Building a really, really cheap house (cottage)...how cheap?

M

mrtea

I've a searched and found a few older (pre-2010) threads about how inexpensively a basic (e.g. kit home) house could be built for. The consensus seemed to be around the $150K-$200K mark was about as cheap as it gets for say a 3 by 2 house. I'm guessing it's probably increased some over the last few years too.

My question is, can a small cottage (say 1-2 bed, 1 bathroom, car port instead of garage) be done for way, way cheaper?

I'm planning to buy my first first property - a rural/semi rural piece of land (with a dwelling entitlement) and want to put a cottage on it initially to rent out, whilst I pay off the land, but with a view to eventually move into it some day myself.

My dad has offered to help with the building of it, as he used to build houses way back in the day, and still has a building permit (I think that's what it is called).

Trying to avoid shipping containers, as I'd like it to at least look kind of like a house/cottage ;) and I don't want to make it too hard to find a tenant.

So...ideas for building some sort of cottage on the cheap? And how cheaply do you think the whole thing could be done for, if you had someone volunteering to help build it?

Maybe I could...
Use some second hand/scrounged materials?
Build it all out of corrugated iron (I've seem some in my travels, and they don't look all that bad!)?
Some sort of inexpensive kit cottage?

Can anyone help?
 
I think you can get a very basic 60m^2 granny flat from $85k+.

If you build it yourself, you'd be able to save on that again.
Just make sure you do all the required research before starting a project like this.
 
It depends on where you are buildig and which council you are working with.

We are tentively planning a cottage on the Granite Belt within the next few years (1 bed/1 bath/ 1 carport.. around 75m2) We have a number of builder mates here on the Sunshine coast that reckon "it would have to be gold plated and marble lined" for it to go over $100K including new power, water tanks, biosystem septic etc. The big consideration is how far away from the building site the power and phone are.

It appears that Granite Belt council wont approve off grid power to qualify for rental status, only owner occupy... We have not pushed that issue yet as we are not that close to building.

as for kit homes...google "kit homes brisbane" there are LOADS of them
http://www.kit-homes.com.au/home-price-calculator.php this one has a cool calculator
 
mrtea said:
..My question is, can a small cottage (say 1-2 bed, 1 bathroom, car port instead of garage) be done for way, way cheaper?...
Click to expand...

Just an idea - why don't you just buy a "second hand" house from a development site. Plenty of people give them away for $1.00 and there are many internet sites that sell them. Get it delivered to your property with Police escort etc and connected up. I've seen some companies online who do the whole service beginning at $45K.
 
there are some really clever and cheap ways to building out there, try googling tiny homes too.

The trouble is, your council may not accept your plans, and moreover almost all finance providers wont accept anything less than a fixed price building contract from an arms length registered builder.

So the choice might become, build my own house for $40k of which I have to find $40k upfront as deposit, or build a mcbox through a registered builder for $200k of which I only need $10k deposit......
 
Thanks for the thoughts so far.

tobe said:
The trouble is, your council may not accept your plans, and moreover almost all finance providers wont accept anything less than a fixed price building contract from an arms length registered builder.

So the choice might become, build my own house for $40k of which I have to find $40k upfront as deposit, or build a mcbox through a registered builder for $200k of which I only need $10k deposit......
Click to expand...

Good point, I didn't know this. Luckily my equity will likely be >50% (I've saved hard for this), and the balance I'll be borrowing from the old man, so I won't need any finance in the traditional sense. If it could be done for something like the $40K you suggested, I reckon I could find the cash for this.

I wonder how much trouble the council is likely to give me..(?)
 
mrtea said:
Thanks for the thoughts so far.



Good point, I didn't know this. Luckily my equity will likely be >50% (I've saved hard for this), and the balance I'll be borrowing from the old man, so I won't need any finance in the traditional sense. If it could be done for something like the $40K you suggested, I reckon I could find the cash for this.

I wonder how much trouble the council is likely to give me..(?)
Click to expand...

I would allow 100k as minimum. Consider, DA, BA, Levies such as infrastructure fund,time, power, water, plumbing, wiring, fixtures, driveways, sewer / septic, landscaping (Most councils now need landscape plans), the big whopping fee from some strange government agency you have never heard of!! The hidden cost in building are :eek::eek: The 40k will get you a shell a long way from a certifiable house.

I really urge you to do a heap of DD on any flat pack home company, they can be iffy at best.

Most granny flats can be done cheaper as the services are in place.
 
Check with your local council to see if they will accept a removal house, and the conditions.
The houses are often sourced free and you pay the removal and relocation costs, plus any required renovations.
Marg
 
marg4000 said:
Check with your local council to see if they will accept a removal house, and the conditions.
The houses are often sourced free and you pay the removal and relocation costs, plus any required renovations.
Marg
Click to expand...
Moving a house is a great idea. In Melbourne they have fully renovated houses for $5k to $10k. I looked at moving one to behind my house but none I saw would fit my block :(

Some of the costs are: removal, site clean-up, moving permits, stumping, servicing, remediation of the house of site, planning permits etc. It can add up. In my case it was well worth it but I couldn't source a suitable house at the time.
 
perthguy said:
Moving a house is a great idea. In Melbourne they have fully renovated houses for $5k to $10k. I looked at moving one to behind my house but none I saw would fit my block :(

Some of the costs are: removal, site clean-up, moving permits, stumping, servicing, remediation of the house of site, planning permits etc. It can add up. In my case it was well worth it but I couldn't source a suitable house at the time.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea. Shifting a house onto your land can be a very inexpensive alternative to as new build
 
Hey Mrtea,
About a year ago my dual occ development cost me 116k all up. That was a quite simple 2bed/1bath 72sqm design with average finishing. I was relatively happy with the result, and its currently earning me $390/pw rental income, so I'm certainly not complaining about that. In saying that, there's definitely things I'm planning on doing differently next time.

For the last project, I did a little bit myself, painting and some simple things like bathroom fit off etc. Anyway, towards the end of the build, I asked my contracted builder how much he could do it for if he was doing it himself in his own backyard, and he said "I'd do everything myself and it would cost me about 40k". Obviously that's not realistic for the average person, but it gives some perspective.

I'm planning a similar development for future properties (one of which I'm looking at at the moment), and I'm very confident I can do essentially the same thing I did before (for 116k) for about 70-80k.

Some Lessons learnt from my last experience and things I'm doing differently this time...

- this time I will go owner/builder - not get a contracted builder. Even by organizing all trades myself I will save plenty of money (and you can too).
- It will be myself and a trusted friend of mine who is a builder working with me every day (who I'm paying hourly) . I also have good friends that are licensed electricians and plumbers, so I'll obviously use them wherever required.
- With help (on the spot assistance from my mate who's the builder and of course YouTube), I will do/attempt absolutely everything I can myself (before getting a pro in to fix my mistakes :) ) I'm talking concreting, framing, sheeting and plastering, tiling, kitchen/bathroom install, painting.
- I will source all materials myself

I'm thinking that taking the above steps, committing my time, and using my knowledge gained from the last build - I can complete the next build for 70-80k as I said above.

Notes...
- I'm time rich. I'm self employed (poker player and musician by trade) so can dedicate as much or as little time as I like to a development. Obviously, I'm going the 100% hands on approach in this case. I realize that's not suitable for everyone. I'm also tentatively confident (if that makes sense) in my ability to handle individual trades and act as the project manager.

- I realize I'll make mistakes in the build. I'll probably do some things wrong or in the wrong order, things may take longer, ill have to re-do things, etc etc. Even taking these inevitable mistakes into account, I'm very confident I'll end up FAR better off than what I would should I pay a builder.

I hope my somewhat jumbled thoughts/advice make a little bit of sense to you Mrtea, I look forward to hearing your approach and following your progress. Happy to share more experiences/field any questions if you're interested.

Cheers
Rohan
 
Im in the process of getting quotes from a house mover who will view next week.

I have been given a 3 bedroom house a few streets away , low gable roof,
rounded turpentine cladding , approx 7.5m wide so should be able to be moved
in one move with out cut.

I hope to do this for around $40 grand.

Will start a new thread if this comes off , all depends on what house mover thinks.
estimate rent for this project. $350 a week.

This link below is not the house but another on the central coast , this one is to wide for my block and would need cut and shunt. but its in good nic , I would say 1980's built.
You can pick up a block of land nearby at Sanremo for $99,000.00 , Im not sure what
this would cost to move and relocate but could be a good project for someone , I just
don't have the time otherwise I would look into this further.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/goro...r-relocation-removal-from-land-eoa/1037547312
 
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