A Singaporean In Australia

Hi Singaporeanson,

Dennis here, a pity we could not meet today due to wifey's work commitments.

Just to give some idea, wifey and I moved to Perth from Singapore in 2008.Back then, I was alone here for the first 2 months finding a job and a place to rent before getting the wife and dog over.

So I know how you feel on securing the first rental house, the feeling of freedom!

We built our own house and moved in more than a year ago. While fulfilling there was a lot of stress and heartache....

Winter is coming, have you got all your heating solved? I know you have not experienced a winter yet but it can be really cold and dreary.

Dennis

Hi Dennis

Just curious - since you have experience building your own home - can you advise, is it better to build a new one or buy an existing one?

What are the pros and cons you faced? I hope you can share for the benefit of all aspiring 1st time home owners.

Thanks!!

In addition to hard wooden floorings, old character ouses have wooden window frames and door frames. Not so plastic-ky. These houses are common in areas like subiaco, nedlands, Claremont, shenton park, cottlesloe - all these are prime areas. In fact, houses in north of the river are better value than those in the south. In the western suburbs, there are the prestigious private schools, so houses there are very expensive but hold their values very well.

My folks have built and moved several times. After building and living in a house, we realized the faults or flaws in the design, and we would sell the place. That's life in Oz though, moving around and moving interstates, very common and that's where the fun is.

This is suppose to be the first part of my response: (had to retype)

Hope you don't mind me chipping in. Buying existing houses or build your own is exciting, and definitely has its pros and cons. Build your own: you get to choose the house design, builder, furnishings, decor, landscaping, etc. and all these comes with the headaches and stress to build with the builders, making sure they keep to the timing and progress without boo boos. Whether to buy existing or build a house, it all boils down to location and one's budget. Let's say if you want to lve in a mature estate and close to CBD, you would buy existing house. Building your own there would mean having to buy a house, hopefully at block value, then demolish and rebuild. E.g. In south Perth, Como, Vic park, being close to CBD or Willetton, Bullcreek, Bateman, Riverton because of the Rossmoyne Hogh School, and you want to be in that catchment area. Those land that are big enough would cost around $800K to $1M in those close to CBD. Smaller plots will be around $500K at least. I am talking about South Perth or Como area - which are hot zones for sub-division.

That means, if you want to have 800 sq m of land to accommodate your kids and pets to run around, you would have to look for outlying areas like Aubin grove, atwell, harrisdale, canning vale, etc. land cost around $300K on average. Building a basic single storey is about $350K and basic double storey is $500k. But then, you have to consider the amenities, schools and public transport access in those areas.

Also, living in old character houses has its plus points - these are common in south Perth, Como, shenton park, subiaco! Nedlands, etc. they tend to have very high ceilings, higher than usual 28 or 31 course of bricks. The furnishings tend to be in timber, which are very costly these days.

Good stuff... thanks for the tips!

I was checking out land & home package prices - the prices seem quite alright, esp in distant suburbs. Are these packages to be trusted? They are advertising new homes at about AU$300-400K, and which look great on the photos and floorplans. But are they really that good? Or is it just great marketing?

Very often, the advertising will attract prospective buyers to the plot sale. Need to see who the builder is and/or the land sale company. Also, need to verify whether the advertised price includes land or just the building cost. Would you give me an idea which location this is? Ascot area?

Some new developing areas still have a long way to go. E.g. joondallup was in the middle of nowhere back in the 90s. Developers went to Singapore to launch land sale, and even threw in a Mercedes A or C class as a bonus to the land&house package. Thus, there was a teochew saying "choon ji liap" (i.e. only one remaining). Quite a few people got sucked in, believing in the promise that rental could fetch a couple of hundreds a week. Guaranteed rentals for two years, etc. Houses were built but no tenants. It's only after many years that Joondallup finally picked up. Now, it's become quite expensive after being a satellite town. So, if you are building for yourself to live in, be selective of the location, land size, position, facing and builder.

Another area is Ellenbrook. It has developed quite a fair bit, not a bad area considering it's far from city but very much like Joondallup, except that there is no train access. A friend of mine bought a land and built there about 10 years ago. She's a school teacher in her 20s then. Worked hard to pay for land and house, upon building completion, she leased it out for next few years as she could claim building depreciation cost in her tax as part of her negative gearing scheme. After the 7 years, she took back and lived in it herself.

I actually have no preference at this time - was just searching, and looked up builders with better user feedback from www.productreview.com.au

No builder had perfect feedback, but a couple of the builders with fewer negative reviews are Aveling Homes and Dreamstart Homes in WA.

All of them advertise home and land packages all over WA for between $300-500K. And suburbs about 25-35km away from Perth city seem to be priced about $300-400K.

Those two builders you mentioned must be quite new. You are right, there's no perfect builder but make sure they are not overwhelmed with many projects. Otherwise, the project supervisor would be too stretched to oversee yours, and that's when trouble starts. The price advertised is probably for the land and very basic building cost. When you start changing designs or add furnishings, or need to build retaining wall, etc the cost will escalate. Also, take note of which builder is good for single storey or double storey. The house design must suit your needs. I find that most people, and from my own experience, tend to be swayed by the lovely designs and blinded one's judgment of its practicality.

LOL... you are right about that.. I am at the moment swaying here and there and everywhere by the various design elements!! Haha!

Ok... time to get practical and do more homework!

Ha ha.. This is the beginning of the headache in building your own house but I am sure there is no complain. Just go take a look at all the showroom or open house to gain more perspectives. I have always liked WB designs. Peter Stannard is not bad as well. Dale Alcock is popular. If you have time, go to Ellenbrook, there is a whole stretch of showrooms on weekends. Go to National Homes website to find out their address of showroom in Ellenbrook.