Category: Blocks

Placing Your House On The Block – 10 Things To Consider

There’s lots to think about when you are positioning a house on a block.

Here are some things that you should consider when comparing blocks and then deciding how to place your house,

    • Statutory Limits There are usually the following limits on where you can place your house:
    • Local Council Setbacks (the rules should be on the council website, it may refer to the building envelope)
    • Sewer or Drainage Easements (check your title documents for these)
    • Driveway Crossover Many blocks now come with the driveway crossover already constructed which causes further restrictions unless you want the expense of removing the crossover and constructing a new one in a different location.
    • Take Advantage of the Sun My aim to get most of the main rooms facing North for a solar passive performance and which helps with the energy rating performance (A good orientation can boost the environmental rating by at least one star).
    • Avoid Shading I like to place the house fairly close to the Southern Boundary so that the I can have a garden on the sunny side of the block which you can see from those North facing rooms. The wider garden also helps prevent shading from the house next door.
    • Overheating from Afternoon Sun Avoid or at least minimise West facing windows.
    • Welcoming Entrance Front doors should be facing, and clearly visible from, the street . . . it looks more welcoming and improves security.
    • Outdoor Entertaining Areas Decks and alfresco areas with a westerly aspect are good for having a beer in the evening while watching the setting sun.
    • Kitchen Views In our last house the kitchen window had the most interesting view. . . as that is the one you find yourself looking out of the most.
    • Storage Areas Do you want to store a caravan, trailer or boat on the site.
    • Pets If you have a dog does it have somewhere to run around without damaging your main garden? and somewhere where it can sleep away from rain and summer sun?

 

What do you think is important when placing you house?

Block or House First?

Should you choose the block, or decide on a house design first?

Cheaper Land

Well my preference has been to build on suburban blocks so we are close to shops, cafes, recreational facilities and public transport.

Blocks in these areas are relatively small so I’ve started by either sketching up the house I would like to build, or selecting a plan.

I then look for a block with good orientation that the house would fit on.

It means that I don’t even go and look at blocks that won’t fit my ideal house.

This has stopped me getting frustrated and have to start looking at a different house to fit an odd shaped block that I’ve set my heart on.

Expensive Land

With blocks getting smaller, and more expensive your approach may have to be varied.

Currently the price of the land close to cities is usually more expensive than building costs. This even applies to suburbs 40km or more from the CBD.

In can makes sense to divide your budget by two and see what size block you can get in an area you want to live in.

You are then able to look for designs that fit that size of block.

If you can’t find a block big enough for a single storey house of a size you want at an affordable price you may have to start looking for designs for a smaller house or a 2 storey house.

Rural Blocks

Of course if you want a rural or semi rural block rather than a suburban block the overall size of the block means that you can fit most houses on the block without any problem.

It therefore makes sense if you are in this market to look for blocks early.

You can then look to choose a house that makes the best use of the site.

These larger blocks do give you more choice with the house design because the additional space means that you can move away from the typical rectangular houses to square houses, courtyard layouts, or even round houses.

With these big blocks I have heard it said that you should move a caravan onto the site for a few nights or even camp there before you decide where on the block you will site the house.

That seems like a great idea to me!

For similar posts about buying Land see Blocks

 

Choosing an Area

So here is a map of places withing 50km of where I live now.

As you can see it covers City, Suburbs, Bayside, the Coast and Rural Areas.

Here are a few things you need to think about when deciding to look for an area to live:

  • How far is the area from your work? Will it still be convenient if you change your job?
  • Are there good road links to your work? Lots of traffic lights and railway crossings can add substantially to Journey Times.
  • Is there good public transport links? In some Melbourne suburbs being within easy walking distance of the station can put more than $50,000 on the cost of the house.

How close are the:

  • Shops and Supermarkets?
  • Restaurants and Cafes?
  • Pubs or Clubs? Saves worrying about the breathalyser!>
  • Sporting facilities? Most parents will appreciate this as most Saturdays can be spent running a ‘Taxi” Service.
  • Parks and playgrounds?
  • Doctors?
  • Hospitals?
  • How good are the local schools? Or will you be sending the childeren elsewhere which can brings up a whole extra range of transport problems.
  • Is it close to relatives? Close enough to babysit .but far enough to need to get the car out is my rule!
  • Is it close to the Beach or the Bush

What’s important to you?

 For Similar Posts see Choosing Blocks

 

House And Land Packages – Are They A Good Idea?

You often see house and land packages advertised and they may have an attractive price . . . . . but are they a good idea?

Here are a few more things to think about:

  1. These sort of deals are popular with property investors who just want to get a new house built and get tenants in as quickly as possible. . . Wouldn’t you prefer to have the houses next door owned by occupiers who are going to be more likely to care about the appearance of the house and garden than a tenant who has little interest.
  2. It seems to me they are usually offered on the hard to sell and the least attractive blocks which is one reason why they are cheaper. Typical problems I have seen include:
        • On a major road
        • Poor orientation
        • Be an odd shape
        • Have access issues.
  3. They are often based on the smallest possible block that will fit the house. Often they will have the houses so close together they will look more like a terrace and the back yard will be minimal.

One of the Real Estate maximums is that the way to make money on a house is by buying the right house.

Make sure you don’t harm your chances of a good future sale by buying a bad House and Land Package.

Much more advice in the   anewhouse – Guide to Buying a Block   for only $2

For similar posts on buying land see the Blocks section

 

Country Or City

It’s not as simple as Country or City, there are a lot of areas in between.

In the country it can be sea change, tree change, a rural block, or in a small town.

In the city it can be inner suburb, existing outer suburb, or new subdivision.

To some extent it depends on your time of life.

Country Experiences

When we were younger we were happy living in a rural town.

Running kids to sport and going to social events etc was all fairly easy as everything was no more than 2 -3km from home.

I could cycle home for lunch in 10 minutes. We could even drive for 50km,or more, without seeing a traffic light.

A friend of mine lived out on a rural block because he said he knew what his teenage kids were up to because they relied on him for rides.

Even so he was still only or six minutes drive into town.

City Experiences

Since we passed 50 we see real advantages of living closer to the city.

Good public transport means we only need one car

As you get older the risk of having an illness needing a stay in a city hospital gets higher and how would we manage if living in the country.

We support a Melbourne based football team (the Mighty Saints) and try to get to most matches.

A 70km round trip from the suburbs is better than a 450 +km one which we did for a number of years.

Did you go for the country lifestyle?

See similar posts see Choosing a Block

 

7 Things To Think About Standing On A Block

So you have visited the Developers Office and been shown a site plan with some blocks for sale that are the Size, and Orientation, you want.

The next thing is to get a copy of the Title Plan and go and look at the blocks you think may be OK.

Here are some things to think about.

  • Find the Boundary Pegs Normally the actual boundary peg will be driven in so the top is at ground level, there is normally a tall peg next to it to help locate it. Once you have found the pegs you know the piece of land you are thinking about buying.
  • Manholes Sewers and Drains A lot of blocks have Easements for sewers and drains which will restrict how much of the site you can build on. (The Title Plan will show the Easements) If you can see a manhole you will also need to think about how this might limit what you can do in the garden.
  • Site Slope As little as a 1m slope from front to back can add $3-4,000 to your site cost. A 1m slope from one side to the other can add even more. The steeper the slopes the more the builder will charge for site costs.
  • Below or Above the Road Where there is a sloping development site some blocks will be above the road and others below. Sites above the road are less likely to flood and can be more private than ones below the road.
  • Effect of Building on Neighbouring Blocks. Shading and blocking views are common problems that can affect your proposed house and garden. If you are keen on building a solar pasive house you can minimise the effect if the block you choose is higher than the one to the north. Obviously if the surrounding blocks are already developed its easier to consider the effects.
  • Road Crossover Many blocks now come with a driveway crossover if this doesn’t suit your design it will cost quite a bit to get it changed.
  • Look Up One thing I didn’t notice on my first visit to my current block was the overhead power cables just outside the block. They aren’t big pylons or anything and the poles are some distance away so its just a single cable. It does however restrict the size of tree we can have in our garden.

 

You will be very lucky if you get a perfect block so you are probably going to compromise on some of the above points. Good Luck!

 

Also see Choosing Blocks

 

Community Title

Community Title Developments include;

  • Gated Communities,
  • Retirement Villages,
  • Eco Retreats,
  • Golf Course developments,
  • Marinas.

A Community Title it is basically the same as a Strata Title that would be used for a block of apartments.

These developments can look great……..but what are the issues of having a new house on these developments?

Body Corporate

Buy a house or block of land in a community title development and you immediately become a member of the community or neighbourhood association (body corporate), bound by its bylaws, and also the co-owner of the shared property.

Often schemes are subdivided into separate stages. . . .So the stage for your new house may have its own body corporate in a neighbourhood scheme, but this will be under an overall community scheme.

By-laws

Bylaws can include:

  • What you can put in your garden.
  • What pets you can have.
  • The appearance of your property (including acceptable colours).
  • Who can live in the property, which can make properties difficult to sell.
  • Not allowing washing hung out.

Facilities

Facilities can include; streets, pavements, parks, a “village green”, clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, etc.

However these “exclusive” facilities have to paid for and maintained, unlike the public facilities in a conventional development which are paid for by the council.

The extent and quality of construction of some of the facilities, for example road construction can sometimes be below the standards required by councils who insist on minimum standards for roads they know they will be responsible for!

Another typical problem is a lack of space for parking particulaly if residents don’t use their garages.

Costs

In addition to the cost of maintaining the facilities,you will be hit by body corporate management fees.

In some cases two fees; for your neighbourhood, and then for the overall community.

Its worth remembering that there is no saving on rates as these will still need to be paid.

I’m not saying don’t buy a block on a community title, just understand what it means.

For posts on issues to consider when buying land see Blocks

 

Title Delays

Do you think because you have paid a deposit on a block you can settle on the land straight away?

Waiting up to a year could be a possibility!

The Developer’s on site agent will usually be pushing the latest land release but this is the most likely to have the longest wait until settlement.

Some options to minimise delays

  1. Don’t look at blocks that are yet to be fully approved. Although a development will get an overall approval before blocks will go on sale the actual stage with the blocks is likely to need a separate approval. If there are environmental issues such as rare plants, rare animals or aboriginal heritage issues this can hold up the process for months.
  2. Whenever possible only look at blocks where the roads are already in place and the blocks pegged. Construction of roads and services can take 3-4 months, longer if its bad weather.
  3. An Alternative to developers land offices. See if any estate agents have single blocks for sale. These might be blocks where the sale has fallen through, or have been sold and the owners situation has changed meaning they can no longer build on the block.

It may suit you to have a delayed settlement if you are not in a rush to build. . . .but most people, myself included, are usually keen for an early start.

Last time I went the option of the a block where the sale had fallen through and got a much better block than the ones that were available in the latest release.

 

How long have did you have to wait for settlement on your block?

For posts on issues to consider when buying land see Blocks

 

Sub-Divided Block Issues

Want to build a new house in an established suburb?

One way is to look for a subdivided block, or even buy a house on a big block and sub-divide yourself.

I see quite a lot of large suburban blocks sub-divided with one, or more, house blocksadded.

In a number of cases the original house the original house is demolished and 3 houses are built on the block.

If you want to build the available block will normally at the rear known as a Battle Axe Block

So what do you need to think about when considering a subdivided blocks?

Here are some issues to consider:

Vehicle Access

Any shared vehicle access can be a cause of contention so a separate driveway is much the preferred option.

If you have the rear block and put a gate near the front this can provide extra play space for young children. That can be very useful as the backyard area will be fairly limited.

Adequate Off-Street Parking

With two properties sharing one frontage and the loss of parking if there are two crossovers On-Street parking will be at a premium.

I would recommend having space for at least two vehicles off the street (this can include the garage)

Privacy

When you are squeezing a house on a small block windows are going to be closer to your neighbours on all sides, so overlooking, and being overlooked, is a potential issue.

Orientation

A South facing block with living rooms to the rear (North) is going to give the best results if you are looking for a passive solar house to minimise heating and cooling costs.

Costs

For a rear block you could be hit with extra costs for:

  • 15m plus driveway construction.
  • Extra utility costs due to distance from existing services.
  • Builders charging a restricted access fee in addition to the typical/normal advertised price.

Sewer and Drainage Easements

Easements are often run along the back fence of the original block.

A typical 2-3m easement can severely limit what you can build on the block, particularly when you might also have an easement to service the front block running through your block.

I have heard of sewer lines on subdivided blocks running down the middle of the block, so its important you check this before you buy!

Planning

As part of arranging the subdivision the sub-divider will often get planning approval for a type of house.

If that’s not what you want make sure you get the owners written agreement to the design you offer to buy.

It might even be worth making an offer subject to planning permission.

 

As I haven’t personally built on a subdivided block I may have have missed an issue you have experienced. If you think so why not leave a comment?

To better understand what you can build see Restrictions in the Blocks section

 

Beware of Blocks Below The Road

On a summers day, during a period of dry weather, I came across these recently built houses with lines of sandbags!

You would think that the houses must have fronted a river!

Not much chance of getting a car in the garage!

So. . . . What’s the story?

Well its in a long established suburb where large blocks are being subdivided.

That means the drains, which were designed for an estate with lots of gardens, are now in an area where all the water quickly runs of the roofs.

Any heavy rain and the drains become overloaded and then water starts pooling on the road

Well the houses are built facing a low part of the street, so it doesn’t take long for the water level to rise to the footpath level and then start flowing down the driveways.

What makes it even worse is cars driving through the flood water and creating a wash!

For more unusual  house pictures go to  What the………………….?

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