4 months does seem like a long time – councils usually have maximum times for aprovals but if there are issues with the application they stop the clock.

Personally, I find some councils are more helfpul/flexible than others, as are some Planning Officers.  We had a situation recently where the Senior Planning Officer retired midway through our planning approval process and the 'new' (promoted) Senior Planning Officer approaches the role very differently and also tries to dictate what 'they' want – even on things that go outside the planning scheme.  I had to jump through many hoops that I wasn't expecting and had to flexible and yield to some of their requests otherwise we'd still be in the planning stage.  The rules and regulations seem to be getting tougher all the time and there certainly seems to be double standards in how some rules are applied. 

My suggestion would be to know the planning scheme inside out yourself and also understand the acceptable solutions where it is a challenge to comply with either planning or building requirements.  I'd also consider speaking to the manager of the department in the council that you feel is not treating you fairly (although sometimes this can work against you if not handled tactfully).

I'd also consider changing builder – if you are already having difficulties with them now, what will it be like once you are in the build stage?  It may be better to take the pain now and change to a builder who wants to work with you rather than find the situation unworkable and change mid way through as most builders are not too keen to take on someone's project once construction has commenced.

I hope these suggestions might be of some assistance.  Good luck.

Ok, they've been looking in Peachester area most recently.  They want a few acres without too many neighbours.

My hubby is really keen on the tax liens.  Are you planning to attend the workshop at the end of the month?

. . . . . . only 5 more sleeps!  Yep, I think I'm a nerd too!!

Hope I spot your little doll/toy/thing D so I can say hi.

Wow Troodyg, there are some logistics going on for you to get to Melbourne.  Hope everything falls into place for you and you can enjoy your time away from home.

We have borrowings with RAMS and personally I have found them good to deal with – we are based in Tasmania and have dealt with Matthew Collins in Melbourne.  Our loan had low establishment fees, has a variable rate lower than the big four banks, no ongoing fees, free redraw etc. Only catch – there is an exit fee for early payout of the loan.
Good luck.

Hi Nick

Welcome to the forum.  Thought you might be interested in our current 3 unit project and the little challenges we've encountered.

Last October we purchased a house (unit 1) on 1,338 sqm – a double block but on one title.   Two days after signing the contract we had a tenant sign up to move into the existing house after settlement.  All good.  We are building two units which are being plastered and bricked this week so things are moving along quite nicely. 

On the original subdivision our block was two blocks.  The sewerage, town water and storm water connections are available on the second block HOWEVER as it is only one title council like only one connection point for services.  This has taken some negotiation for them to see logic and not have to dig up the front and back yard of the existing house to hook everything together.  (Splitting the title back into two was not an option as 350 sqm is the minimum area required per unit.)

The meters on the exising house (unit) have to be moved from the back to the front to make it comply with today's requirements before power authority will sign off the development.

As the existing (old) storm water infrastructure is unable to cope with the rain water from two units rather than a house the council require that we put in a storm water retention system to slow the flow.  Still working on a cost effective design but has meant many more $$.  It is hit and miss in this suburb whether retention systems are required and the council likes you to 'submit your application' before indicating all the conditions they will impose in the development approval.

An overhead power cable to the neighbours house crossed the front corner of our block however there were no easements on our title and we had our solicitor do extra searches to be sure before we settled.  When the time came to ask for the power cable to be relocated we were informed that we needed to pay for it because 'automatic easements' were granted by legislation many years ago.  As there were so many cases, none were ever registered on the titles.  Extra cost $1,400.  Lesson learnt – always ask the service provider yourself and don't assume anything.  Our solicitor still believes we shouldn't have to pay but it wasn't worth holding up the project to argue over it.

There have been other minor things but we are using a builder who we trust (have used him before) and this has certainly made the construction process run smoothly.

Whilst not ideal, as we had equity in our PPOR we cross-colateralised and this has made funding process easy, not having to get valuations at each point along the way.  On completion we'll either sell 1, 2 or 3 of the units or re-finance them with another financier.  For future projects we will set up a line of credit against our PPOR and have the funding and security of each property stand alone from the outset.

Yet to be seen whether there are any other surprises along the way but hopefully we'll be able to have strata titles issued within 12 months of purchase and also have a nice capital gain in the process.

Best wishes for your development

Tracey

Hi Everyone, We are about to purchase our first investment property.  Can anyone give me an indication of how much we should expect Landlord's insurance to be?  Is it based on the value of the property or the rental return, or some other calculation that is a mystery to everyone but the insurers?  Thanks