I have been walking into my local bank (both NAB and CBA) and ask for telegraphic transfer, they charges $28 a pop, so as long as you manage your finance so you aren’t transfering every week, you will be fine. They give you a proper receipt, so shouldn’t be much of a problem as long as you have the full name and the correct account number of the person you are transfering to.

Now if I only work out how to transfer money back……

WOW

That’s great prices, who’s the builder? do they do any work in Sydney? We just got DA for 3 villa, you think they would be interested in building them for that price in Sydney.

Our current quoting rate for our clients for Sydney mid to hige rise apartments is $1500 to $2000 per square metre.. as usual, depends on level of finishes. Townhouses could be cheaper…

Joseph

Make sure you check the zoning of the property, just because there are units around the corner and next door, doesn’t mean you can build another block of unit.

We were in this situation, a developer brought a block of 5 flats. Because it was built so long ago, they figure that with the new planning rule (DCP), they can knock down those 5 flats and build something like 12flats in its place.

To everyone’s shock horror, the council had “downgraded” the zoning of the land from “multi dwelling” to “single dwelling”. If they knock down the flat, they can only build a single house on it. DA got rejected, they went to the land and environment and lost as well. So they ended up doing renovation to the place. At the rate it’s going, plus all the cost went into design and court cases, i don’t think that developer is going to make a single cents from it [blink]

Always check everything.

My 2.2 cents, hope that help
Joseph

I can only speak for NSW, it maybe different in other states.

If you need to know what is permissible in a certain zone, DCP won’t do you any good. You will need to dig up the LEP (local environment plan), some council call it something different. For example Gosford council calls it planning ordinance or something like that.

Once in the LEP, it will list what is permissible in a zone without consent such as fences, carport minor thing; what is permissible with consent (which is what you want to look at) and then finally what’s is prohibited (which you hope you don’t see what you want in that column). That will tell you what you can do in a certain zone.

Generally 2(a) is for single dwelling and it get denser and by the time you hit 2(d) you can build units. Once again it’s different for each council. Once you got that information, you can dig up the DCP which would give you more specific information say you want to build unit, it may give you a different density between 2(c) and 2(e).

Also some council are very very annoying, they don’t have the DCP and LEP on the net, such as Randwick, you actually need to go there and BUY it. Or you can pop into their local library and you can have a look there or the counter at the council itself.

Also note that they don’t tell you what zoning it is for a certain address over the phone anymore, because someone had sued a council because the guy were given wrong zoning information over the phone.

If all else fail, once you know what zone you are in, call the council and ask for a town planner, with any luck, you will get someone that’s reasonable helpful.

Hi Dom,

I am not sure how things are different from Qld than NSW, but on this side of the border, this is what I would do.

First thing is to check with council, check out the zoning, whether you are allow to put anything but single-dwelling on your pot of land. Some may allow you to have duplex, some even villas or units. You also need to know the size and dimension of your land, because you may be able to sub-divide the land which is the cheapest way of developeing a piece of land with the smallest outlay. Because sub-dividing allow you to sell the lands as is without buiding anything on it. With dual-occupancy, villa etc, you have to actually bulid something on it.

Getting back on track, after you check with council what you can do. Make sure you grab a copy of the planning control for the relavant development you want to put on, it would tell you about floor space ratio, building set back, density control, landscape area, maximum height, building envelope etc etc. From there you should be able to work out the numbers, how many units you can put on the land. If it get too complicated for you to work out the number, hire an architect who’s experienced in doing that, they would either charge a small fee or even do it for free as feasibility study. If you need a good architect in res development, drop me an e-mail, I know one that’s good at maximising the site.

After that, you’ll need an architect to draw up some plans for you to be submitted into council. Wait a few months and arm with your approval, (depending the size of the development) you can either got to the bank and borrow money yourself or you may need to go into joint venture with someone who has the finance to build the whole thing. The other alternative is to sell the approved development as is, so that someone else carry the risk of building and selling. Of course you don’t make as much money from selling the approval, but it reduces the risk many times at a slowing market.

If you do decide to build, I think your architect or builder should be able to advise you on where to proceed from there.

Couple of things you’ll need to be aware of, construction cost and your target market. How much it would cost to build the development, I’ve seen many development fall over because the construction cost being blown out of budget. Or when the block of unit doesn’t achieve the pre-sale because what was designed and approved by council isn’t suitable for what the market is after.

I’m sure there are other things that I’ve left out, someone else can fill in the gaps for you.

My 2.2 cents (GST incl.)

Joseph