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I didn't want to comment because I thought that somebody else might answer your questions more specifically, and also, I dont know about changes in demand for the jobs you just mentioned.
From my own perspective (property developer with real estate agents in the family and about 50% of the people I associate with being either builders, contractors, investors, developers, or real estate agents) I have noticed a huge exodus from the real estate industry as the boom ended and all of a sudden, all of these wannabe real estate agents who sold a few houses that were going to sell anyway realised that they didnt have the ability to compete with real estate agents who were actually good at it.
I have been waiting for this to happen for quite a long time, actually. I got sick and tired of being talked to by a bunch of kids who had more business working at mcdonalds than they did selling people's property as if they somehow knew something more than I did because they had done a 6 week RE course for $3000.
Sorry I couldn't help more, but what I think, I said. I will say, though, that if I were to choose any of the above, I would choose being a valuer. When people are uncertain (and we are in uncertain times), and stressed, they tend to do their homework and use valuers. In my experience, of course.
George, hailing from Darwin, NT.
I have a Certificate 4 in Building Construction. I come from a building family, having been dragged onto construction sites from age 6 or so. I made the jump to property development, and expanded into peripheral industries like architectural computer generated imagery, drafting, design, and helping other people with their personal rezonings (which I think I am going to start charging for).
If you guys need a hand or want to buy a severely overcapitalised property in the NT, Im your man
Hello
builder over hereIt all depends on:
what the floor is made of ,
what the walls are made of,
where the pipes are,
what the pipes are made of,
how far away youre putting in your new waste (because plumbing pipes need to have a certain fall, so that water moves in the right direction,
is the slab suspended or ground floor
if youre going to have to break tiles/retilebathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive rooms in a property to renovate. sometimes the prices can blow out hugely.
the best thing to do is to get a copy of detailed plans (especially the plumbers drawings etc) and have a chat to a builder, because any indication of price I could give you would be meaningless. How long is a piece of string sort of thing.
The cheapest way to do it might involve not smashing into the concrete much at all – you can just raise the level of the new shower floor a few inches and get your fall that way – so be aware of options like that.
I am a builder
yes everything is negotiable, as the person above said. Large building companies with display villages have a lot of employees to keep happy, so it also pays to keep an eye on how busy they are – the busier they are, the less they care about you (because theres always someone else that will buy) but if you can find them in a position where they are less busy than usual you can sometimes get some very good deals because they want to keep their boys working.You sound inexperienced, and so if I may, I would suggest getting in touch with a lawyer or other person very familiar with building contracts to look them over. Remember, building contracts are not standard – almost every one is different because its written by a different person – and you will have clauses that favour the builder more, or less. With large companies, they have done their homework, paid their lawyers, and will have a contract that favours them. personally, if i take on a contract, i prefer to use my own contract, because it favours me (well to be honest, i prefer working for cash and getting my money up front, but thats another story)
Also keep an eye out for variation fees – large companies charge you up to $500 everytime you have a variation of the contract – so lets say you wanted to change the position of a window – $500. A couple more power points? $500. Different color benchtop? $500. just to put in the form. Then they slug you with the cost of work on top. So, if youre going to alter anything in the contract like that, do it before you sign, and the builder doesnt have you over a barrel – because once you sign and put down your deposit, you arent going anywhere, and they can start chipping away at you.
Places like the HIA (housing industry association) have lawyers who specialise in property. Give them a call (theyre australia wide) and get a referral. Usually they support the builder (because they train builders) but theres no reason that making the public savvy isnt a good thing – itll just make dodgy builders pull their socks up
bear in mind that nothing is standard. building defects periods (the time in which the builder must come back and fix defective work or materials) does not legally even have to be in the contract. nor do penalty times, witholding periods etc – so the couple hundred dollars you spend on a lawyer may save you far more. Im presently picking a huge fight with another builder on behalf of a lady because he managed to convince her of such absurdities as her keeping the power on in her name for a new house construction, getting her to pay for some of his heavy machinery etc – terrible stuff. So beware.
cheerios
Ah, my apologies, youre right. I was reading fast and made an incorrect assumption. You could have just let me know that someone else wrote it instead of yelling, cuteyoungchick. Thanks nguli
(hmpf. so much for property investors being a level headed crew. bunch of psychos. rawr!)
