Build on Macleay Island

Hi all,

My wife and I are looking at the option of building a 3 bed dwelling on Macleay Island. We are totally new to this but have a piece of land fully paid off. We purchased the land for 110k and suffered a pretty disappointing loss with it now being valued around 25k...

To recoup some losses we are look at cheaper options to build on the land. Has anyone built on the islands, have any advice or recommendations?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Is it worth doing? Is it throwing good money after bad? What's the rental demand?

 

At the moment it’s just sitting there and we are paying rates, we would probably look to sell not to long after getting a house on it which could help us recover some losses on the land. We don’t currently have enough of a deposit to invest elsewhere so just looking at our options..

 

Looks like the worst is over... it may take 3-4 months or so to sell. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Find a free removal house from a development site and get it stumped there. Cheapest option for a build.

 

hi @Tony Clark , are you looking at getting rental return by building on the land? have you done your numbers, is it worth it?

 

I would look at a removal home as well, if you can find a builder to build there, they will charge extra 10% for inconvenience, also it could take up to a year to build depending on the slope of block, weather etc, meaning you will be making loan repayments with no return.Most banks shy away from the bay islands and require a high deposit for loans which is also inconvenient

 

If you build then sell make sure you factor GST into calcs. Relocation of aold house onto land is considered new residential premises and a substantial renovation. GST applies to a supply and the profit making motive for doing the work seems a enterprise.

 

Actually..it's not that hard. A good broker will be able to sort the finance and Wright brothers on the sunny coast will build, deliver, stump and plumb a house for you.

 

I don't know what I would do in your situation. I suspect cut my losses, or use the land for a caravan and save up to build a small holiday home? A kit home is a cost effective building option and it's new.

 

How do you get a removal house across to the islands?

 

Actually @Tony Clark forget that Wright brothers recommendation. Looks like they went broke and lots of nasty stuff went down. Pity.

Wright Bros

 

Yes building to get rental return is what we are thinking atm. It would be positively geared, but we’ve only just started looking into it all. We should be able to build, from what I’m seeing, under 200k for a 3bed home, and rent around 300pw with the water views. Not sure how banks look at equity on the islands though.. after the 200k build the property will be worth maybe close to 300k? Ideally we’d like to invest elsewhere in Australia soon so need some equity to do that.

 

Only problem with a removable home is we can get a mortgage to do it, and I think we need 50k as a bond for the council. crazy.. I’m not sure how easy it will be to get a loan to build even, we are limited to loaning from Commonwealth bank currently due to our employment circumstances.

 

Thanks for the info, very interesting...

 

We have a builder that specialises in building on the islands.

 

I have a builder that i could recommend
probably looking low 100s for a 70m2 3bed + 1 bathroom

 

That would be great mate, thank you

 

Plus I think for a 3 bed we would want at least a 100m sq build...