Finalising the Beginning
I do not profess to be an expert in the real estate game, that is partly why I feel some compulsion to write about the mistakes I am inevitably about to make in the forthcoming months. Let me explain. I, along with a friend of mine, are about to embark on our first development project; the wonderful two lot subdivision.
I have entered into this process some of the way through, the land which is to be subdivided is owned by my friend (now business partner). He has owned the block for some years now and has, so he has told me, thought its rear end to be a bit of wasted space. The beauty of this block however, is that her rear is nicely positioned on a corner.
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| An aerial of the site |
The good thing about this of course is that we can avoid the dreaded 'gun-barrel' driveway which seems to be permeating most of the two lot subs that we see around the place, which are made worse by that insipid feature....colourbond fencing (colourbond should be kept to roofs and industrial estates). Hopefully in a later blog we can look at how to avoid the gun-barrel effect but for now lets just be happy that we need not consider it here.
By this time I am sure you are wondering, if still reading, what we are proposing on doing. Here is some background:
Original lot size- 855sqm (approx)
Zoning- Residential 1 Zone
Overlays- Nil
Proposal- Two lot subdivision and a house on the new lot
Proposed Lot size (approx)
- Lot 1 with existing house= 605sqm;
- Lot 2 with proposed house= 250sqm
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| This is the most recent floor plan for the house |
My Process So Far
As I said earlier, I have come into this process toward the end of the beginning, having had a lot of the original scoping already done. Once we decided that we would go into this together we have followed this path:
- Spoke to a mortgage broker (one that my partner had used before so we are familiar with him). This was to get an initial idea that we could structure a loan around what we wanted and if we can finance it. We can (if you were wondering). So on to the next stage.
- Finalise the house plan. We need to do this as it will form part of our planning permit as our new lot will be smaller than 300sqm. This is a Victoria planning provision thing so it will be different for other Australian states and of course overseas.
- Speak to some engineering firms and a surveyor. We have teed up (is that how you spell teed?) some guys to give us some quotes which is important for our loan. Quotes get included in loans so it won't be out of our pocket.
- Pre-application meeting. We have arranged for a pre-application meeting with a Council planner (which is today now). We were hoping for a more 'liberal/lenient' one as our front setback is going to be a fair bit smaller than it is supposed to be. No matter what anyone says, the planner you get can greatly influence the outcome of your development. The beauty of Victorian Planning Schemes are that they are open to interpretation! So having a 'good' planner is important if you are wanting to do something that doesn't fit the mould; be it jamming more houses on the lot or doing a radical environmental development.
I am hoping that my friend will be wanting to contribute a few posts, particularly about the process he has been gone through so far. The plan above is the latest version of the house which is pretty much finished save a few finishing touches/changes.
