Buying Land? 4 Things to Consider.

Buying Land? 4 Things to Consider.

Developer Guidelines

When purchasing land in new developments, the developers will most likely have strict guidelines governing many aspects of your property including roof colour, finished textures and landscaping. Developer guidelines are implemented by developers to help realise the vision of their masterplan and to ensure the development has a pleasing and uniform aesthetic. To better accommodate home buyers some developers are now offer rebates for completing your home in a certain time frame. You should ensure you have reviewed and clearly understand all guidelines (including strata levies if applicable) before signing.

Land Registration

Imagine finding that perfect parcel of land, you fall in love with it and begin planning your dream home, only for you to have the rug pulled out from you when you discover the land is not yet registered for development. Land registration can take years so ensure you are only considering registered land – unless you’re happy to wait, which can allow more time to save for the build.

Cut & Fill

When looking at vacant blocks of land you will either see flat blocks or ones with varying degrees of slope. In either case there will need to be a certain amount of earthmoving required to either cut (remove excess) or fill (level) the block to a suitable state. Which process is needed on your block, and to what level, will be an important factor in determining the extent of your foundation. As you can appreciate, the more earthmoving and concrete required, the more expensive the cost of this vital stage of construction.   

Easements

An easement is a service which exists on someone’s land such as water, gas or sewer pipes and phone lines. If your house footprint comes within a certain distance of any easements you may have to increase some structural components of your home. The type of easement and the portion of your land it affects can also have a significant impact on the value of your property as well as your future ability to install features such as pools, extensions and granny flats, as impeding access to an existing easement is generally forbidden.