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.

Tune in as I take you on the journey to building your home like a boss. 

Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Haven't done one of these in a little while. I was traveling Europe for a little bit, so the podcast had a bit of a break, but now we are back to our weekly episodes, which is very, very exciting. We've had. Still lots of people listening and so much amazing feedback on how helpful the podcast has been.

So just wanted to say thank you so much for listening and tuning in, um, and always giving your feedback. It's great to hear how much and how helpful the podcast has been for people. So. Let's kick it off today with, we've had um, quite a few people recently reach out to us who have been sitting on blocks of land waiting for them to title and then kind of starting the process from there.

So today's episode is All about breaking down and explaining how important and why you shouldn't wait until your land is titled to then find the builder and start your process. So I was chatting with somebody on Friday about builders and quotes and you know they've gone display shopping and spoken to quite a lot of builders and their blocks titling next month and they want to make a decision to.

Get the ball rolling. And I kind of broke down and explained the process on how pre construction works. It can take up to four to six months. These are the steps that are required, blah, blah, blah. And she was kind of like, Oh. Does that mean like when my block is titled, we can't just start the process straight away?

No, not necessarily. So you want to, especially with how common it is at the moment in this market with untitled land, you want to be effective and efficient. And move through the process while you're waiting for your block to title. You don't want to wait for your block to title and do nothing and then start the process because you're going to add another four to six months from there.

And there's a few things that need to happen throughout that time to continue to move through the process and get to construction. So I guess the first thing is. This is mainly like more, it's definitely important on that time front. So, you know, if your block is, you know, you secure a block and it's due to title in six months, if you then start your pre construction process, which is when you secure your builder around that prelim agreement stage, you're then adding another four to six months before you even get to. 

And this is because, one, you need to work out your design, find your builder, happy with the quote, look at the inclusions, make sure you understand everything. Once you've signed your prelim paperwork, you then need to wait for your building contract, and your building contract takes roughly four to six weeks.

So, once you have your building contract, that's when you can then take this to your finance broker or your bank, and they will then lodge for your formal finance. Once formal finance comes through. If your land titles have been issued, it's roughly 21 days for settlement. So you've got some more time there that you're waiting.

Once you've signed your building contract, you get booked in for pre start two with your builder. Once you have pre start, you know, depending how long the wait is to book in for pre start, you'll have pre start and then you need to wait for your costings and your variation to come back. This can roughly take two to four weeks depending on how much you upgrade and what you've upgraded.

Obviously a Pre start variation of 70 items is going to take longer to cost versus pre start variation with 30 items. Once you've signed off on your pre start variation, then your final plans being updated, your addenda, you have approvals, building permits, all those things that need to be ticked off towards the end.

This whole process roughly takes four to six months, depending how much back and forth there is and how many times you. amend or change the plan or your pre start variation. So there's quite a lot of things that happen through the pre post start the pre construction process and you wanna make sure you're doing this while you're waiting for your block to title.

And this is because, if you work through everything and you've got everything checked off When your block is due to title, all you're waiting for is that finance approval or settlement. And if everything is ready to go, then your builder will be scheduling your slab down as soon as settlement has occurred.

So, you know, you'll be getting your slab down within two to four weeks of settlement, depending on your builder and your scheduling timeline. And that there, then you move straight into construction and throughout the construction process from there. A bit different, obviously, if you're waiting for your block to title, then you're going through that process and then your.

Going through construction. You've just added on another six months to your building process. Now you might think, Oh, but I'm going to wait until my block is titled because it's less risky and the builder can't price increase me and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The risks that you obviously run with this is the.

Builders plans and prices are continuing to go up. So for example, you know, you from six months ago, the prices have gone up in six months. The prices also would have changed. So it's unknown on exactly what the price is going to be. Obviously, when you have delayed. Titles. We want to allow for a delayed title allowance.

Now this is different for each builder and they usually go in, you know, is it zero to three months, three to six months, six to nine, nine to 12, and they'll have different amounts depending on how far your land titles are away, your delayed title allowance is a lot less than what you're going to pay in a new price on a base plan in six months. 

So you're going to be paying more in six months. The other risk with waiting for your land to title is once your land titles. Your land developer will be wanting your formal finance as soon as possible within your finance timeframe on your land contract. Now, when it's untitled, land developers will usually give extensions until your block is titled.

Once your block is titled, if your finance is due in 50 days from now, they will want your formal finance within that 50 days. If you're only starting the process to find a builder, You then have to wait four to six weeks to get your building contract and then take your land contract and your building contract to the bank to ask for formal finance.

You are cutting that very, very short and the time frame for the developer, they can pull that contract and cancel it and re put that block back up on the market. At the moment, that is. I would say the most riskiest part of waiting until your block is titled because developers and sellers are being very hard with their finance deadlines if the block is titled, because that means that finance can go through, settlement can go through, and they can move the block to the buyer.

If you're not ready for that  and they don't issue another finance extension, that automatically cancels your contract. So it's super important that you know. When is your finance due on your land contract to make sure you have your building contract and meet your finance deadlines for that, which is why it's important to move through the process while you're waiting for your block to title.

So you don't lose your block that way. You've got everything ready to go. Finance ready, settlement happens, everything's good, slab down, construction. If you're a little bit unsure with what questions to ask your builder when you're going through this process, if you've got a block and it's due to title in six months, what kind of questions you need to ask your builder, the main questions would obviously be, What are your delayed title allowance and how does this work?

Do you have a contract guarantee time? And do you have any price holds in place? Understanding these three things and how your builder operates and works is going to give you a good understanding. Even having a look, you know, I take it as a grain of salt inside these Facebook groups sometimes because some of it is, you know, not great advice or is very Based on a situation that's very specific, it might not be so relevant to you, but having a look and seeing if you can see common denominators of certain builders offering price increases or the evidence that they have not price increased a client.

So they're the main questions that you want to ask a builder if your block is untitled with untitled land If it's within six months You definitely need to be starting the process now because pre construction can take roughly four to six months Even if your block is due to title in eight nine twelve months We have clients who have blocks due to title Early to mid next year, they have already started the process, got their builder, got their sketch, got everything ready, going through building contracts.

We're getting ready for pre start and pre start will be closer to when the block is titled. So everything is relevant and up to date, but you're moving through that process so that when it gets closer to titles. Everything is moving and ticking off and you can go through that process. And as soon as you settle slab down, and this goes the same with, if you managed to get your hands on a title block, securing a title block in this market is huge, you know, you can move through the process pretty quickly.

That, I would estimate roughly four to five months, depending on your finance. That would be the main thing that could kind of change and impact the timeline, depending on what your finance circumstances are.  But having a titled block and moving through that process, you will get slabbed down as long as you keep moving through everything efficiently, getting your documents back, asking questions. 

Moving through the process that will happen pretty quickly compared to someone who's waiting nine months for their land titles because your block is titled and ready to go, you can move through that pretty quickly. And you know, this kind of also another thing to consider is if you have a title block and it settles and your finance goes through.

but you're sitting in the admin process still with your builder waiting to for pre start or your variations or things like that you will be paying interest and repayments on your block of land so if your builder drags out your pre construction process or you know you've settled on your block and you didn't start the process as soon as you thought you could you will be paying repayments and interest only repayments on your block of land until you progress through pre construction so sometimes You know, you don't think of this side of the coin.

It's like, Oh, I've got a cheaper quote or this builder said this. And these are the things to consider if you don't start the process and or you get held up in preconstruction and your block is titled and you financed and you've settled on it, you will be paying interest only repayments on your block of land until you start construction.

So if that gets dragged out for another. Four to six months, you'll be paying those interest only repayments for four to six months, which you know, how much money is that in four to six months that you tried to save off your builder's quote or you tried to save doing another way that you've now spent the money through interest only repayments.

So it's super important to understand the building process, how it works with titled and untitled land. And if you're shopping around and you're looking at quotes and you're getting sketches and you're getting designs, but you don't understand the process and how it works, it can be super overwhelming because you don't know when things are due, how the process works.

What needs to be done at what timeline? And you know, that's an advantage of working with a building broker. We go through this process every day with clients. We know when, when's the time that you need to start the process. When's your block titled? When do you need your contracts? When do you need your finance due?

And we help you project manager to make sure you get the best outcome possible. You know, saving time, saving money and saving stress. So that way. Your building process is a positive and enjoyable experience. So it really comes down to working with someone who can help and support you throughout that process and asking questions.

You know, you need to be able to ask questions. It's not all about the price and the quote sometimes. It is about understanding the process and working with someone who is going to support you through that because There's so much else that goes on in building. That's not just the price and the quote They're obviously super important, but there's so much more than the sketch and the quote You need to be able to understand that there's so many moving parts and things that goes into the building process on who you're working with and how it all works and how you can get the best possible outcome.

If you have any questions on untitled or titled land, how the process works, book in a discovery call with one of our brokers below and we'll be able to have a chat to you and help you through the process.  Thank you so much for tuning in to the Homebuilding Like a Boss podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned 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.  Don't forget to check out the show notes for more information and free resources. If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode of the Home Building Like a Boss podcast.