Buying land and building on it.... some questions...

[placidfemme]

If you need some land surveying or civil engineering help give me a call.

Dealing with council's can be a real hassle at times and costs to process vary with each council and are related also to the difficulty/problems with the proposed building site.

Being rural you will also need to demonstrate how you will be disposing of effluent either with a septic tank or dripper field.

Cheers

I know what a septic tank is, but never heard of a dripper field... good to know there are options however...

I've just sat down and done a rough estimate on land + kitset + builder etc and without knowing the exact prices and interests and blah including land & water rates etc... the idea of buying non-developed land and developing it myself works out above my estimated budget...

Thanks for the advice and idea's... Gives Sam and I heaps to talk about tonight and play around with and develope a slightly better plan.

So now its back to either overbudget or settle for less...

[placidfemme]

We live only 8kms north of Levin but it's nice and rural and as we're surrounded by farmland, not likely to be turned into a rural ghetto any time soon! I have to agree with Paul, it's not an easy thing to look after land. We have three acres, about two of it consists of steep paddocks that we have to have sheep in to keep the grass down. The rest is either in lawn, garden or trees - so it has to be mowed, or Andy has to spend a whole day weedeating the area around the trees to make it look tidy. We have a septic system, rely on rain water (rain is your friend!), have no services - not even street lights or footpaths, but still pay rates! We pay for rubbish collection, including green waste, and shit, you get a lot of that if you want to keep the trees looking good!

I used to work for a power company and one guy wanted to put power on to an isolated section he owned down south - we quoted him $20,000 to do it, as we needed to put in about 5kms of power poles to get there!

It's a lovely lifestyle and we enjoy it, but it is hard work and it can be expensive. Owning is a lot different from renting - not only do you have to pay contents insurance, power and phone, but you also have to pay rates, house insurance, all maintenance costs, source heating supplies if you don't have electric heating (chopping wood is NOT always fun!) and all other associated costs. Yes, paying a mortgage is better than rent, but don't forget all the other costs as well. Rates vary - we only pay $550 a year but some are thousands.

thanks for that I'm aware of the basic costs related to owning your own property, I work for a property development and investment company, so its part of the job helping clients sort all that...

It does sound like more work than we initially expected/assumed, but it doesn't sound bad enough to make us change our minds... Sam's a country girl raised in Dargaville (of all places) and has lived on bush/farm/lifestyle sections through-out her life with a big family and a very small budget, so it will be "just like home" for her with a few extra chores I guess...

Right now though, with all the above said, I am considering maybe a smaller section, but I'm still dead keen to give it a go.

The way we're looking at it... we're both going to be putting in 120% towards this, and if it goes bottom up... we're both still in our early 20's... plenty of time to fix any mistakes we make along the way... you live and you learn

[Crisis management]

Thanks, design as in architecture (dunno if I spelt that right?)

Yup! Lots of that stuff.....

[Beemer]

We live only 8kms north of Levin but it's nice and rural and as we're surrounded by farmland, not likely to be turned into a rural ghetto any time soon! I have to agree with Paul, it's not an easy thing to look after land. We have three acres, about two of it consists of steep paddocks that we have to have sheep in to keep the grass down. The rest is either in lawn, garden or trees - so it has to be mowed, or Andy has to spend a whole day weedeating the area around the trees to make it look tidy. We have a septic system, rely on rain water (rain is your friend!), have no services - not even street lights or footpaths, but still pay rates! We pay for rubbish collection, including green waste, and shit, you get a lot of that if you want to keep the trees looking good!

I used to work for a power company and one guy wanted to put power on to an isolated section he owned down south - we quoted him $20,000 to do it, as we needed to put in about 5kms of power poles to get there!

It's a lovely lifestyle and we enjoy it, but it is hard work and it can be expensive. Owning is a lot different from renting - not only do you have to pay contents insurance, power and phone, but you also have to pay rates, house insurance, all maintenance costs, source heating supplies if you don't have electric heating (chopping wood is NOT always fun!) and all other associated costs. Yes, paying a mortgage is better than rent, but don't forget all the other costs as well. Rates vary - we only pay $550 a year but some are thousands.

Edit - sorry to ruin the flow - wanted to post some photos (just took them now, yay, summer has arrived!) but couldn't find a way to add them so I copied my original post and deleted it then did a new post with the photos!

[placidfemme]

Edit - sorry to ruin the flow - wanted to post some photos (just took them now, yay, summer has arrived!) but couldn't find a way to add them so I copied my original post and deleted it then did a new post with the photos!

thats what I want! but with more bush around...

[Motu]

The old bit of land has been a dream of ours for some time,we've got close a few times but life always cuts me off....I thinks it's for the better really,like Paul says it's a big job,even the 1/4 acre is damn hard work.

But going somewhere out of the mainstream where you can live like you like is a good option too.It was great living on Waiheke Island in the '80's and '90's,you could live how you liked without a proiblem - people were living without electricity even,just kero lamps and an LPG cooker,no fridge.The house we built is still on a gravel road with a gravel drive,never fenced,just trees and bush.Some people wouldn't want to live in Huntly...too rough and run down.But that has worked to my advantage,I got in here real cheap on a do up in a pretty good street for the State House side Huntly West.My neighbours on one side have 12 cars on the front lawn,the guy on the other side has about the same,although more of his are runners - I park 5 cars on my lawn.I could mow the lawns naked or beat the missus half to death in the drive and no one would bat an eye.Every household is 3 generation minimum,next door are 4 generation.It has it's down sides,but it also allows a family that doesn't fit well into suburbia to go un noticed about their business.

[LilSel]

I used to work for a power company and one guy wanted to put power on to an isolated section he owned down south - we quoted him $20,000 to do it, as we needed to put in about 5kms of power poles to get there!

Retailer, Generator or Distributor?? hehe which power company??

[Dai]

Strange that this subject rises in this board.

I have just returned from a brief visit up north also and have decided to persue the same course of action.

I'll be watching this thread carefully.

One thing I did while away was talk to people in the area who have done what I am at the moment just contemplating.

All said that it was the best thing they have done but they all gave me varying pieces of advice.

Formost amongst them was to watch the size of the piece of land I was looking for and to realise the amount of work I was letting myself in for.

The general concensus was that if I went for 1-5 acres it would be better in the short term.

I was advised that if I was contemplating 10 acres then it would be best to look around for more as the cost of looking after for example 100 acres was not too much of a jump from the cost of looking after 10 acres.

Once again I suggest you find a place you like and then talk to those people who have made the move to that area.

On the housing side there are those companies that will site whatever house you are looking for. Costs arent too prohiibitive compared to building.

Wish you all the luck in the world.

Chris

[Paul in NZ]

As Motu suggested, you better make sure you are a good fit or adaptable to you new surroundings. We got real lucky moving to Raumati South. Its nice enough where we can walk the streets at night unarmed but Izzy the goat lives over our back fence. Its an increasingly rare mix and if we had not litterally had the section drop into my lap I'm buggered if I know what we would be doing.

I have a mate that moved to a lifestyle block on a main highway and they lock the gates at night and have a big mean dog because of all the un invited 'visitors' that have 'broken down' and would like to 'use the phone'... The countryside is not as friendly and safe as you might like to think. Nor is it peaceful and quiet all the time....

With 10 acres you will need to fence it as well. Not cheap...

[Beemer]

Retailer, Generator or Distributor?? hehe which power company??

Retailer - Contact! From memory it was some isolated spot in Otago or Canterbury and the last house was 5kms or more from where his land started. So it was a matter of extending the line, putting in power poles or underground cabling, etc. I've heard some phone charges are pretty horrendous too!

Paul's right, unfortunately. The country isn't always that safe. We're lucky because we live down a no exit road so it's not as prone to burglaries as the ones where the offenders can drive in one way and out the other. Too many nosy people like me keeping an eye out!

Oh, and if you DO move to the country, don't moan about the normal noises of the country! One neighbour (who is renting until the owners move down in about a year) bailed up another last week and said "is your husband the one who does the weedeating?" (We all have weedeaters!) "I was going to come over last week and offer to help and get it done in half the bloody time."

Another thing - you need a lot of equipment! We have a petrol driven chainsaw and weedeater, plus all sorts of loppers, a mulcher, compost bin, plus we need to get someone to shear the sheep twice a year... it's not exactly the easy life, but it is the good life! Wouldn't swap it for the world!

[LilSel]

Retailer - Contact! From memory it was some isolated spot in Otago or Canterbury and the last house was 5kms or more from where his land started. So it was a matter of extending the line, putting in power poles or underground cabling, etc. I've heard some phone charges are pretty horrendous too!

LOL.... sweet ( )...
yeah some of the costs from the network/lines companies are horrendous.

[Hillbilly]

Depends where the land is. I remember the Rodney District Council changing the rules for building permits to stop people building "minor dwellings". This might be the case if you wanted to have a small 1 brm cottage placed on the land while building your main house.

If you can get a property closer to a town supply for water it's a bonus. One idea for the furure would be to keep the small cattage as a "granny flat" later on. It's have to be on the same title though, and you may not be allowed to subdivide. With water tanks you'd be better getting at least 2 3,500 gallon tanks to give you a minimum of 7,000 gallons of water. The reason is simple: dishwasers, ensuites, washing machines etc all use a ton of water. If you're not used to living on a tank supply, for goodness sake move somewhere where there is a town supply. When I was living on Waiheke Island we would
have "jaffa's" come over every summer and they'd empty a 7,000 gallon tank from chock-a-block to bone dry in a week! They had no concept of water conservation! Get this - the ARC were going to charge Waiheke Island residents water rates even though the whole island was on tank supply!

When I was living in Whangaparoa it was interesting that from Wade River Road back to Orewa (on the shopping center side of the road) the houses were on town supply, but across the road all the way out to Shakespear Bay they were on tank.

If you want a rural aspect and cheap land, check out Kaiwaka. Mind you, there's bugger all work there.

[geoffm]

My parents went through this exxercise nearly 30 years ago, before it became trendy...
THey ended up buying a farm, as it cost the same as a lifestyle block, but all the expenses are tax deductable, and it actually produces income. Lifestyle block - you have all the outgoings of a real ag block, with no income and no deductable expenses. See if you can get enough land to at least lease for grazing, and talk to an accountant.
The other issue is work - I live in Auckland as this is where the jobs are - it has nothing else going for it. Finally, your living costs will be a lot higher, with transportation costs, etc. Rates are often not much less than the city.
Geoff

[Laava]

Don't be put off too easily girl, follow your dreams and take some shortcuts! I'm talking about dropholes and rainwater and living in a non permitted dwelling, ie a permitted shed with power. There are bush blocks avail, now is a good time to look IMO and you may find something you fall in love with. Try Trademe. I am up here, and am a builder, if you need directions or advice[such as it is!]All the prices you have quoted seem realistic so far IMO. Good luck! PM me if you want to ask questions or just need a wee break LOL.

[Krusti]

If you want to do it on the cheap don't bother with a skyline Gottage as it will still be around the same as any home....$1000 aprox per sq m.

We bought the land and built a garage/shell. We have undertaken the rest ourselves.

Of course way more work than I had planned but that is par for the course!

We still have a small Honda gen running power, chilly bin for fridge and no ceiling etc but these are things you can live with when your kids have left home.

Our Skyline man has become a friend/mentor and without his help I would have been way out of my depth.

We often wonder if we should have gone another way but we wanted to go this way and are still happy with our decision.

A second hand home shifted on to your property is another option you may wish to look into.

If ever you are down Rotorua way give us a bell and come have a chat. As an ex farmer I can also give some advise regarding stock etc.

Don't let any one else talk you out of what you really want to do. Just make sure you really want it!

Times everything by 2! (money and time)