Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Buy or Build?

Hi to all those who are considering whether to buy or to build!

We started this process over a year ago when we decided to tender on a post war home in east Brisbane, given that we were living near the bay and wanted to move closer to the city to cut down on commuting time.

Post War Home on 630 m2
Location was important to us as we intended either selling or demolishing the existing home and building our new home in this well sought after area and wanted it to be a long term investment for us.

After being successful with the tender, we tried everything to sell this quaint home but to no avail as it had asbestos and a tiled roof, both of which did not bode well with relocation and re-stumping.

Unfortunately, our only option was to demolish the home, which we completed in July 2011.

Our relationship with Metricon started soon thereafter and we commenced investigating designs that could fit on a 16m wide block. We chose Metricon because of their quality and style of display homes and competitive pricing when comparing finishes and inclusions. We considered a number of designs both low and highset and almost settled on the Addison design, which we viewed down in Melbourne. We progressed to the Burleigh and finally chose the Cedar design with a number of changes, which I will go through in a later post.  In terms of "Buy or Build?", in our case, we've looked at a number of existing homes in east Brisbane and are still currently convinced that building with our layout and selected finishes is a better investment for us than buying something existing, even in the current market.

Thanks

Steve & Allyson 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Steve & Allyson, just a quick message to say hi as I just stumbled across your blog. We are also building the Cedar 32 in east Brisbane. What stage are you up to now? We have just had our roof put on and solar panels/whirly birds installed. Rachel.

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    1. Hi Rachel, thanks for your comment. We have submitted 3 more blogs covering our "Modified Design", "Base", and "Frame" stages. We are busy completing an "Enclosed" stage blog, but in summary, we are at the painting stage (internal and external) and the kitchen is being fitted. All the internal doors and robe shelving have also been painted and fitted. The tiling will commence in a week or so and the plumbing and electrical will follow. Things are starting to come together and its getting quite exciting. We've had some issues, but nothing too major. We have had 4 Site Manager's and building coordinators for some reason or another so we have lacked some continuity. Our completion date is scheduled for mid to end March. We've come a long way with Metricon and can assist you with any queries you might have on our process, design, etc. Regards, Steve.

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  2. Hi Steve - that does sound exciting! You guys are a fair way ahead of us then - we only just got the roof on and apparently windows are being delivered/installed this Thursday - then I'm not quite sure what happens after that! I think we are getting bricks delivered in the first week of Feb but not too sure what next week holds.
    We have been building since November and have also had a couple of change of supervisors - we've only had 2 so far though so fingers crossed there aren't many more to come!
    When do they give you a completion date? We've only got what was on our contract - 24 weeks build time but no actual date. I've calculated that myself but who knows if that's how they do it.
    Are you required to have retaining walls done? We are unfortunately but nothing has happened yet as we are waiting on quotes etc.
    Good luck with the rest of your build :) Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.
    Rachel.

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  3. Hey Rachel. Your Site Manager should give you a weekly progress update (phone call) which should keep you updated with what is going on. If not, you should request this from him, which shouldn't be an issue. Although they indicate a 24 week build time, your contract should state how many days to completion, which should be around 160 - 170 days and includes weekends but not public holidays. We started on 10-Sep-12 and are scheduled for completion in Mar-13, which will be 6 months and that includes a 2 week break over Xmas. We will also need to do retaining walls down the back corner and half way down the one side, which would normally happen after handover but you should discuss this with your Site Manager as he might allow a contractor access under his supervision before handover. We also need to do driveway and portico and outdoor room concrete and tiling. Our kitchen cupboards have just been installed, internal painting is completed, all doors have been hung and tiler has just started. Electrical and plumbing will follow. All the best with your build as well and I'm happy to address any other queries you might have. I will be posting photos of some of the changes we made to the standard Cedar design shortly. Regards Steve

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