number of bedrooms in the villa.

Similar method I would say. Realestate.com.au can filter results by site area, number of bedrooms. So you can search for a 3 bedroom house on a 400sqm block for example, and see whats on the market now matching that or whats soldin that category.

Sold prices on realestate.com.au.   

Oscar where is the stormwater going?

It looks like the site slopes away from the street.

Thanks Wilko. Its two new townhouses, on a proposed battle axe allotment behind my existing house. And yes I'm only talking about connections to the grid, not in the property. Does $20,000 for water and sewer sound right? And I've got no idea how much electricity and phone connections to the grid would cost. I'm assuming I don't need any new…[Read more]

Last question I promise.   What about screen doors at entrance to house?  And blinds/curtains???

Wilko and Oscar, you guys are legends. Thankyou.

Even if you plan to rent them?  Tenants don't expect washing machines?

What about washing machines, do you usually include those?

Could it be the case that if a person was doing say a 20-unit development, but they only needed to borrow say 50% of the finance, that they would get normal residential lending rates and no presale requirements?

Oscar, on your developments, do you have remote controlled garage doors?

I guess what I'm confused about is what level of detail should be in a building contract, and whether it should be taken for granted that the builder will provide some things.  Things I'm talking about are washing machines, blinds, clotheslines, turf, temporary fencing during construction, public works approval for driveways, gas system, etc.,…[Read more]

G'day RPI, just on that point about presales…. what is generally the threshold between a development where a bank will require presales and one which wont?  Is it generally a certain number of units?

Wilko, are you a registered builder or do you hire builders to build your developments? What advice can you provide on negotiating a building contract?  Thankyou.

Oscar, what is the $5,000 bank application fee all about?    Also, where is the development draining to? It looks like it slopes to the back of the property.

I'm hoping someone can provide some general advice about building quotes and contracts. i.e. what tricky things to look out for, what to expect in contracts/quotes, inclusions/exclusions, etc.  This is the part of the process I'm least confident about.

I'm only doing my first one now, but I work in the industry. The mistake that I find that almost all first-time developers make is severely underestimating the time it takes from start to finish for a development because of the number of steps and people involved. Meanwhile, they bleed money. Alot of people when they see a shiny new set of houses…[Read more]