Has anyone built duplexes

Hi Luke – asking for a building price is really tough. An example is a friend of mine who recently designed a 180sqm townhouse for himself. He did a QS report on it and it came in at $1450/sqm. Speaking to a builder though he says that’s rubbish and he can build it for under $1000/sqm. so who knows. I would still work on say $800-$1000/sqm for single level and $900-$1300 for 2 storey, but it really does depend on what you are doing.

I have no idea what a square is so can’t help you in that regard. Anyone know how many sqm in a square?

The titles depends on the land that you purchase. If it is a single block zoned for a duplex, then you build first and get the titles afterwards. Beware of the delay that can happen at the end of the project – DLI were having huge backlogs and waitng an extra 2 months for your sales proceeds pending issue of titles at the end of a project when your loan is fully drawn out can be an unnerving experience.

City or country – if the returns stack up go for it.It’s typically a lot dearer to build in the country though.

Part of a wealth creation strategy – by all means. They can be good projects to start out with. Once again it all comes down to the return you expect to make out of it – no point going to all this trouble for no reward!

Build and sell, build and hold – depends if it is CF+ or CF- at the end. Often even when you develop the buildings yourself they are negative geared, so there is a limit to how many you can hold on to. Consider selling one and holding one.

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