Plenty of Australians are getting their hands dirty in the owner build trend. (Source: Supplied)
Chris and his partner Beau had wanted to buy a house for the better part of the last decade. But living in Sydney and watching prices continually rise they decided to reject the “madness” of a mega mortgage.
So they started looking at alternative options to own their own property near a capital city. Getting creative, the couple looked around and landed on an idea that is admittedly “very daunting” but appears to be growing in popularity.
“We did the calculations and we worked out, hang on, there’s a great arbitrage here, an opportunity for us to grow our wealth but also have a place to live if we want to that’s more affordable,” Beau told Yahoo Finance.
The couple decided to become ‘owner builders’ and do it all themselves. They are currently constructing a small three bedroom kit home on an island about 50 kilometres from the centre of Brisbane – and hope to do it all for under $150,000.
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The small parcel of land they purchased on Queensland’s Russell Island only cost them $46,000 when they bought it in 2024. But of course it was untouched and full of trees and scrub.
As for the actual house, the couple went with a kit home from Aussie manufacturer Wide Span Homes which started on the Gold Coast and offers a range of steel frame dwellings nationwide ranging from a one bedroom cabin from $25,650 to a five bedroom kit starting at $106,250.
After a break over the Christmas period, the boys are back on site. (Source: Supplied)
Chris is an electrician by trade while Beau looked after the books for their business and doesn’t have a trade background. They’re currently pouring themselves into the massive project.
They opted for the most basic option with the intent to save as much as possible by sourcing their own suppliers and materials for the internal parts of the home.
“Literally, it’s a steel shell,” Chris explained.
“We were fairly confident that we could source stuff from Bunnings Trade or other trade organisations,” Beau added.
The couple are currently a few months into the build and have built the foundation of the house.
While Chris is a sparky, the couple have no construction experience. (Source: Supplied)
Chris admits the target to keep it under the $150,000 budget is “super ambitious”. It will almost certainly end up costing more than that.
“We came up with that as the kit cost us about $50,000 and then generally when you speak to these kit home manufacturers, they say double that price plus add 20 per cent – and that might be where you can end up for the total cost of your build.
“As first time owner builders, we have definitely made some errors in terms of doing things twice, or spending unnecessarily which has been a bit of a shame,” he said.
Do you have a story about an owner builder project or kit home? We’d love to hear about it: Nick.whigham@yahooinc.com
The couple have been documenting their process on social media. (Source: Supplied)
It’s also been eye opening just how much it costs to get a vacant block ready for a new house, including a septic system, water connection and power connection.
“We never expected [the sheer amount] of the planning costs and everything like that,” Beau said.
Excluding the land, the couple expects the project to ultimately end up costing them between $150,000 and $200,000, a bit over their stated budget.
It’s a figure they say would still be a massive win, and an outcome that is set to give them much more financial breathing space compared to taking the regular first home buyer route and borrowing many multiples of their combined income.
“We’d still be super happy with that,” Chris said.
“If we stayed in Sydney just for a one bedroom apartment where we wanted to live would have been over a million dollars.
“Even if we end up renting it out [the Russel Island property], the rents on the island are kind of like $450, so it does make sense financially.”
While kit homes come under the umbrella of pre-fabricated housing, there are plenty of options in the market these days. (Source: Supplied/Wide Span Homes) Russell Island residents can take a ferry ride to the mainland to head into Brisbane and surrounds. (Source: Homely/Google Maps)
There’s plenty of things to consider if choosing the owner builder path.
Given the risks and uncertainty involved, banks will often lend less and require a higher loan to value ratio (LVR) for the project.
“One of the reasons why a lot of owner builders are actually older is because getting finance for owner building is a bit tricky. Basically, the banks don’t like to lend as much when it comes to owner building. They require you to have a better LVR,” Chris said.
The pair were able to avoid needing to borrow from a bank, which they also used to their favour.
“Getting finance for an island is very hard too. That’s why the land is even cheaper, because to get finance is hard,” Beau explained.
While the laws vary in jurisdictions across Australia, owner builders are required to complete a mandatory owner builder course with the state or territory government, and take on the same statutory requirements as a registered builder.
In Queensland, owner builders need an approved permit to undertake or supervise a building project valued at more than $11,000.
And there’s construction and public liability insurance that also needs to be considered.
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While official figures are hard to come by, Australian Owner Builders, which offers online resources and information about becoming an owner builder, claims there are about 40,000 such projects each year in Australia.
Previous ABS data, which included renovations, found that owner builders made up as much as 13 per cent of activity in the building market.
Meanwhile the growing number of domestic companies selling kit homes suggests a strong appetite for alternative housing options amid surging building and material costs.
There is a growing number of Aussies sharing content about their quest to sidestep mortgage debt and build their own home on the cheap.
By sharing their own attempt on a dedicated website, Chris and Beau have inadvertently found a likeminded community online with plenty of people ready to offer some advice.
“We’ve had quite a few people reach out from TikTok or YouTube and just say, ‘oh look, if you need a hand or anything, we’ve almost done ours … so that’s pretty cool,” Chris said.
They decided to make their experience public to help others thinking of doing something similar, and hopefully avoid the same mistakes as them.
“There really isn’t much content out there in terms of, like, different stages of building a house, how you do it, and everything like that. So that’s why we’re trying to record it all on YouTube and share it,” Chris said.
When the kit turned up to the site with its myriad components, he admitted the daunting reality of the situation set in. At the end of the day, the couple have taken a pretty big gamble to achieve a sense of financial freedom.
“We’ve been pretty upfront about the fact we don’t really know if this is going to work for us,” Chris admitted.
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