Building a house

glengirlie

Hi All,

Planning to build a house soon, have the site and we own it and all, but we are just confused as to what the next step is. We know what type of house we want to build ie a two story. But the thing is do we find an engineer or architect to submit our planning next or do we approach the bank for a mortgage? Would love a bit of advice on this.

Thanks

ShiverinEskimo

glengirlie wrote: »

Hi All,

Planning to build a house soon, have the site and we own it and all, but we are just confused as to what the next step is. We know what type of house we want to build ie a two story. But the thing is do we find an engineer or architect to submit our planning next or do we approach the bank for a mortgage? Would love a bit of advice on this.

Thanks

Approach an Arcitect and get your plans/planning application drawn up and submitted. While you are awaiting word from the council about your PP you can get costing done up by a quantity surveyor in conjunction with your Architect and as such approach the bank with figures.

There's no harm calling your bank and explaining your plans first though to 'give them the heads up' about your situation - they should be able to tell you if there are any glaring reasons why you wouldn't be considered.

For example our bank took a quick look at us and told us as long as we bring the 8% to the table they'd supply the other 92% up to the value of 320,000 - which is ridiculous given we will need about half that.

All in though an Architect should be your first port of call - and don't be afraid to get a few Architects to view the site and come up with ideas and supply a breakdown of their fees/services etc. For example our Architect is also going to project-manage it for us (at an additional cost of course).

Best of luck with it. Designing a house is very exciting thing to do and don't be afraid to bombard your architect with questions and adjustments if there's anything you remotely want to change or aren't happy with. Always remember it's best to ask the questions when it's on paper than when it's in stone.

muffler

Above posts moved from wrong thread in Prices/costs forum.

glengirlie

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

Approach an Arcitect and get your plans/planning application drawn up and submitted. While you are awaiting word from the council about your PP you can get costing done up by a quantity surveyor in conjunction with your Architect and as such approach the bank with figures.

There's no harm calling your bank and explaining your plans first though to 'give them the heads up' about your situation - they should be able to tell you if there are any glaring reasons why you wouldn't be considered.

For example our bank took a quick look at us and told us as long as we bring the 8% to the table they'd supply the other 92% up to the value of 320,000 - which is ridiculous given we will need about half that.

All in though an Architect should be your first port of call - and don't be afraid to get a few Architects to view the site and come up with ideas and supply a breakdown of their fees/services etc. For example our Architect is also going to project-manage it for us (at an additional cost of course).

Best of luck with it. Designing a house is very exciting thing to do and don't be afraid to bombard your architect with questions and adjustments if there's anything you remotely want to change or aren't happy with. Always remember it's best to ask the questions when it's on paper than when it's in stone.

Thanks very much for that informative reply. Really clarified some stuff for me. Went to a Modern Home Exhibition in Ennis the other week and was very disappointed with it as we are compelte novices and it was not very much help at all. Overall the mood there was very negative.

We are in the process of getting an arcitect now, there are a few local, however I am conscious of costing. We are trying to build with a minimum of costs, as we do not want a big mortgage. However, I am hoping to get an arcihtect cheaper than in the boom times now without completely exploiting them. Our planned house we have in our head is pretty large (over 3500 sq feet) so we want to get it done as reasonable as possible and hopefully direct labour.

Would you defo recommend a project manager or would it be possible to do it ourselves as we are both living locally and have flexible employment?

Also, has anyone any advice where we would get ideas on structures of houses and important things like heating systems, solar panels, good windows (put in properly) and other important things to building a house, since we werent very well accommodated at the Modern Homes Exhibition?

Cheers

ShiverinEskimo

If I wasn't working full time I'd probably go direct labour but our Arcitect project managed a build for another family member and was brilliant in dealing with the individual trades etc. His fee is 2000 euro so I weighed it up and decided it was worth it for peace of mind because I'd be fairly clueless when it comes to this stuff.

As for your choice of heating it's really down to personal preference. You'll always get people pimping whatever it is they have because everyone likes to think they made the best choice so do your research and discuss it with your architect and he will give as good advice as any and pick what think will be most suitable for you. I'm still stuck on that subject myself if I'm honest. Looking like burying a calor gas tank and installing a gas fired boiler. But that just appeals to me because I 'trust' gas and it's effectiveness. Pretty dumb reason but as good as any IMO.

archtech

glengirlie wrote: »

We are in the process of getting an arcitect now, there are a few local, however I am conscious of costing. We are trying to build with a minimum of costs, as we do not want a big mortgage. However, I am hoping to get an arcihtect cheaper than in the boom times now without completely exploiting them. Our planned house we have in our head is pretty large (over 3500 sq feet) so we want to get it done as reasonable as possible and hopefully direct labour.

Its highly unlikely that you will build a pretty large house without a big mortgage particularly if you want low running costs. You should really ask yourself what do you consider a big mortgage? do you really need a house of 3,500sq. feet and can you afford to run/maintain it, there's plenty of people who have houses of 3,500 and can't afford to heat them now.

Going that bit further than required, with insulation, u-values of windows etc would certainly reduce the running costs, however the capital investment will be larger.

kboc

archtech wrote: »

Its highly unlikely that you will build a pretty large house without a big mortgage particularly if you want low running costs. You should really ask yourself what do you consider a big mortgage? do you really need a house of 3,500sq. feet and can you afford to run/maintain it, there's plenty of people who have houses of 3,500 and can't afford to heat them now.

Going that bit further than required, with insulation, u-values of windows etc would certainly reduce the running costs, however the capital investment will be larger.

nail on head!