First development - Christies Beach SA

Hi, appreciate some advice on commencing my first development, a 836m2 block 18m frontage in Christies Beach.
It's currently tenanted so have some time to prepare.
I'm not intending to go down the 3 x 2 storey townhouse row development as many of these already done and more coming onto market.
Looking at 3 x single storey villas to hold and rent to retirees, mid range spec. 3 bed 2 bath 1+1 car.

Questions:
1. Pros and cons of using a builder to manage the whole process - any recommendations?
I was talking to a Format Homes rep at St Clair display village who seemed quite knowledgable.
And have seen a few Zybek developments in Christies however they are all 2 storey townhouses.

2. Or is it best to retain control and manage the process myself?
I have a quote from Zania Stacey who have subdivided a lot of properties in Christies Beach. But I'm not sure where I actually need to start, so I'm going to meet with them to understand the process better.
Your thoughts appreciated.

 

I have built similar before in Adelaide, cost about 165k per dwelling. Did high ceilings (for bank val purposes), tiled floors (which I regret), decent spec and fully done incl air Cond and landscaping.

The way I did mine was have the surveyor handle the subdivision, council, water etc. Happy to pass on details if you need.

Then i just went to the builder with vacant lots, so they just had to do their own approvals and build. I used Statesman, the end product was good but their service was poor. My finance broker says he often gets deals through for them because their values always stack up.

What's the plan afterwards, sell or rent? Seems to be a bit of over supply in Christies Beach right now.

 

Nice ! Too many townhouses at present,good to see your not following the crowd, Zybek will build you anything you want, not just townhouses, they must be ok with the pricing, as they seem to be very active around Christies.I also have a nice corner block we are looking at developing as single story as well.The division process isnt complicated, its time consuming,as @DT said, the surveyor will do the bulk of the work,just get a good one.Are you doing Community Title or Torrens?

 

Thx DT, plan is to hold and rent. Appreciate your surveyor details.

 

As you mentioned you're doing 3 and in a row (party wall)
Make sure you're all over your finance.
I've seen a few applications delayed/fall over as the banker/broker wasn't over the banks policies

 

Thx James, my original thought was community as not all will have road frontage, however brief discussion with Format rep thought Torrens for front build and community for back two.
However need to investigate further.

 

Hi Brady, not intending to go down the row dwellings, more detached villas if it stacks up.
Appreciate the advice, have just tidied up the credit cards and unused limits so was off to finance broker next week.

 

Good option to get them involved early.

Make sure you discuss this with whoever is looking after your finance.

 

Division into three and construction - this is pretty simple. Not all lenders will touch this (read: most lenders won't) so it's important to get the right advice. (there's some lenders which are great with these kinds of developments)

Whether to DIY or have someone handle it - to be honest with a small residential construction deal there isn't much to it, have the surveyor do their work, pay the necessary invoices for the infrastructure to be put in, titles release and build. Other than picking your builder and who you want to deal with the surveying/title production it's just a case of sitting back and waiting for the places to be built.

 

• I'm sceptical of engaging a builder straight off for a 3+/4+ on a lot - its near on impossible to compare apples to apples on pricing based on sales consultant quotes - and once you've handed over a deposit, you're 'locked in' to that builder and exposed to creep between the verbal indications and the final price after engineering and design. An alternative approach would be to engage an independent designer / architect to pull a set of plans / engineering / specs together and then go to tender - it ensures you have a number of builders quoting apples for apples on the same set of plans. The latter approach is what someone like Simon Zybek manages for you for a fee (he's a developer, not a builder!)
• If going down the DIY route: I'd start with a (i) a good feasibility, (ii) a draftsperson to manage you through designs / council approvals / tender, (iii) a surveyor to manage you through land division approvals and site pegging (iv) a broker to understand what you will be able to finance. We didn't start engaging builders on the current project until all the engineering / design was done, finance had been pre-approved, council approvals were done and the site was close to being demolished...!

 

Thankfully he's in Adelaide, its much simpler here.

 

Great advise - this is the same path I went down. Except APRA come in and hit during the development which meant selection of builder had to be pushed forward, finance was approved with <24hours left.
I was still able to achieve a decent build price IMO but there was definitely some 'creep' involved when the engineering and selections came about.