Low Valuation...

… is very common with Land + Build scenario. I expected one and I did get one. Our broker is looking to another lender at the moment, but in general there are 3 options if this happen:

1. Challenge the valuation - unlikely to deliver results unless there are significant inaccuracies in the valuation 
2. Look for different lender that use different valuer - make sure you have a good broker
3. Borrow more - last resort

Things that are mentioned in my valuation document (always ask for this document):

No provision for landscaping and fencing – as the valuer looks at the “on completion valuation” of house and land, house with no fence and basic landscape will likely sell less compared to the completed house in the area. 

Total building cost is considered to be unreasonable and not in line with current market. Yep. Building cost is the main culprit for my low valuation with almost 40K below. 

For the next time:

1. I obtained fencing quote + full land contract instead just the front pages (we have front landscaping included, mentioned deep in contract), so I hope it helps.
2. If I ever build again, I might consider finance clause in the build contract

Now just crossing my fingers. 

Quick April Update

I was away for a bit early this month hence the late update.

Some random stuff:

Boutique agreed to extend our fixed price until January, so let's home my land developer is on time!

Developer sent me updated land engineering plan which is quite different from the original that I sent to Boutique. So now waiting from Boutique to confirm that this is all ok before we proceed with building contract. The contract said that large discrepancies of site cost will cause variation, so I rather have this confirmed and sorted now! Technically the new engineering has less slope and less fill, so I'd be very surprised if the site cost be negatively affected. If anything it should be cheaper.

Apart from that, someone sent me photo of stage 1 progress which is looking pretty good, though their title is going to be late by about a month.

Quick Update - Land Delay

So.

The old land developer sold our estate to a bigger developer. Our land is now... at least 6 months late with title around November.

We're in predicament as Boutique will only hold the price until early November.

We can either risk the land going even later and pay $800 for every month it's late, or redo the PwC (We haven't signed building contract) and redo and reprice EVERYTHING. Our sales person is on holiday in Bali, and I'm waiting for latest colour pricing to weight things up.

Will keep you updated on how it goes.