we are moving to perth shortly. it is our intention to buy some land and build ourselves. where do we start!!

we know where we want land, and know approx how much we will be paying.

1. any advice on methods of funding the land?
2. any advice on building regs - ie could i use and submit a plan created in the uk- are regs tougher or more leanient in oz?
any advice on best ways to fund a build?
in the uk you can take a self build mortgage with 5% deposit, submit cost of build to bank and funds are paid up front ot complete build! - is it similar in oz?
3 capital gains- any loop holes in cap gains tax - if in the uk you reside in prop for 12 months post build ther is no liability on profit. is it similar in oz?
4 anyone recomend any good sites on where to start??

there is a lot of info above hope some people with experience or advice can help
many thanks

mark

Hi Mark

Well we have just done final completion on a property in Port Kennedy that we will be renting out. It was a learning curve and I am happy to share the experience with you.

Can't answer your questions on building regs i'm afraid but will have a go at the rest.

We used the property we already have over here as security on the purchase. So the funding was not an issue. You should be able to obtain funding while still in the UK for a mortgage which we did not lear until we arrived here.

What happened for us was that we initially got the money to pay for the land + a little bit to help to cover costs and the house costs where paid in progress payments. We paid 20% of the costs (to avoid additional insurance on the loan) which we had to pay before the bank paid their share. We choose to sort carpet, curtains and all that stuff ourselves but you may find it best to have a package if you want it all to be included in the mortgage.

Not 100% sure about the Caputal gains question. I do know that if you sell for a gain in the first year then you will pay capital gains on 100% of the profit (how much will depend on your income as it is all tied to your tax return) If you sell after a year the capital gain tax reduces to 50% of the capital gain. However, if you live in it before you sell it I am not sure how capital gains is measured.

I am in the process of documenting my new home buyild experience which I will publish on immigrateperth.com once it has been completed. I will cover things like remember to check the frontage on the land you are buying is wide enough for the house you want, the cost of landscaping, putting in soakwells and other things to be aware of before you build. It is amazing what you learn when you build a new home for the first time and I want to give everyone the advantage of learning from our experience.

Hope this helps

Sharon
http://www.immigrateperth.com

thats really helpful- thanks for the info and good luck with the rest of your adventure! i will keep an eye out for that report on your website.

regards
mark