Starting
Restrictive Covenants
Don’t think because you buy a block you can do what you like on it! There are often restrictive covenants on land. . . . .That is “an agreement between land owners which may restrict how land may be used…
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Keeping Records – 5 things to do
My old contract management tutor at university always said that the three most important things when managing a construction contract are: Records; Records; and Records. Over 40 years in the civil engineering industry I have often reflected on the wisdom…
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Time to Downsize?
It’s not only couple in their 20’s and 30’s buying new houses. There are a lot of retirees, and people approaching retirement, who are downsizing to a new house built in a retirement village. Don’t Leave It Too Late? I…
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Show House Sales Tricks
The thing you need to remember when visiting a display house is it is not a real home, it’s more like a television set with tens of thousands of dollars of upgrades. The builders want to show off their houses…
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Choosing A Block
There are lots of things to consider when choosing a block. My basic preference would be an East facing block on a court. This gives the best orientation of the house and minimises passing traffic. Here are some of the…
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How Much House?
Do you know that in spite of the standard block getting smaller over the past 20 years the actual size of the houses has been getting bigger. The builders are doing a good job of selling us on the idea…
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Big or Small Builder
At the end of the day what everybody wants is a quality house built at the right price. So does the size of the builder matter? Here is my experiences: Small Builder We had our first Australian house built by…
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How Close Is Too Close
Here is a photo from the ABC Brisbane facebook page I would say this is far to close. That space is just going to be a collecting point for spiders and vermin. I really don’t see the point of wanting…
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Base Plan has 6 Star Energy Rating
But What Does it Mean? If you think it means is that your house will have a 6 Star Energy Rating you could be wrong! You could be up for thousands of dollars of upgrades to meet the required standards….
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Half Houses
Can’t afford the price of a new house? How about half a new house? This is a radical idea to help affordability of new homes by Chilean architecture company ‘Elemental’. Basically they provide half a house fitted out; with the…
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