Hi MJ,
Genuine five bedroom houses are rare, I know, I looked for one. Some are advertised as 5 beds but are actually 4 and a study. (the fifth is small and has no BIR).
I do agree that over 4 beds could be entering into a niche market. Perhaps student accomodation.
I have noticed a lack of 4 bed houses for rent, most have two or three. That could be a hole in the market. I was considering my options and looked at renting, very hard to find a 4 bedder with a study and a garage, but I might be unique.
There are still some big families out here!

I’ll ensure that if we do go for the extra bedroom, that is has a built-in-robe. So insightful!

Cheers,

— MJ.

Hey MJ,

> I am personally a big fan of the sloping block mainly because you simply cannot buy and install a view!

Yeah, some people pay a premium for a view. I guess this would be the motivator for going ahead with this land.

> You mentioned a fall of 6m however what is the distance of the fall? If it is 6m over 200m it is easier to build on than say 6m in 50m!

True! There’s a frontage of about 10 metres, and the left hand side of the block has about 40 metres. So it’s 6 metres over about 40. That’s about 1 metre slope for every 7 metres of dirt. In the back right hand corner, it slopes 9 metres, but across 55 metres of dirt.

> This will predominantly determine the overall cost of levelling if you want to go that way.

I think we’ll have to build the house into the land, gradually getting higher the further into the block we go. The driveway is going to be ‘interesting’ I think .

> On that note, do you have to level much at all. I love the Queenslander style of home either stumped or on poles and, if this is a bush environment, maybe suitable. There are companies out there that specialise in this although wouldn’t know about Queensland.

Oh, my wife and I don’t like Queenslanders. We’re biased to the ‘older’ style Queenslanders we’ve seen (30+ years old), and prefer the good old brick/timber style home.

> Just some food for thought.

Thanks for your input!

Cheers,

— MJ.

> My first thought that comes to mind is can the sloping (large) block be subdivided into two properties?

Not at this point in time.

> As for my other thoughts on the points above:

> Designers can cost extra, as many of them lack the construction experience to understand ways of minimising building expenses. Designers usually want their ideas done no matter what the cost.

I’ll keep that in mind. This designer is part of the land estate that is employed to approve/deny home plans. Their services are free.

> If you’re going to rent it out on a couple of years then I would look at getting a draftsperson and a builder together and nut out some plans. It’s cheaper than a designer, and builders know how to minimise expenses yet still get the same desired outcomes of design. Bounce ideas around on ways to come up with great designs that aren’t going to cost a fortune!

Here’s a question: Does anyone have suggestions for good builders in the Brisbane area? Any builders to stay completely away from, whatever the reason?

> Get quotes of levelling the block. If a neighbouring block has had something, then approach the owner/builder and ask a few questions! How did they do it? How much did it cost? Who did they use to do the earth moving? What problems did they face?

Sounds like a plan!

> Also check with the council on the latest regulations involving water runoff/tanks/etc, etc.

This is Ipswich shire, so I’ll do some checking.

> You may even wish to get an inspection from a quantative surveyor on how much the likely cost is to build…

Also a fantastic suggestion – does anyone have a preferred (cheap!) quantitative surveyor in the Brisbane area?

Good luck!

Cheers!

— MJ.