Hi IDH,

As a norm during my residential development projects (typically 2 or 3 on a block) (and in VIC) , I get quotes at two stages:

Firstly Town planning drawing stage. Before finalising TP drawings and submission to Council, I get preliminary quotes. These can vary lot as they are nothing more than  ball park figures (most builders will not go into too much detail at this point – too many variables to consider.) If you have a good relationship or history with the builder, this is a good time to discuss the builders thoughts on obvious costs savings that could be considered in the designs.

Finally, build tender stage. Firming up the quote. In order for a fixed price to be ascertained, I would expect to provide the following documents:

– full construction drawings
– engineering drawings and soil test results.
– Certified Town Planning Drawings. plus Town Planning Pernit letter specifiying conditions of the Permit.
– Energy Rating Report (if applicable)
– stormwater and sewerage designs (if available)
– landscaping (if relevant)
– project specification. If this is not ready, provide, or ask to be provided with specified  and itemised dollar allowances for items such as cabinetry/ plumbing fixtures etc etc etc.

The more you provide and the more specific you can be , the more accurate your pricing should be. Which is what you want from a tender. Otherwise, you may find that you will struggle to compare pricing.

Regarding your "circular list", no need to go past the first point, the rest is irrelevant / makes no sense. 

But when you say "full construction drawiings".  For me, this includes the list I've just drawn up above. 

Hope this helps. Good luck. In which state are you building?

mccoz

Hi Michael,

One option could be to enter into a joint venture agreement with a builder, whereby you put up the land, and continue to keep paying the mortgage on the land,  the builder finances  and constructs  the homes, and he keeps one as payment. Sometimes a financial payment may be necessary to balance the deal, to ensure a win / win to both parties, with a legal agreement in place to protect each  party's interest.  I entered into one last year, for a development in Mckinnon, Victoria when finances were tight, and it worked out really well for myself and builder alike.

Good luck
Mccoz 

Hi GPD,

To answer your last question. I think for starters, you need to do two things:

 – acquire knowledge. Read some good property books, and  they may assist you in deciding on your strategy. Development  / Renovation / Buy and hold  / location / size of project etc etc.

– find some like minded people who are doing what you are doing. As Duckster mentioned, attend some property meetings. Great for learning what other people in the area are doing, and for networking. And great for motivation.

I develop / project manage residential projects in the SE suburbs of Melbourne, specifically in Glen Eira and Bayside Councils at the moment. From the house price you mentioned in your first post, it sounds you're not too far away location wise. If you're interested, you can pm me on [email protected] and I can run through some of the projects I am running, to give you some ideas on how to get started.

Good luck!

blairach,

Are you still looking for a house on a vendor finance deal? If so, please email me to discuss further.

Mccoz

Hi Bluemist.
Your S32 and other docs (eg. for auction purposes) should be prepared by your Conveyancer, or if you choose to do it yourself, use a Conveyancing kit.

As a Victorian, it’s a system that i am used to. When I sell my property, I go to the Conveyancer to organise all the legal stuff, and to the REA to find the purchasers. Sounds like different rules apply to different states.

Good luck with your sale, I agree with v8ghia. A great REA is worth the commission. However, i know they are few and far between.

Mee Chee

Hi audrey123,

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a block of land 1170 sqm, in the inner SE suburbs of melbourne, with a 6 month settlement. At this stage, will be building 3x3bed on the block . This will also be my first development project.

Things I needed to consider before signing the contract that was specific to the land:
– trees. Two great cedar trees on the property which were potentiall a problem. Hired an arborist in conjunction with the building designer to confirm whether or not, they would impede development. opinion was that we would get away with knocking down if we conceded the other. Worked out ok.
– easement. You can’t build on top of a registered easment. There was one running on the back of the land that wasn’t a problem. However, the vendor statement showed another easement that was running accross the block two thirds of the way. On investigation, It was classed as “unregistered”, recommendation being that I would be able to build a garage over it, but not the house building itself. The building designer reviewed it, and yes, it would could still implement plans that were profitable. (However, it did stop me from building 4 units which was on my original plan).
-look around the block. Has there been precedent set for what you want to do? That was important in my area where monash council are incredriby strict on planning guidelines. (I looked on a website somewhere recently to find they had the highest rejection rates for council approvals.)

I know that some building designers/town planners offer a site valuation service, that you could employ to assess the site to ensure that it would be suitable for your development needs. This would generally also include the soil tests that you talked about. There is a charge, but they are generally incorporated into your main costs should you go ahead with the deal. You could always purchase subject to one of these clauses. At the minimum, get an experienced building designer on board to review the drawings on the vendor statement and get his opinion on whether you can build to meet your needs.

I am meeting again with my designer to look at 1st drafts of plans this afternoon, and am very excited. in the meantime, I am on the look out for a mentor to help me over the nitty gritty bits of development, as no matter how much I research, 1st hand experience is priceless.

Good luck

Mee Chee

As with Wylie, for our first investment renovation, we borrowed – spare beds and bedside cabinets from various friends, to fill up the bedrooms, took all prints off our walls in our home, and borrowed a sofa. In the end, we only needed to hire a dining room and chairs, and a fridge, which significantly reduced our costs. Glad in the end, as our IP took 4 months to sell, a little longer than expected, and could have wiped out of much of our profits if we had hired the whole lot. Also by mixing and matching old and new, the IP had a far more personal and homely feel to it, then just using the hire furniture which is generally quite modern. (doesn’t suit all homes). I hired from PABs furniture rental in Prahran. If you go to the shop, upstairs has a cheaper and (older) range of furniture to hire, which I found perfectly fine. Most still looked brand new.

Good luck!

Mee Chee

Dazzling,

good luck with this project, it’s a winner. i use skip hire from a company who does the same thing in the outer SE suburbs of Melbourne. Their clearance rate on rubbish is up in the high 80s/90%. Because of this, their costs are significantly lower than other competitors, which mean their skip hire charges are alteast 30% lower than others (which is why I use them). Their name is bedrock bin hire. 0414 594 532. Perhaps you could call them and find out more info. From my experience the guy who runs it is really approachable and very happy to chat about the way his business works. I was fascinated! He may be able to help you in your venture.

good luck

Mee Chee