Welcome to Home Building Like a Boss, the podcast dedicated to helping first home buyers in Perth build their dream home with ease and excitement. I'm Jamie, your host and go to building broker. Are you ready to feel empowered, in control and excited about your building journey? I'll help guide you with expert advice, insider tips and tricks and real life stories to help you navigate the confusing world of home building.
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Hello, and welcome back to another episode. I'm your host, Jamie, as always. And today we're going to dive straight in to what is land titles now. This is something you really need to consider when you are looking for blocks of land. And it is important because sometimes this can make or break your building experience and your building journey.
So what are land titles? Now land titles. Means when your block has been registered with land gate and there is a certificate of title So there's currently someone who already owns the block which is obviously the seller and then you are the buyer and then at that settlement process that certificate of title is transferred into your name as the new owner of this block of land Why is this so important?
Having a certificate of title or titled land is important because you cannot proceed through the process through to settlement without titles on your block of land. So if you have a block and you're looking for a block that is untitled, what does that mean? How I like to explain it to clients that come through, in older areas you will have Obviously already established blocks.
They already have a certificate of title. When you go through new developments, new estates, Typically the blocks that are getting developed and don't already have the little sign at the front and the limestone blocks around it or the boundary set out and you can't get access to it, they're still building the blocks and construction is still happening.
Those blocks are not yet titled, they're not yet There blocks that are titled you can drive through new estates and you'll see that the blocks are physically there You can usually walk up to them. That means the block is Titled if it's still under construction, it's not titled and it will be due to be titled So the land developer or the newest state will forecast.
Okay, we're expecting to have titles around December let's say the end of the year Okay, cool. How does that work in my timeline? And that's something you need to I'm going to build a building timeline. If you have an untitled block, you can sign up on a land contract with an untitled block and start your pre construction process while you're waiting for titles, your block to title.
Now, The risk associated with this is having delayed titles. Now, if the developer is saying, okay, it's due to, um, title around December, but there's a few delays with construction, limestone blocks, et cetera, et cetera. And the developer calls and says, Hey. We are expecting now titles to be February, March, rather than December.
That therefore means you can't settle on your block of land. And because you can't settle on the block of land and you don't own it yet, your builder can't start construction. So then that delays your builder from starting and commencing on site because titles have been delayed. So that's there, the risk that's associated with going untitled.
At the moment in the market. Finding titled land is like finding gold. There's not a lot of titled stock and land out there at the moment, and majority of stuff is titled. So you can still go for untitled land. It's just about knowing the process and the risks, and how it works for your situation. So if you're saying, all right, let's run through an example situation of titles being due in December.
I have some clients now that I'm working with, and we're looking at a block that. That's going to be titled in December. And we're going to start the process now, so we're going to sign up on the. Land, do the land contract, and then we'll start looking for the builder, doing the design, doing the bits and pieces, getting the building contract, doing pre start, and while we're waiting and doing all those things, we're waiting for the land to be titled.
Now, pre construction, on average, if you've listened to some of the other episodes, on average is about four to five months, depending on finance and land titles. So, pre construction can be. 5 months. August, September, October, November December
August, September, October November November August, September October November December We are looking at 4 month, processes in addition to the 4 to 5 month Prime combining conception timeline. That that still works looking at blocks that are Titled March, April, May, June next year. That's going into quite some time away.
That if you're already now finance wise savings wise you want to be looking at a block that's either titled or due to title within the next.
And if you get a block that's due to title in the next three, four, five months, and it's delayed four to six weeks, it's not too much longer. But if you're looking at blocks that are very far out in advance, they probably haven't started construction yet. They still need to go through the approval process, that kind of stuff.
You. Let's say titles in April next year and we are starting the process and we get to January next year And then they're like, oh, sorry, it's actually gonna be July or June It gets pushed back and that is quite some time away Compared to okay. It's in the next three to four months If we forecast worst case scenario, it's a couple months delayed.
It's going to take us to here. Okay. I know the risks, the worst case scenario, and how does that work with my situation? Untitled land is great for people who are need to still save a deposit. So on savings plans or waiting frame employment. People finance wise who are not a hundred percent ready now, but will be ready in the next three to six months.
If you need to save 20 grand, you save 10 grand already. And you need to save another 10 grand and that's going to take you until January next year. One of the best things about building is you can start that process. You don't need to have all your deposits saved now to start that process. You can get the untitled land, which is going to be due to title in January, around the same time that you have your deposit.
You get the block, you find your builder, you do your design, you do your pre start, you do your building contract, you get everything ready, final plans. And around December, January, when it's titling and you have your savings ready to go and finance wise, everything's good, then your finance broker will lodge for finance, you receive finance, you get your land titles, and then 21 days later you go through settlement, so it kind of times up.
Whereas if you're looking at titled land, you ideally need to be ready to go now. And that's bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, because the block's ready to go. You sign up on your block, you find your builder. We've got your finance building contract lodged to the bank. Formal finance is approved. Build settlement slab within that four to five month pre construction timeframe.
So it really depends on your situation. And that's why it's good to chat with someone who knows. The different ways to help you understand how you can make the building process work for you. I always tell my clients, let's make the process work for you. You don't have to be 100 percent ready. What's your action plan?
How can we make it work? And because blocks and land is going so fast and everything's moving so quickly. If you like a block and you need to save or you want to get in, you've got to secure that block. Otherwise somebody is going to snap it up. Don't wait until you've got everything in your account ready to go to then start the pre construction process.
If you start now and you're getting everything ready and you're doing things simultaneously, savings, doing the building process, everything, by the time you've got your deposit, you're ready to go, or you've waited for your employment, everything's ready to go. Finance is approved, settlement, and then slab down straight into construction.
Rather than waiting that, oh now I'm going to get ready and now I'm going to do four to five months pre construction and then I've got construction. So there's definitely pros and cons to Untitled and titled land. It really all depends on your situation. Untitled, to recap, the block is not yet developed and built and there, there's not a certificate of title who owns, the seller owns the block.
Older areas will usually have titled or already developed estates, have titled land. You can usually go have a look at it. The block's there, you can walk on it, you can go see it. Untitled land, depending how far into construction it is. It will usually be fenced off because they're doing construction, they're building the roads, they're building the street, they're doing the estates, they're putting limestone blocks down.
You will have the information of the stage plans. And the info from the land developer to see how they're building it and where it goes. You usually won't be able to get access to the block pretty close to when titles are due, which is when they're finishing construction on the block. And then it obviously goes to Landgate and Landgate need to process and approve the titles.
And then settlement is the process of the certificate of title being transferred from the seller's name to your name, the buyer. And you obviously can't do that without a settlement. Certificate of title, which is why it gets built and goes to land gates, gets issued, goes to settlement. And then the builder can't start construction until the certificate of title is in your name, which means you own that block of land.
And that's obviously when you start paying your mortgage repayments as well. So, that's pretty much everything on Titled and Untitled Lan. Obviously, if you have any questions specific to your situation, please DM me on Instagram or book in a call in the show notes below and I can help chat to you about your situation and see how it could work, even if you're thinking...
I might be ready now. I'm not ready now. Just find out. I can give you all the information and see exactly how the building process can work for you. That way you get the best outcome.
Thank you so much for tuning in to the home building like a boss podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learn something new. Remember, you've got this and I've got your back until next time. Stay inspired, stay informed and stay confident on your building journey. I can't wait to chat with you on the next episode.
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