advice for house building-total beginner

keane=cock

hi
i was just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction of building a new house. i am totally a novice at this so if anyone can offer a website/forum on the do's and don'ts of this i would greatly be appreciated. also a website on types of houses (bungalow, dormer etc)
i dont wish to get my trousers pulled down by a builder or anybody else.

my budget would be in around 100,000 euro(maybe a little more). land is not included in this price. is it realistic to build a 3 or 4 bed house with this, including all fees



thanks in advance

sydthebeat

hi keane=cork

This forum has many different threads of what to do if your thinking of building, from initial design, through planning and tendering, and then of course at building stage. Have a read through some of these threads:

Popular and informative threads

Live self builds

Things I wish I had done when building?

How long did your build take?


With that budge id expect you could end up with a dwelling of approx 1100 sq ft. A clever designer will maximise this to your brief ie whether you want 3 or 4 bed etc. The site will dictate the style of house.

My only piece of advice is to employ a good competent professional to guide you through this project. You need someone who is a good designer (see previous work!!), who knows modern building requirements and techniques, and who is insured to help you through to completion!!

A good professional by your side will save you money by knowing the best solution to the many problems that always arise on a build project.

keane=cock

syd

thanks very much for your reply. its a lot or reading i better get the kettle on!!:)

ive been browsing the web on and off and the good professional by my side seems to be a must in everyones eyes. thanks again.

BryanF

I'd be interested to know what part of the country your in, suitable land with any possibility of planning permission (for your budget) is quiet a distance from a major city or town and often still requires a local need (ie reason for building in the locality)
Form my own research, (depending on where you wish to live) for that kind of money maybe a fixer-upper or a deal on one of the many new builds around the place is worth considering.

keane=cock

BryanF wrote: »

I'd be interested to know what part of the country your in, suitable land with any possibility of planning permission (for your budget) is quiet a distance from a major city or town and often still requires a local need (ie reason for building in the locality)
Form my own research, (depending on where you wish to live) for that kind of money maybe a fixer-upper or a deal on one of the many new builds around the place is worth considering.

its in wicklow. family land.

FergusD

You also need to factor in some costs which people don't seem to mention as part of their price/sq foot figures:

- Development contributions
- Cost of a well if no mains supply
- Cost of ESB connection
- Cost of sewage treatment system if needed
- Cost of getting planning

If your budget is tight you may need to scale down the house size to pay for these!

Fergus.

keane=cock

FergusD wrote: »

You also need to factor in some costs which people don't seem to mention as part of their price/sq foot figures:

- Development contributions
- Cost of a well if no mains supply
- Cost of ESB connection
- Cost of sewage treatment system if needed
- Cost of getting planning

If your budget is tight you may need to scale down the house size to pay for these!

Fergus.

thanks fergus. this is the type of under looked info i was looking for as well as the helpfull links above! the esb connection was one i had not thought of but had an idea on the others. thanks!

Poor Uncle Tom

Also if you are getting a mortgage to build, I am finding that the final stage is getting harder to have released for the build and must also include the entrance, drive and landscaping (if it has been mentioned in the planning conditions). You should also count the cost of the supervising engineer/architect and the solicitors fees for land transfer as well as the mortgage documentation and building contracts.

Gulliver

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Also if you are getting a mortgage to build, I am finding that the final stage is getting harder to have released for the build and must also include the entrance, drive and landscaping (if it has been mentioned in the planning conditions). You should also count the cost of the supervising engineer/architect and the solicitors fees for land transfer as well as the mortgage documentation and building contracts.

On this point, try and estimate what the build will take, then apply for more than that (which will not be easy in this climate). We're having awful trouble on the last section of our mortgage.

We went for €100,000. Bank had stipulation that they would withold 10% or €30,000 whichever was greater. Yes, greater. We dismissed that as we had our own savings at the time and we were both working and the budget had been worked out to the cent, including a contingency. I lost my job near the start of the build and things went haywire with some people looking for extra and other things I won't go into here.

Anyway, we got to €70,000 on the mortgage and needed funds to finish, but the bank insisted that they were hanging on to the €30,000. We argued that that was crazy in this climate as workmen don't wait for money like they used to. Long story short, we persuaded them to give us €10,000 and now have to hope we can finish the rest with that amount.

Borrow as much as you can, you won't be charged for whatever you don't draw down.

keane=cock

thanks gulliver, hope u get everything sorted. we had this plan in mind. wasnt sure if we would get charged on the whole sum but we had intended on paying a lump sum off with the remainder of the cash!

thanks again., great tips lads, greatly appreciated

beyondpassive

There was a practice for some one off's or self builders, to get a mortgage for 10% more than the build cost but never draw down the last payment. That way they would not be asked for Architects or engineers compliance certs and could build any ol crap as their was no local authority building control to speak of. That's all changed now the banks are cutting down on this practice and LA's are assigning more staff to building control.

As Fergus said better to have a smaller compact well build cleverly laid out house than to maximise your floor area. Profesional fee's have come well down and a good Architect for design, technologist for tender and construction details along with a QS to manage budget is a good investment that will save you money and keep your contractor or direct labour in line.