Cost of a new build

Tezza71

I know I've seen posts about this subject before but would welcome any input from the floor. I'm thinking about building on a block in Gianyar. My lady has a very close friend who is an architect who is prepared to organise and supervise the build from whoa to go. I've seen some scary comments regarding building in Bali but I'm fairly confident this guy is the genuine article. The block is 200m2 but I'm not sure about the house size yet although we're thinking 3 bedrooms + 3 bathrooms etc. What are your collective thoughts regarding what the build might cost. I know a lot will depend on materials etc but just an idea is what I'm after. It's a toss up at the moment on whether to build or try to purchase existing.

Mark

Tezza71 wrote I know I've seen posts about this subject before but would welcome any input from the floor. I'm thinking about building on a block in Gianyar. My lady has a very close friend who is an architect who is prepared to organise and supervise the build from whoa to go. I've seen some scary comments regarding building in Bali but I'm fairly confident this guy is the genuine article. The block is 200m2 but I'm not sure about the house size yet although we're thinking 3 bedrooms + 3 bathrooms etc. What are your collective thoughts regarding what the build might cost. I know a lot will depend on materials etc but just an idea is what I'm after. It's a toss up at the moment on whether to build or try to purchase existing.

Your block is pretty small, so you will likely be building up on two or three floors, which is more expensive, though it's hard to estimate cost without knowing approximate size, design and finishing requirements. However, I would encourage you to consider building as opposed to buying existing. There are so many corners cut in most builds - especially those that are done for resale, ie flipping, that you might be buying something that you'd later regret. Building inspections can help, but you still won't know how strong the concrete is, whether the correct size rebar was used, how the pipes and wires behind the walls were installed, etc. At least with your own build you can better ensure that the specifications are complied with and the end product is closer to what you want.

Tezza71

Mark wrote Your block is pretty small, so you will likely be building up on two or three floors, which is more expensive, though it's hard to estimate cost without knowing approximate size, design and finishing requirements. However, I would encourage you to consider building as opposed to buying existing. There are so many corners cut in most builds - especially those that are done for resale, ie flipping, that you might be buying something that you'd later regret. Building inspections can help, but you still won't know how strong the concrete is, whether the correct size rebar was used, how the pipes and wires behind the walls were installed, etc. At least with your own build you can better ensure that the specifications are complied with and the end product is closer to what you want.

Thanks for the reply Mark. There are only the 2 of us so we don't need a big house. As my lady says more floor area, more rooms, more cleaning, more work and we're neither of us getting any younger. You have answered the number 1 question though mate and that is whether it's wiser to buy existing or build. If I were considering the same exercise in Australia I would almost certainly go for existing as the hassle with building is just to much to my mind. I'm pretty confident that the guy we will use to oversee the project will do the right thing as he's my lady's son's Uncle and he seems like a very genuine guy.

ronb

I agree with idea of buying an existing building. Look at 5 or more possibilities and you will find that each of you reacts to them differently. Hopefully, you will find one that grabs both of you. I also agree that your block (2 are) would be too small for me, rubbing shoulders with neighbours who are too close, parking space too tight, not enough garden space - you don't need to be the gardener, you can get gardening help at affordable rates. We found a place in the Ubud area in 2014, found a well-built house on 7 are. It was almost the first we saw , but proceeded to look at others, but kept coming back to this one. Send me a message if you want to come and see what we got.

Mark

Markit wrote You wonder about the rebar? Chop into it and find out! Ditto concrete and any other part of the build. It really isn't rocket science.

I'd love to see a home seller's reaction if a tire-kicking potential buyer tried this o_O.

Balifrog

Tezza71 wrote get told I'm too old

This returns us to the question about the wisdom to build or buy past a certain age vs renting..... Again off course depending if you want to leave it to your "lady" (wife ?) after your departure.

harryopal

Tezza71 wrote No neighbours, the block is in the middle of rice paddies. It's isolated but not too far from the nearest house.

Today's paddie fields are tomorrow's new neighbours so before committing to build the question is relevant as to how you would feel not just about next door, close up neighbours but the dust and clamour of constructions going up around you. My wife had built in paddie fields in Bandung and now the area is a regular suburb.

JackStraw

Tezza71 wrote I know I've seen posts about this subject before but would welcome any input from the floor. I'm thinking about building on a block in Gianyar. My lady has a very close friend who is an architect who is prepared to organise and supervise the build from whoa to go. I've seen some scary comments regarding building in Bali but I'm fairly confident this guy is the genuine article. The block is 200m2 but I'm not sure about the house size yet although we're thinking 3 bedrooms + 3 bathrooms etc. What are your collective thoughts regarding what the build might cost. I know a lot will depend on materials etc but just an idea is what I'm after. It's a toss up at the moment on whether to build or try to purchase existing.

With land that size, I recommend buying and renovating an existing house. Turn that land into a rice field or something agricultural. That's my 2 cents

Mark

Tezza71 wrote Thanks for the reply Mark. There are only the 2 of us so we don't need a big house. As my lady says more floor area, more rooms, more cleaning, more work and we're neither of us getting any younger. You have answered the number 1 question though mate and that is whether it's wiser to buy existing or build. If I were considering the same exercise in Australia I would almost certainly go for existing as the hassle with building is just to much to my mind. I'm pretty confident that the guy we will use to oversee the project will do the right thing as he's my lady's son's Uncle and he seems like a very genuine guy.

Good that you have someone you can trust to do the build for you. Having said that, I would make it a point to try and be onsite as often as possible. How often? Four times a week for a least a couple of hours a visit would not be too much. More is better. Lots of minor (and some major) issues come up frequently and being there allows you to have input on the solutions, ensures your preferences are respected (don't expect your 'guy' to be a mind reader...) and keeps the process going smoothly. It's also good for the workers to see that the big boss (ie you) is engaged in the build and on top of things. That's my experience at least.

Markit

Fool who builds his own now! Right now there are some spectacular bargains going around. If you don't find something that's a steal now you never will. Build your own? Why bother? Use the money you will save to have a full work-up done on the place you want to buy and build a guarantee into the contract with a year end payment or some such. Honestly there are so many places that haven't had anyone looking after them for getting onto 2 years now that with just a little TLC will be a paradise and the owners are still stuck in whatever country they "escaped" to with no early option to return. You wonder about the rebar? Chop into it and find out! Ditto concrete and any other part of the build. It really isn't rocket science. I got no idea what unfortunate experiences some of the people on this forum have been through but clearly it wasn't their own fault (hah!)

Markit

Mark wrote I'd love to see a home seller's reaction if a tire-kicking potential buyer tried this o_O.

If someone wants to take a core sample from one of my many pillars and there's a couple or 3 billion riding on the outcome I'll hold the fecking drill for him.

ronb

"in the middle of rice paddies" Some of the properties we looked at were like this - rice field views, then in a few years they are surrounded by very close neighours. This is one reason why I say a 2 are block is too small - no buffer zone that you own.

Mark

harryopal wrote Today's paddie fields are tomorrow's new neighbours so before committing to build the question is relevant as to how you would feel not just about next door, close up neighbours but the dust and clamour of constructions going up around you. My wife had built in paddie fields in Bandung and now the area is a regular suburb.

This is a great point. And with a small plot size, if one builds a wall (or indeed part of the house) on the property border you can be assured that the neighbor will build right up against it, as is the local practice.

Tezza71

ronb wrote I agree with idea of buying an existing building. Look at 5 or more possibilities and you will find that each of you reacts to them differently. Hopefully, you will find one that grabs both of you. I also agree that your block (2 are) would be too small for me, rubbing shoulders with neighbours who are too close, parking space too tight, not enough garden space - you don't need to be the gardener, you can get gardening help at affordable rates. We found a place in the Ubud area in 2014, found a well-built house on 7 are. It was almost the first we saw , but proceeded to look at others, but kept coming back to this one. Send me a message if you want to come and see what we got.

No neighbours, the block is in the middle of rice paddies. It's isolated but not too far from the nearest house. Going to talk to our guy about a design we put together, at least the basic shape and layout. Personally I don't think we'll do a deal because the price will be more than I can afford. Need to make sure I have financial backup in the event of a medical issue. Have tried to get insurance but I get told I'm too old or the price is simply far more than I'm willing to pay.

Markit

Tezza71 wrote No neighbours, the block is in the middle of rice paddies. It's isolated but not too far from the nearest house. Going to talk to our guy about a design we put together, at least the basic shape and layout. Personally I don't think we'll do a deal because the price will be more than I can afford. Need to make sure I have financial backup in the event of a medical issue. Have tried to get insurance but I get told I'm too old or the price is simply far more than I'm willing to pay.

I have all kinds of issues with building on rice paddy unless you can chew concrete, but put those to the side, unless you've done some expensive rezoning from green belt to brown "tourism" zone you will have a world of trouble (and expense) if you build on green zoned land. The "experts" will all say "go ahead and get the permission later" but they won't be around later... If you are over 55 you won't get affordable health insurance here, zip, nada, nuffink. If you marry your lady you just might get BPJS local health insurance which is great so long as you are healthy. What most of us "old boys" do is keep an emergency buffer to pay for immediate treatment and enough to crawl on an airplane going homewards if it's at all possible - you wouldn't want these jokers laying a hand on you if it's halfway earnest anyway, would you?

hca

I agree with other posters, right now the place near to dead, 18 months of CV19 is cutting in deep now. Lots of good properties being sold for very low prices to consider from what I hear over this side. It may well be better to buy existing, even if you must spend a bit to freshen it up than do your own build right now. you need to weigh it up. That said I have spent a lot of time recently sorting issues on a new friends new build out here in the north. I have done some myself here as well. This guys project is a bit different to a single structure on a tiny block in the DPS side , about 10 buildings on a very difficult hectare block, all by a local architect and off island contractors under his control. No purchaser oversight at all. But every aspect of it is problematic at best, a lot not even finished. So I have some pointers on things that come to mind from my last 20 years as well as from his recent very pain full and expensive experience which I hope will help if you go ahead with a build here. A lot of this maybe more or less relevant to your chosen locality, as most of my experience here is more to the rural village side. I wont go into how it happened as it did with him right here, but he is the not so proud owner of an expensive award wining screw up. I warn you to sit on the architect and contractors shoulders like a cocky! If you dont know the process and how to QC it yourself, you find and pay someone independent who does to closely supervise them on your behalf. Never let your build go adhock unless you are so rich it does not matter and then you are a worthy target! My advice, and only mine for what its worth, is look hard and listen next as I gave to my kids. Friends who like and respect you, not your potential bank balance are the ones to have here.. Sorry, a blunt but firm warning on that. Ask for a list of projects the architect has done. Same with his contractors. Go and visit some, try and take some one with an eye for issues who can look about a bit while you talk, seek out the project owners and ask them about any possible shortfalls and issues with their build. Always remember you pay when they bugger it up and more often than not, you pay again when they fix it, even if its the next day. Paid days are meals, more days with a job the better, else a fixed price where its about less days on a job, you stand to loose either way. Get the architects working construction drawings, on proviso they are checked by a second party, and not the pretty sales crap visualizations their PC software creates they pass out and fill books with. Send them back to another consultant at home and pay for a second opinion to check, the foundation design, the rebar details and tie ins, the roof trusses, the water pipes, waste pipelines with vents and Ltraps and cable layouts, sizes, specs, all the stress and load calculations. EVERYTHING. Make sure the soil type is mentioned, the chocolate mountain soils here are very different to beach area sandy stuff. Remember we get quakes here, big rain rates with alot of impact spatter and mist production along with wind and real time close up front lightning here, make sure you seconder knows all this. Look if you get this right it can be the best life's decision you ever have, everything south of here can sink below the waves of the Southern Ocean. but get it ballsed up and you will rue the day. I have a list of stuff and points written up I can tart up a bit if you want I can paste it in if you want, just say the word. H.

gtrken

My humble experience of building was the first time we got screwed as gave the whole job to the architect who got it built for about 1/2 the price we paid and cut corners. The addition to the building was via a very good builder we met and all he said was I charge X per m2 to build , you supply the materials to your satisfaction and he will fit it. No corners cut re amount of semen vs sand , no undersize rebar , no dodgy plumbing pipes, no using internal paint for exterior walls because we just went to paspanardis ( local building supply company ) with him and he told us what was the best to get. His reputation was on the finished job along with his guarantee. The addition was done about 12 months after the initial build and looking at the building now 4 years on it is obvious where the addition is because of the quality. He is back in Kalimantan working on some big projects for the Govt so not around Bali anymore, dammit ! But that is one way to get the quality you want... Cheers Ken

hca

gtrken wrote we got screwed as gave the whole job to the architect who got it built for about 1/2 the price we paid and cut corners. The addition to the building was via a very good builder Cheers Ken

This is where the bloke I speak of went wrong at the beginning, all funds to the architect, progress payments duely made on the strenth of a few "panaramic" detail less photos, and get this for some thing out of the box, drone footage showing the siteworks from a fly around FFS! I suspect he arranged the materials and then he cut the contractor to bare bones so he picked up the materials kickbacks as well. Well there are performance issues from the architect in design and as some kind of project manager, also the builder pleaded he was cut short so bad he could not finish the works. Its hard to say if he was good or bad in those circumstance with what we see now as there is evidence for and against. But when this all went on was since CV 19 and these people were not even on the island. You were lucky Ken, you were here to catch it in time before the structural damage was done. And then your builder really was capable of doing the good job in the end. Anyway some of these blokes should be locked up out of harms way for mine! The damage they do is not just to the victims, but the reputation of the entire island and the good honest tradesmen who are to be found here. H.