Thinking of buying a block of land?
We’ve been talking to a few people recently who are wanting to buy land to build on. For everyone else out there also looking, here are a few things we’d love you to keep in mind when searching for that perfect block.
With the credit squeeze from interest rates and the cost of building so high, it can be tempting to buy the cheapest block you can find to keep your costs down. This is absolutely a great aim, but don’t automatically assume that the cheapest block will remain the best value once it’s built on. Just balance the benefits against some of the added costs it might have when it comes time to build:
Is it a sloping site? This costs more than a flat site to build on; sometimes considerably so. The greater the slope, the more extra costs there will be. There might be earthworks, the costs of moving to a split-level or two-storey design, scaffolding costs. Then there can be access issues which slow down construction (time is cost), and give design limitations. There’s also usually extra landscaping costs; and it’s usually more cost effective to do these before building than after. Overall you could easily be adding many tens of thousands of dollars of extra construction costs to your build.
Soil type matters. Some soils aren’t worth building on at any cost; we know of at least one subdivision in town where there are a multitude of cracking problems in the houses caused by the soil, so choose a block on good soil (you can read more about this here in a previous post)
Is it serviced? Blocks out-of-town which aren’t connected to town services; electricity, sewer or water, all cost more to set up than simply connecting into the council-provided systems. If you have to provide all three of these services yourselves, you could be looking at up to $100K extra costs. For power, you’ll either have to pay for extra poles/wires if they are close, or for an off-grid solar system. You’ll need an on-site sewage management system, which these days mostly means an aerated treatment system. Then you’ll have to provide tanks both for your drinking water and for the bushfire fighting reserve; to council’s requirements, and come up with a plan for water supply to water your gardens.
Bushfire Zone? Bushland and trees around the block might bring a site into a bushfire zone, which means extra costs for bushfire safety inclusions (you can read more about this here in a previous post)
Landscaping. Larger blocks mean you will have extra costs for setting up and landscaping. This doesn’t relate directly to building, but as a general rule it means your driveway will be longer, your garden larger, there’ll be more fencing. All of these will add to your costs after your house is built so it looks the way you want it to.
So to keep your costs in check, do yourself a favour when you are searching for blocks to buy: consider these points and choose wisely. Happy shopping!