Granny Flat Pricing – The Good the Bad and the Outrageous

Granny Flat Pricing – The REAL COST to build a Granny Flat

Granny flat pricing is not well advertised across the Internet and as granny flat builders (and especially kit home suppliers) try to secure your business, we attempt to unravel the Real Cost of building a granny flat in Sydney.

Since the 2009, weat Granny Flats Sydneyhave divulged the REAL COST of building a granny flat in both Sydney and Country NSW. Yes, there is a difference between granny flat pricing in Sydney versus, say, The Hunter, Wagga Wagga or The Central West Tablelands, for example. The fact is that country builders charge more. When I worked as a Project Manager in Orange, builders charged around 20% more than Sydney builders. Queensland on the other hand has lower wages than Sydney and hence cheaper trades and supplies.

Your Project Breakdown

Granny Flat construction can be broken down into three (3) main areas:

1. Granny Flat Design and Council (or Certifier) Approval

2. Site Preparation- such as excavation, connection to all services (sewer, drainage, electrical, water, phone, gas) and ground works in preparation for the build. This might also include Council imposed works such as cyclone fencing, barriers and surveyors etc.

3. The Turn-Key Building – this is the cost of materials and labour to build on prepared, level ground from slab to roof-ridge including all internals and externals to turn-key completion.

Turn-Key Granny Flat Pricing

Turn-Key Granny Flat Pricing

Let’s be Honest!

Many companies advertise granny flat pricing without divulging the true cost for ALL THREE areas. They will usually leave out bits and pieces from each area or totally ignore one area of the development to make their pricing look more attractive to their prospective clients. You may see a granny flat builder advertise a granny flat for (say), $85,000, but in (very) small print, you’ll see “plus site costs“. This means you’ll still need to pay for connection of sewer, electricity, water and storm-water drainage. So they entice buyers with what looks like a reasonable granny flat pricing, only to add service connection costs as ‘addons’ later in the construction Contract- as much as $30,000 more!

This is where it pays to get educated and to research the real cost for design, approval, land preparation, connection to services, the actual building (materials and labour) and the final bits and pieces.

Some building sites have difficult access, steeply sloping blocks, demolition works, tree removal and sewer issues. This is why it pays to investigate the real cost of mitigating these issues in the very first instance. This can be done without sending out a salesperson.

If, on the other hand, a builder openly advertises turn-key granny flat pricing with all connections to services included in the price, you know their not hiding anything. Their granny flat pricing is there for all to see, including their potential customers- and even their competitors.

So why don’t a lot of building companies (and granny flat companies are no exception) openly advertise turn-key pricing? The truth is, they want to ‘feel you out”, and see what they can get away with charging you. So if you’re a bit of a push-over, they’ll charge you more than someone who has done their homework, done their shopping around, checked builders’ previous work, talked to their previous clients etc and compared granny flat pricing, turn-key versus turn-key. That is, apples to apples.

There are some companies spending a lot of money on TV and Radio advertising right now. You need to ask the question, “Who is paying for this?” You could be paying for the next guy’s granny flat!

Universal and Fair Pricing – Just a Myth?

We believe that granny flat builders should be fair and not charge one person more than another, based on their building knowledge. We openly reveal our approval and build pricing for all to see. We invite all of our prospective clients to visit a granny flat under construction or a fully completed dwelling.

We are hard-working and affordable builders whom you can scrutinise before you employ us. Your approved plans are presented to you so that you can get your own quotes and compare granny flat builders. We’re more than happy for you to compare pricing BEFORE you choose us. We aren’t looking to lock you into a Contract from Day 1. Now, if we were trying to ‘feel you out’, we wouln’t be revealing our turn-key pricing and we wouldn’t encourage you to compare builders.

Since 2009, Granny Flats Sydney has carried out more granny flat approvals and builds than any other service in NSW. This is not to boast but it provides some insight into a building system which is uniquely honest and transparent for ALL Australians. Isn’t that te way it should be?

Our Customers Need Honesty.

Our business employs only hard-working tradesmen with calloused hands who work day and night to provide quality granny flats at an affordable price; not top-heavy and greedy project companies sitting back and watching the profits roll in. Transparency and Honesty

Here’s some further transparency: Our granny flat builders make around 20% profit on a granny flat build. When you calculate that it takes 8-10 weeks to build a granny flat, that’s $2,000 per week. This is what the individual builder makes. Our builders work on-site 10-12 hours a day and they don’t pay any ‘project companies’ for hiring them. You hire them directly- and that’s what saves you money. The less hands that are in the pie, the less you pay. This makes absolute sense.

We don’t waste yur money on exdpensive advertising. Instead, we spend your money on your granny flat.

So we encourage you to shop around. Demand turn-key pricing from start to finish and compare apples with apples.

I hope this article helps to identify what builders make and what to be wary of when looking for a quality and affordable granny flat builder.

Warm Regards,

Serge Panayi – Granny Flats Sydney NSW Pty Ltd.

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