Buying a plot and building a house you designed

marco79

marco79

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I am seriously considering buying a plot and having a house built on it. I have been looking around our area for houses for the last few years and not one house was in a good enough condition.

I know it costs more to build your own house, but you have it built to your specification and finishes. We could have bought a house earlier this year but it would have cost us close to R100 000 to replace old floors, carpets, cupboards, etc.

I have drawn up some house plans when I was at technikon so I can possibly do 80% of the house plans.

How does financing work? I think I need 15% deposit on the plot, but how does the financing for the building work? With my new job I have the potential to earn about 50% more per month for most of next year. This money could be pumped into building costs.

Is this a good idea or should I just keep on looking until something pops up. I do have somewhere to stay for the duration of the building period so thats not a problem.

Any advice would be great.
 
I bought a plot and had a house built on it.It is very exciting and fulfilling to do the finishing touches yourself but beware...you need a bottomless pit of money for all the little extras that crop up!!
Enjoy.
 
Very good idea, I did exactly that.

I applied for a loan for the plot. Everything went through without any issues and I bought it. Hired someone to draw up plans, this was actually a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Then I started getting quotes from builders. The building cost varies a lot between different builders. You'll easily get quotes with R500 000 difference, for exactly the same thing. I took the cheapest one (couldn't afford better at the time), applied for the loan, and it was approved again without any issues. No deposit or anything. The bank made payments in 3 installments to the builder, as the house was being built. It also worked out about R100 000 cheaper than any other house that was for sale in the same area, even the "plot and plan" ones, and I was able to build a bigger house than what I would've been able to buy.
 
and what did it cost you in total for land and building? and how big is the house. I am thinking of doing that. getting land and then building a small 2 bed place and then let it expand from there.
 
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I'm doing it now, bought the erf a while back and will start building early January.

Beware: designing and finalising the layout plans has put serious strain on my marriage. Apparently deciding on the finishes is much worse... :p
 
labratza said:
and where in gauteng area can a person get cheap decent sized land and build for roughly R400000
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Seriously?

How big?
Which Area..Gauteng is big. Henly on Klip has nice properties as well as PTA north..

How big house do you want? For that amount you are not going to get far.. you might get land .. if you are lucky in a nice area.
 
labratza said:
well want to start off with a 2 bed 1 bath small place and then always build on at a later stage
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Where in gauteng?.. We wanted to do this as well, but the plot I want is R 600 000 so we will delay that plan for 5 years :(

That sounds reasonable for the building , REmember someplaces does not have sewage, and some has a standard of building you need to build.
 
If you have some building know how you don't even need a builder. There are plenty of good brick layers, plumbers etc out there with no companies but it requires you to supervise their work but I dunno what the banks would think of that idea.
 
ponder said:
If you have some building know how you don't even need a builder. There are plenty of good brick layers, plumbers etc out there with no companies but it requires you to supervise their work but I dunno what the banks would think of that idea.
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You apply to be an owner builder, the building association of SA will have to come an inspect your building ar various times during the built. And you need a plumbing certificate. A electrical certificate, the roof people needs to be certified and I think your foundation needs to be certified as well. Building can cost you anything from R 2 500(if you do it cheap and yourself to R6000 per square meter.
 
Thanks for the heads up. I will do some serious research into building loans and builders in our area.

Plots in my area are around R200 000 for 400sq.m to about R300 000 for 500sq.m with business rights. There are a few 600-700sq.m plots going for under R300 000, but they are not in the area we want to be in. All of these plots are negotiable as they've been on sale for months already.

I have already started with the house plans a few months ago. I just need someone to check them and add the finer details. I don't want a huge house, just a 3 bedroom, study 2 bathrooms and double garage with a decent kitchen. Should be less than 200sq.m incl. garage.
 
My double garage, laundry and staff quaters is quoted at 190 000. That is with garage fittings and no fancy bits and pieces. Just the basics. A decent kithchen is going to set you bac about 50 000
 
Budget is key? Building costs always end up costing you double what you initially budgeted for.Its absolutely critical to know exactly how you have for you bathroom and kitchen.On a brand new property you looking at a minimum of R200 000 fully specked for both.Like barrels said whenit comes to the finishing make sure your pockets go all the way to China.
 
marco79 said:
Ok after checking this site it seems as if I can negotiate much better prices in my area.
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That is great. See auctions as well. There were loads of people that bought land and now has to get rid of it.
 
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