Back in Europe it is very common to purchase what it is called bare house (blank canvas) house. In practical terms it means walls and roof only (major structural – not even plastering done).
It is very popular because people have tendency to do the rest themselve. No kitchen, no floors, no plastering, no lights,…
In Australia house needs to be signed off and handed over to the owner.
How far and to what extend you can go with this?
Flooring is very good example (you purchase concrete only and you do flooring yourself), kitchen???, plastering?
What is legaly acceptable/allowed? QLD.
You can buy and sell a house in whatever condition you like. However you will need an occupation certificate before you live in it (if it is a new build) and a bank will generally not allow a high LVR on an unfinished project so getting finance will be difficult which will affect the ability for purchases to settle. So generally, selling an unfinished house will not result in a good sale price.
Cheers,
LukeSo it looks like people who like light-medium revovating have another option here. Buying unfinished house than finish it adding value (saving on labour), getting occupation certificate and than rent it or sell it.
Who is issuing occupancy certificate and is it possible to get occupancy inspection certifier (who?) twice. Once when handing over from builder to onwer/renovator investor and than from renovator/investor to new owner or same but ready for occupancy?
How much does it cost?
The occupancy certificate can be issued by the local council or a private certifier.
To buy an unfinished house will mean you need to find someone willing to sell you an unfinished house. Which is not easy as builders/developers will want to finish the house themselves so they can make money, as opposed to selling it to soemone at a loss. One way you might be able to do this is to buy unfinished products from developers/builers who have gone bust during the process but this is not common.
You might be better off completing the entire development yourself- buy land, obtain approvals and either build yourself (if you have a builders liscence) or employ a builder to build the development.
Cheers,
Lukeoccupancy certificate can be issued by Building Surveyor. There are Building Surveyor in Local council, or you can find your private Building Surveyor as well.
Building Surveyor will check the building/house against Building Code Australia (BCA), and relevant sections in Australian Standard . If all satisfied, they will then issue you the occupancy certificate.
If you are doing your own reno, better talk to a building surveyor before start any work.You can buy & sell property in any condition that you would like. However, I would not suggest it! If you are going to try and put a house on the market, you might as well do it once the basics are done to it. Many people don’t have the time or money to put into starting a house from scratch.
I have been involved with houses that have been sold at “lock up stage” meaning completed enough for the occupancy certificate but none of the “bells and whistles” as yet.
Not really sure if its still done, but This was popular a few years back with first home buyers not being able to afford a fully completed house so flooring, painting, robes etc not included in the purchase price.
This worked well for first time home buyers as they could get into the market, as house prices increased they could access the equity to finish off those bits and pieces. Builders at the time were ok with the process, obviously not making the full retail potential, but more turnover meant they covered everything they needed to.You would need to find a builder that was happy with the set up, as well as a buyer that could put up with concrete floors and the bare basics. Personally I like the idea, for first home buyers, prices (in Darwin) are skyrocketing and it is hard for anyone to enter the market, but the buyers also need to understand the benefits of doing it hard for a few years to reap the rewards.
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