wtk: related to building a house

[nightcrawler]

so i just purchased a piece of land and thinking of building my first home on it.
what are the steps
(1) plan
(2) town and country approvals
etc.

i have no idea where to start, share so light pls

thanx.

p.s i aint start to build and i'm stressed

[crazybalhead]

If you don;t have the cash upfront, talk to the bank you are getting the loan from.

[*$kїđž!™]

bro...if u stressed now then you may not make it out alive after the housebuilding....

I am in the process now and its tough....grey hairs popping all over..sick to my stomach sometimes when dealing with workers and the prices of materials .....well ...I have never been this broke in my entire life........BUT at the end I gonna have a home so my kids would have a place to call their own.....

anyways first up.......If u got the cash to build then start with a building plan......get someone good to do a plan for you...then.......get a few builders to give u estimates.......u can get a quantity estimate but thats costly......once you have the cash then by all means start..!!

If u going to get a loan from the bank.....well u should go into the bank and they wil give u a list of what they would need before they start releasing funds to u.....going thru with the bank takes some time cause u would need approved house plans and qualified quantity surveyors estimtes etc..etc..etc.....

btw where are u building..what area?.

[kevinknr]

Just my two cents:

If you plan to get a mortgage, you'll need the following - a job letter, must be a permanent employee for 2 years (some places ask for 1 or even 3 years) and money for a downpayment (10% minimum).

I'd advise you to try FCB or TTMF. They have the lowest requirements. RBC is tears. They have pretty steep requirements.

[rfari]

Would be nice to have ched similar to these (home construction, renovation advice etc) in a sub-forum. In anycase, the first question to answer is if u would be taking a mortgage for construction or not.

[Rory Phoulorie]

Refer to the link below for some of the information that you require.

http://sipreal.com/sipreal/index-4.html

[shake d livin wake d dead]

TTMF for the win,they usually do background checks on your lot before they lend you money though,it's to ensure that the land is totally legit,etc etc.I'm assuming you bought a lot that is not T&C approved,why?I assumed this because you had it as no.2 on your to do list,you would catch your royal to get a loan with out T&C approval,unless you have something else the bank can hold as security.
so ensure all that is good,I hope you have your deed and necessary paper work,because banks would need it.If you holding real $$$ well you inna gear,then you must decide what kinda house you want to build?are you a family man,bachelor etc?spend within your means and budget wisely,it's good to shop around and look for quotes on various items before you buy.
I shall continue when questions are answered......

[Bizzare]

Refer to the link below for some of the information that you require.

http://sipreal.com/sipreal/index-4.html

felt like 1999 while browsing that site

[Daran]

pardon my ignorance, but is this t&c approval for the land the same t&c approval for housing plans?

[De Dragon]

pardon my ignorance, but is this t&c approval for the land the same t&c approval for housing plans?

No, separate approvals need to be sought/obtained.

[nightcrawler]

no mortgage, no bank. have some dollars saved up.
where to go first . town and country ?

[Mr. Red Sleeper]

I love hearing "knowledgeable" people talk yes...

[crazybalhead]

I love hearing "knowledgeable" people talk yes...

List the steps for the man nah.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

no mortgage, no bank. have some dollars saved up.
where to go first . town and country ?

I still trying to figure out why you bought a piece of land that is not T&C approved,you're gonna take rel long for that to happen.

[ronsin1]

for one if you are in permanent employment you should take a mortgage if this is really your first loan the government has reinstated the deduction for first time home owners so you can get back the interest. this was done in 2010

What you should do is Go town and country first and seek the advise there about thew approval process

[Mr. Red Sleeper]

Go into T&C and ask for an "Application for Outline Approval " form.
take it home & fill it out, stating clearly what your intentions are relating to the type of construction - i.e. split level/multi family dwelling units/ two storey single family dwelling/ etc.
Attach a copy of the cadastral sheet showing the lot(s) for development to the form.
Sketch a simple location plan or attach a map showing the location of the lot(s).
Submit to T&C.
They should call you back to collect their outline allowances, setbacks, type of allowable development, etc.

when this is done you then come by me, I wall tailor a design to your needs & budget, upon agreement of a fee structure for my services- which mind you, has already begun.

We come up with a realistic final design which we would then foward to contractors/builders for pricing.(3 quotes minimum)

All of the above you'll then take to the finance house of your choice for funding.

Thats the proper & hassle free way to do it.

[crazybalhead]

^^^ very nice.

[nightcrawler]

now wishing i had applied for a government house.

[brams112]

Piece of advice op,build with the money you have,little by little is the best way to go pal.

[aspsounds]

Excellent link...thanks

Refer to the link below for some of the information that you require.

http://sipreal.com/sipreal/index-4.html

[*$kїđž!™]

Piece of advice op,build with the money you have,little by little is the best way to go pal.

yup the interest charged on mortgages is way high....

[gt4tified]

I would suggest, if you are considering funding, to look at an established Credit Union. At least you know when you pay interest on a loan, that it's coming back to you in some form of revenue, unless you hold stock options with the Commercial Banks.

[sweeks]

Piece of advice op,build with the money you have,little by little is the best way to go pal.

yup the interest charged on mortgages is way high....

Best advice on tuner!

Get an experience draughtsman who can help you get approvals on the plan and if the land doesn't have T&C outline approvals, try applying for that as well (lights, water and drainage has to be in place).

Get a builder/contractor you trust and keep track of your spending.

Everything takes time, the earlier you start, the better for you.

[ronsin1]

Piece of advice op,build with the money you have,little by little is the best way to go pal.

yup the interest charged on mortgages is way high....

yes they are but in 2010 the government reinstated the return of interest from first time home owners so you can claim back all interest paid on the mortgage

http://www.ird.gov.tt/load_page.asp?ID=79

[*$kїđž!™]

Piece of advice op,build with the money you have,little by little is the best way to go pal.

yup the interest charged on mortgages is way high....

yes they are but in 2010 the government reinstated the return of interest from first time home owners so you can claim back all interest paid on the mortgage

http://www.ird.gov.tt/load_page.asp?ID=79

is it first time owners...only for the first 5 years u could claim back.....

also this would only work when the structure is complete cause u would need completion certififates....not so??

[ek4ever]

OP ... you have the advantage of low prices for materials. Cement prices are way down now, so too blocks, steel, etc. This is actually a very good time to build. I'm doing a renovation now and compared to what I paid for materials 4 years ago prices are great.

As for financing I went with Scotia since they did not require plans or any T&C approvals....much quicker approval.

The following are just somethings you may want to consider as you prepare for this:

1. Sit down and make sure you have a clear picture of your current finances and what will be required to see you through the process. You need to stick to your financing plan and make sure you can live and pay expenses as your house is being built. BUDGET CAREFULLY & FOR EVERYTHING.
2. Get an experience contractor with references and go talk to their previous clients
3. Decide what you wanna build and make sure it fits your budget. Once you do that lock it in and try not to change it. Let your contractor know your budget range, don't give a fixed figure you need to have some wiggle room.
4. Talk to your contractor and as many ppl as possible when sourcing materials in order to get the best prices.
5. Scour the newspapers for sales .... building a house requires lots of running around
6. Be on site and monitor everything being done. Don't let the contractor just do his thing. And you need to personally account for everything that is delivered and used in the construction. Surplus material could be sent back to the hardware for refunds.
7. Write down clearly all the things you want the contractor to do and have him sign the document. (This should be higher up the list). Let him know any variances should be discussed with you first. You may need multiple documents each one covering different work. You could create work packages where each package is a discrete set of activities to accomplish part of the construction
8. Don't take your contractor's word as gospel especially if he is sub-contracting out parts of the work such as plumbing, electrical, roofing etc. If he is going to do this then you could also source your own sub-contractor. Just know it means you have to manage the sub-contractor and get him to work with the main one.
9. Do your homework. There are money saving ways of doing things that local contractors don't know about or just prefer to do the old fashioned way.
10. Finishing materials can be imported and you can save money especially from US liquidators or places having clearance sales. Get on the internet and get informed. Got great savings on tiles, cupboards, furniture and wood flooring this way.
11. As the construction progresses track and update your expenses and compare with your budget to make sure that you don't go too much overboard or splurge on somethings at the expense of others. Despite all your planning you're probably gonna go over budget so when doing your initial budget put in a contingency or reserve. The construction and completion should fall within the budget excluding the contingent which is there only to be used when the unexpected happens. Any left over from the contingent after construction is completed can be used for fitting out or repayment of any loans.

Good luck with your house. As others have posted it can be a stressful and demanding process but just think what you'll have in the end.

[*$kїđž!™]

op sell yur land and buy a new house already built......worries done...lol.....

[tizik 2nr]

So I have a question on the subject of loan types.

I asked a loans officer at Republic Bank and was told that there are two options to borrowing money for building a house:


Option #1: Home Construction Loan:

If the loan is to cover home construction, then you have to pay bridging interest until the regional corporation gives you a Certificate of Completion. After that you pay the normal mortgage payment. This method seems a bit more expensive and risky to me, what if you don't manage to get your certificate for a year, then you pay a whole lot more right?

Now, I was told that this type of loan (Home Construction Loan) only makes sense if the land you own isn't of high enough value to cover you getting a loan that allows you to build your house. (E.g. your land is valued at $400k and you want to borrow $500k to build your house.

Option #2: Equity loan:

Say you already own land (or some other collateral that they accept) valued at around $1m and want to borrow $600k to build your house, then all you do is mortgage the land for that value (they usually approve loan sums of up to 2/3 the value of the land). Apparently no T&C approval for your house plan or Certificate of Completion is required. That way you get your $600k in hand that you can use any way you want (she said people regularly mortgage land to buy vehicles etc.) and you can go ahead and build your house with no further hassle from the bank.

My question is: do I have the right understanding of the system, and if so, have any of you gone through the second option before, and are there any potential problems?

[drunkenscorpion]

Personally, I wanted to build my own home. Was looking for suitable land but was not getting it in a location that I preferred. When looking at the additional stress in actually building, I changed my mind, its alot, and yes you get the peace of mind after, but at this point, I just did not want that hassle.

I bought a house, and its alot less stress. The biggest stress is really dealing with the bank. What alot of people don't know, is that your credit rating actually means something in these cases. I had taken a loan before, and had perfect payments. That along with timely credit card payments and even phone billings can reduce your mortgage rate. The starting rate was 6.5%, and my rate was reduced to 5.65%.

OP, look at your disposable income as well. Alot of people try to budget forgetting that they have to live as well. If you are indeed stressed now, building a house will send you mad if you cant handle it.

[brams112]

When buying homes now the buyer have to be carefull of buying a home that is built cheaply and with inferior materials because there are plenty conmen out here.