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Ideally the buyer would find a perfect piece of land in the perfect location, with a perfect house already built that perfectly suits their needs. Realistically, this is difficult to achieve.
However, GJ Gardner Wollongong owners Nathan Fay and Sean Vickery say a knock-down rebuild is becoming a popular option for Illawarra residents to make their dream a reality.
They said many people had misconceptions that demolition costs were sky-high and renovating is cheaper.
According to Mr Fay the actual cost of knocking down an old house could be anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000, while a brand new build would save much time and money as compared to a renovation or adding onto an existing structure.
“Renovating is more expensive per square metre because you’ve got to work with what you’ve got already, plus builders and tradies tend to price unknowns,” he said.
“Plus there’s a lot more man hours usually in a reno.”
Mr Vickery added compromises on design usually had to be made with renovations while heating and cooling wouldn’t be as efficient.
Currently the knock-down-rebuild business is going strong in the northern Illawarra with a 40 per cent increase in enquiries in the last 12 months.
Families squeezed out of expensive Sydney lead the way, while others want to refresh their current living without leaving their much-loved location.
“People often don’t like to leave where they are when they’ve established themselves with family, friends and neighbours, their kids go to school down the road,” said Mr Fay.
Potential issues that can arise include designing to fit the land size and get council approval, designing for sloping land and the process of knocking down an old home.
“It’s not generally [too complicated] … we can help guide them through the process, we’ve got a town planner that we liaise with and we can actually submit a combined [development application] for the demolition and the construction of a new dwelling,” said Mr Fay.
Mr Vickery said you can do all the planning while still living in your house and not paying rent, although you would need to move once the build got under way.
Other hot spots for knock-down rebuilds were in southern “value markets” such as Oak Flats, Warilla and Port Kembla.
“There’s flat blocks, fibro homes that are easy to knock down, easy to get rid of and you’re getting a big 1000 square meter block in some cases where you can get two homes or three,” said Mr Fay.
“So there’s that investor market as well.”
GJ Gardner Wollongong will host a free seminar on rebuilds on May 5.
Spaces are limited.
VALUE MARKETS:
Areas GJ Gardner Wollongong thinks will eventually boom
Oak Flats
Warilla
Port Kembla
Towradgi
Woonona
Bellambi fringe