Thinking of adding a granny flat to your house?

Adding a granny flat to your house is a great way to improve your lifestyle, increase your living space and earn additional income. These are really good reasons why many Aussies are building granny flats on their land (particularly with the increasing costs of real estate, as well as banks not lending as much money to homeowners and the cost of actually moving to a larger home), however sometimes trying to build an additional home on your block can be difficult.

These difficulties arise from the actual cost of adding a granny flat to your house, so the solution is to build a granny flat at the same time as you build your main house. This approach can save you money during the build, and you can benefit from any additional rent immediately.

Saving money when adding a granny flat to your house

If you build two structures on your block of land at the same time (your home and a granny flat), you only have to submit one application to council; if you build a granny flat in the future, you will need to apply for council approval all over again.

It also costs the builder less to build two structures at the same time than it does to come back and build a granny flat in the future. These savings can be passed onto you! For example, all the materials for both buildings can be delivered at the same time, saving thousands of dollars on delivery fees.

Another good reason to consider adding a granny flat to your house during the initial build is site access. Established houses can have limited access to the back yard, causing problems delivering construction materials to the site. If you have to pay for these materials to be craned over your house, your costs will escalate significantly, but if you build both structures at the same time, you won’t have this problem.

So if you are building a new home for your family, consider adding a granny flat at the same time and you will not only save yourself additional money, but you can also increase your income if you decide to take in tenants.

Cal us on 07 3209 4623 or shoot us an email and ask about adding a granny flat to your house.

What do you need to know about building a kit home?

With the increasing price of real estate and the banks reluctance to lend borrowers money, many Aussies are missing out on owning their own home. All is not lost however, because a kit home can be your ticket into the real estate market.

These homes go up quickly, offer just as much space as traditional homes and are much more affordable. So if you have your own land, it’s definitely worthwhile considering a modern kit home for your first home. They are also a great option for investors who can increase their rental yield by leasing a brand new home to tenants and for homeowners who want to build additional accommodation on their land for elderly relatives.

What is a kit home?

This is a home that is designed off-site with all the materials delivered to your land by trucks. It’s a really quick way to build a new home, because everything is there on-site and just has to be erected. However, just because it’s quick doesn’t mean it’s low quality – far from it, a kit home is architecturally designed and made from high quality materials!

  • Fast builds: These homes are erected quickly, because everything comes in a kit form and it’s designed to be a fast and efficient build.
  • Affordable: Compared to traditional builds, these homes cost much less, often as little as a third of what others pay for their homes.
  • Eco-friendly: Our kit homes are based on using as many green materials as possible, including glass, steel and timber, along with solar panels, energy efficient heating systems and environmentally friendly insulation.
  • Customisable: It’s easy to make changes to our designs, before the manufacturer finishes the final technical details of your home and the materials leave the factory.
  • Difficult blocks: Sloping or narrow blocks can be difficult for traditional homes, however a kit home is ideally suited to these type of blocks, because it can be customised to suit any environment!

Even though a kit home is very affordable, you can save even more money if you enrol in an owner-builder course at your local TAFE. Why not give us a call today on 07 3209 4623 or shoot us an email?

 

Overlooking granny flat approvals and other building mistakes

Forgetting to obtain all the correct granny flat approvals is just one of the common mistakes made by homeowners when they are building additional accommodation on their property. These mistakes can cause the entire building process to come to a screeching halt or at the very least, cause everyone involved serious headaches.

If you are ready to build a granny flat on your block of land, here are four mistakes that you need to avoid so that everything runs smoothly.

  1. Forgetting granny flat approvals: As mentioned above, many homeowners forget that you still need council approvals even if you are building on your existing block of land. These approvals will cover the size of the granny flat allowed on your block of land, it’s height and whether it blocks light to your neighbours.
  2. Not budgeting properly: Your builder is going to assume that you have the funds for the build, so if you haven’t done your sums correctly you can be in a difficult spot when the bills are due. Always make sure that you have the money to pay for the granny flat and its build, as well as landscaping, appliances and furniture before you sign on the dotted line.
  3. Not checking out the builder: Does the builder have the right type of experience to design and build a granny flat? Always make sure that they have a builders licence and that it is up to date, and don’t forget to make sure that they have all the right insurances in place. These include Home Building Compensation, Contract Works, Professional and Public Indemnity, as well as Workers Compensation.
  4. Not creating a plan: All of the above (granny flat approvals, budgeting and checking out the builder) should be included in your building plan, so that you can feel confident about going ahead with the build. If you forget any of these steps, you can be setting yourself up for a serious fall, so it pays to have all these boxes ticked before making your final decision.

Queensland Granny Flats are a family owned business with extensive experience in designing and building granny flats (and we arrange all the granny flat approvals for you!). Call us on 07 3209 4623 or send us an email today.

5 Benefits of picking the right granny flat designs

Have you noticed that there are a plethora of new granny flat designs on the market? Depending on the design you select, this type of additional accommodation is suitable for housing elderly relatives, running a home business or generating a rental income; they have become extremely popular over the past few years with homeowners and investors.   

If you have started looking at a range of different granny flat designs, but are still wondering whether this is the right move for your family, here are 5 reasons why it might be a good idea.

  1. Small block sizes are OK: If you want to build a granny flat, you don’t need a huge block of land, it just needs to be at least 450 square metres in total. This means that you can easily fit a 70 square metre two-bed granny flat on your property and there are even one-bed granny flat designs that are less than 50 square metres as well.
  2. No subdivision issues: Since your granny flat will be built on your land and it will still have the same address as your main home, you don’t need to subdivide your land. This is great news for homeowners who don’t want to be troubled with subdivision problems, particularly since some councils won’t let you subdivide.
  3. Maximise living space: With more and more Aussies preferring to renovate rather than move, our granny flat designs might be the perfect solution to your lifestyle problems. It will also increase the value of your home, since you have all that additional living space!
  4. Earn rental income: Short of increasing your salary there aren’t many ways to increase your income, which is why a granny flat is such a great idea. You can earn a significant amount of money from renting your granny flat to students, professionals, even families (our designs include one or two bedrooms), all of whom want affordable, modern accommodation.
  5. Seamless designs: Our designs can be customised to match your existing home’s external décor so that it looks like it has always been there! It won’t look like an add-on or a poor cousin, because it will be a high quality build that will lift the look and feel of your existing home.

For more information on our granny flat designs, call us on 07 3209 4623 or send us an email today.

Are granny flats in Brisbane a good investment?

With all the hype about building granny flats in Brisbane, homeowners need to do their research and make sure that they are a good investment for their situation. If you have been considering building a granny flat on your block of land, here are 5 reasons why it might be a good idea.

  1. Lifestyle choices: You might want to build a granny flat so that your elderly parents can live close to your family, but not actually in your house. Many elderly relatives need help as they age, but still want to hang on to their independence; many adult children want their parents living nearby, so they can help them, but don’t have the room or the desire to share the same house in Brisbane; granny flats are the easy solution.
  2. Rental income: If you have the space on your property, you can build a granny flat and rent it out until it’s needed by your elderly parents in the future. Obviously you would need to declare any rent as income to the ATO, but it can make a big difference and gives you a granny flat that is ready and waiting for when it’s needed by your parents.
  3. Reducing investment risk: If you already have a rental property, then you have all your investment eggs in one basket, so to speak. With a granny flat that is producing rent however, you have an additional source of income to tide you over until your other rental property is tenanted; this spreads your risk quite nicely.
  4. Tax savings: Maintenance and repairs for granny flats that are tenanted in Brisbane can be used to offset your tax debt by reducing your taxable income. If it’s not tenanted of course, you can’t claim any repairs or maintenance.
  5. Increasing the value of your property: Whilst you will most probably be able to sell your home for a higher price with a granny flat on your property, this higher price may not always cover the total cost of its build. Also, when you do decide to sell your home, you may reduce the available market, simply because not everyone wants a granny flat!

Many homeowners build granny flats in Brisbane for the simple reason that they need space for elderly relatives, a teenage retreat or as space for guests, a studio and a home office. Whatever your reasons for building a granny flat, call us on 07 3209 4623 for a chat about your needs.

Inspiring ideas for the modern granny flat

A modern granny flat is ideal if you want to provide housing for your elderly relatives, you need a teenage retreat or you want to earn some rental income. They come with at least one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area and can be designed to suit your exact needs.

However, with so many different designs available, it’s often difficult to decide which is best for your requirements. So if you are in the market for a modern granny flat, here are a few inspirational designs to consider.

Architectural designs

Depending on the design of your main house, you might want to follow that design onto your modern granny flat by including the same type of external or internal architecture. At Queensland Granny Flats, we can match the architecture of your granny flat to your home quite easily!

Minimalist designs

If you have a limited amount of space available and want to focus on utility more than anything else, then a minimalist design might suit your needs. This type of modern granny flat is ideal if you are on a limited budget as well, and want to increase your household income by renting the flat.

Contemporary cottage designs

With a beautiful veranda to while away a few lazy hours in the afternoon, a contemporary cottage design might tick all your boxes. This type of modern granny flat includes all mod cons, but from an aesthetic point of view, it also oozes a ‘back to nature’ cottage feel, so loved by many homeowners.

Step up designs

These can include a few steps up to the veranda and living areas to offer a clear separation between the main house the granny flat or can be raised up on poles to provide car parking underneath and access to a beautiful view.

Landscape designs

These are different to the contemporary cottage designs in that they seem to disappear into the landscape, offering the ideal of complete separation between the flat and the main house. This design is ideal for larger properties with lots of trees and extensive landscaping.

To discuss your ideas for your own modern granny flat on your land, call us on 07 3209 4623 for a chat about your needs.