<150k Build Cost SYD - Realistic?

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to buy land and build a home for my parents to live in.

300m block of land, single storey 160sqm of floor space, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom and single garage.

I'm looking to do as much of the build on my own as possible but will definitely need construction loan.

I'm wondering if you guys think it's realistic to be able to build a very basic home for less than 150k?

The land is pretty flat, currently being developed from originally large acreage (Austral region) so still unregistered. In my head, I can't see why I can't get it to completion for less than 150k but i would love some feedback and thoughts!

Site prep - 10k
Slab - 160sqm - 16k
Timber Frame - 20k
Eaves and gables- 10k
Colourbond roofing and gutters - 15k
Cladding and brick veneer mix (approx 100m2) - 10k
Windows - 14k
Internal and front doors - 6k
Electrical - 5k
Plumbing - 5k
Insualtion and Drywall - 4k material only
Floorboard - 4k material only
Tiles - 2k material only
Painting - 2k material only
Kitchen- 10k
Bathroom - 6k
Ensuite - 4k
Landscaping - 3k for material only
Fittings (door knobs etc) - 2k
Miscellaneous - 2k

Note that I have family and friends that are tradies (gyprock, electrician, carpenter's, painters) that I will call favors on which will reduce cost For this

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

 

Are you a builder by trade?
Owner builder finance is tougher to get than if someone else was doing the build.
Do you have to build your parents a property or could you buy an existing house for them?

 

Plumbing electrical (maybe not) and slab look pretty low - Might want to confirm with your mates/family about that

Kitchen and bathrooms could be cheaper (im guessing you want a higher spec)

You probably could

Though check some project builders - there are a few that could probably handover to you mid high 100s, finance would be easier and less hassle

Do the OB and call in favours when its a lot more significant

 

No, not a builder by trade though I've spent some time working on the tools and I do have friends that are builders, tradies and building design consultants

I mean I could buy them an existing one but cost would be an extra 150k or so. My numbers come to 515k Inc land, build, stamp and legals. Established houses of similar specs are min 650k onward

I figure if I can't get finance for the owner builder I would likely have to borrow cash from family to finish the build, refinance once completion and pay them back

 

This is going to be how you'll have to do it as by the sounds of it you need 100% funding
Maybe speak to your builder friends to see if your numbers sound OK, they should know if they quote full builds.
Obviously you would want to ensure you can afford to refinance once completed.
I noticed a bunch of the figures you mentioned are for material only, getting a tiler is not cheap for example.
How are you going to be earning an income while the house is being constructed if you need to be there managing the build?
My opinion is that it might seem do-able on paper but not probable, plenty of people who attempt owner builds underestimate in one area or another so it would need to be very carefully considered before proceeding.

 

Thanks for the feedback

For the slab I was working off of $100m2
As for electrical and plumbing it should only be materials that I'm paying for plus few hundred cash and a case of beer as a thank you for your time sort of thing

Kitchen and bathroom I added a buffer in case I go over budget elsewhere

Yeah, I thought about getting a builder to get it to lockup stage or even a builder friend to project manage it to lockup stage using his license so perhaps I could get finance for it

With owner builder, i assume banks would value it based it end-value?

 

Thanks Lindsay, I'll definitely speak to my builder friends about those figures

For those items listed with material only, labour will be done either by myself ,family or friends that specialise in that trade... I.e. maybe few hundred cash for their time for the favour

Fortunately I'm self employed, working from home with a pretty flexible schedule so I can be onsite when needed

I'll also explore the idea of getting a builder to get it to lockup stage for me. That would help with banks financing the build I'd imagine

 

Pays to have friends in the industry by the sounds of it couple of hundred bucks and maybe some beers is much cheaper
The way construction lending works is the banks value the property 'as if complete' - If you need to put cash into the construction costs then you're required to pay that money first before the banks will release their funds.
Eg. you pay for slab and frame stages, they will fund the property to completion. This reduces the risk that the property won't be completed and the lender is left with an unfinished house they cannot sell to re-coup their money. (this is worse case scenario type stuff)

 

I think you might have underestimated how mates rates work. A mate is always happy to lend a few hours here and there for some cash and beers on the weekend but being the sparky on a house is probably 10-15hrs and they will have to forgo properly paid work to do it. Being the tiler on a house is probably a full weeks work.

 

Indeed it does!

Gotcha -- so by the sounds of it I should start some conversations with mortgage brokers too

With the owner-builder side of it all... would the end-valuation just be based on council approved plans and specs?

 

Definitely wouldn't hurt, so you know what's achievable, finance wise.
As with any construction the end value (as if complete/construction valuation) is usually based on comparable market value when finished.
You might find this is more than the land+build costs. In which case it will depend on the lender as to what they'll allow you to use in your application ie. some lenders will allow you to use the higher valuation but other lenders will use the land + build cost as their maximum.

 

Understood - Not gonna abuse the favors, really anything more than 3-4 hours work I'd be happy to pay them for there time.

I wouldn't have thought tiles on something like this would take a full week but that would make sense especially if tiling up bathroom walls. Good to know -- maybe I will just hire a tiler and pay them day-rate while supplying materials needed

Based on your experience, do you think the numbers stack up?

 

That's perfect! I prefer to put in as little cash as possible so a lender that would lend based on completed-value would help tremendously!

 

Yeah all the jobs you quoted a few hundred plus case of beer arent really a few hour jobs - more like a weeks

Goodluck finding a tiler or any tradie (with exception unskilled + unqualified) willing to work on a daily rate (maybe by luck a backpacker who is in the trade in their home country)

Might want to have a good discussion with your builder mates

Cheapest build will be a project home builder without you changing or upgrading anything and doing the floor/window coverings, air con and landscaping yourself

Economies of scale work wonders

You may want to rethink your 160m2 3/21/ to a 130m2 3/2/1 and you may finish around 170k depending on your soil and levels

Where OBs and smaller builders comes handy and cheap is where you are fussy over design/spec

 

Luck to get a reasonable Granny flat under 150 for 60 m2 in Sydney , but 160 m2 house ??

Good luck ....

Cliff

 

I reckon your costs will easily blow out.

 

I've seen owner builders build 50m2 granny flats with top quality finish for 40k... obviously lots of hands on work by them

I've also seen project homes being advertised with a build cost of 189k with metricon, others at that 150k mark too but no landscaping or driveway... the 189k with metricon is a 4/2/2 and 21 squares, so bit bigger too. I was Quite keen on that option initially but then learned width of my block is too narrow.

Anyways, I'll speak to a few builder friends to see what they think of this.

Appreciate your input though

 

Yeah i understand what you mean but I suppose if you've got a brother that's a gyprocker, a brother in law that's an electrician, and then cousins who are carpenter's and friends that are plumbers, asking them for a bit more sweat equity than usual should be fine, since it's for my parents after all. It definitely will be asking a lot of them though, that's for sure.

I have thought about getting a builder out there to get it to lockup... slab, frame, roof, bricks and cladding, hvac, plumbing and electrical, plus windows. I definitely need to explore thag further and I certainly will do

I really just wanted to know whether or not people thought it'd be possible to finish the build at 150k or less and then assess options from there

 

It's quite possible! Lol but if be curious to see when if they did blowout by say 20% would it still be cheaper than going direct to a builder

 

There are builders (well here in Perth) who will build basic homes for $1100 per sqm but it's easier to build cheaply on larger blocks of land where there are no walls on boundaries, no design guidelines imposed by Estates, sand or A class soils etc etc

If you can get away with building a rectangle house then things will be more economical but not as pretty.