more research

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I drive past this well kept California Bungalow all the time in our neighborhood. There's something wonderful about pink weatherboards I think, especially if they're contrasted with a good blue like this one. Of course the garden frames this home beautifully, extra plants on the nature strip for hard rubbish?!

There are so few period homes around here compared to the inner city suburbs where I've lived for most of the 16 years in Melbourne. I miss living in them and being around them. They have wonderful high ceilings, and often beautiful ornate features that provide character and a sense of history. They can have the downside of being dark, cold, dingy and damp but I guess many of those elements can be improved on.

I found this lovely federation place that is up for relocation. It has four bedrooms and a good floorplan. Will need some work as they all do and I am in the process of finding out more details about it. The guy from relocation company said it would be a good house for a narrow block I was looking at in Mitcham but I think the block is not appropriate as it is too narrow, at 12.5m wide.
So I am looking for an appropriate block, but there are not many around. Don't really think it appropriate to consider putting a house like this one on a new development, it would be among only new houses.

Still lots of questions, finding some interesting stuff online like this one:

Traps to avoid when relocating a home

January 25, 2009 12:00am

HANDS-UP those who have stopped and gawked at the sight of a house on the back of a truck? It is an awesome sight, a must-see for any lover of big machines.
But how - and why - would you do it when houses are usually fixed-to-the-ground items?
According to developers who want to avoid demolition costs and buyers seeking budget-friendly houses, the benefits of relocating a house offset the risks.
We asked experts how to move a house, literally.


THE BUYER
FIRST-HOME buyers Genevieve and Luke Burton "fell in love" with a relocatable home from Moonee Ponds.
But on the day they moved the 1930s house in June 2007, they lost its back half.
Failure to do a full site inspection meant the Burtons did not know their laundry and bathroom were attached to a slab of concrete and could not be moved.
"We laugh about it now . . . but it really pays to know the foundations before you move a house," Mrs Burton said.

The Burtons had been looking for a home re-erect on their 2023sq m block of land in Maindample in northeast Victoria. Mr Burton was a full-time student at the time, so the couple hoped to save money buying a pre-loved house.

"We had seen a lot of rubbish out there, so when we spotted our home in the Trading Post, a three-bedroom Californian bungalow, we fell in love with it," Mrs Burton said.
"The developer was in a hurry. We sort of rushed the whole process when we really should have investigated our mover and the site further." A "pretty loose agreement" was reached between the seller and the Burtons. They were later told the seller wanted the entire site cleared - sheds, carport, even trees and gardens. "We cleared what we could, but the details really needed to be more clearly stipulated at the start," Mrs Burton said.

The relocation company charged just $22,000, but the Burtons had to remove the home's interior plaster and lard and clean the site. Unfortunately, the Burtons bought the house before engaging a moving company. All of the house's roof tiles had to be removed and the roof "flattened" before it was jacked-up from its original stumps and loaded in two pieces on prime loader trucks. They later learnt half their house "almost fell off the truck".

Luckily, because all windows had been taped, the home's leadlight windows survived the move intact. At its new address, it was moved to metal stumps until permanent stumps were built.
Building permits and a septic system and water tanks had to be arranged and because the Burtons had not foreseen a rebuild of the back of the house, it has taken 20 months to get the house to a liveable state.

Next month the couple and their 22-month-old son, Thomas, will move into their 170sq m home. A three-bedroom home in Maindample, on a smaller block, is listed for sale for $189,000 - $36,000 more than the cost of the Burtons' home. "I can't say we would be in a big rush to do it again . . . but it will all work out and we will have a very small mortgage," Mrs Burton said.

THE SELLER
SAM Assoud said his three-bedroom weatherboard home was "too good to demolish" and he would save $10,000 if he could find it a new owner. A first-time relocatable home seller, Mr Assoud listed the Pascoe Vale house for sale online late last year.

He had received about 50 calls from prospective buyers.
He hoped to clear the 700sq m site and start building a new home by April. He would sell the original home for "about $10,000". "I bought it a year ago for the land, but if I was to demolish it, it would cost me $10,000," Mr Assoud said. "It is worth trying to sell it this way. Many homes on the market are of a lesser quality, they are not built to last and weatherboards in good condition are becoming rare."

THE MOVER
BIG savings and recycling benefits were possible when moving a house, expert Carmine Bernardo said. But buyers must do their research. "If you start with the right home and the right people, you can save 40 per cent of what it would cost to build a new home,"

Better House Removers founder Mr Bernardo said. "Nothing else I know is a better example of recycling than recycling a whole house." But unprepared buyers, could easily undermine their savings. "I know of a house sold for $1 and ended up costing the clients $100,000," he said.
Mr Bernardo, who has relocated homes since 1983, said pre-loved houses should range from free to $10,000 for a "really top notch" home. Relocation costs depend on factors including how far the home moves, its construction and permit needs.

A house in Moorabbin listed for sale with Better House Removers would cost its buyer "about $75,000-$90,000" to move, including the house, restumping, rejoining, new roof, sarking and metal batons, and council permits, Mr Bernardo estimated.
"When pricing you have to factor a truck, running costs, a crew of three people for maybe three weeks away, living expenses - you are not going to move it for $3000 to $4000 are you?"


Interestingly according to the article published in Inherit, Heritage Council Victoria Magazine, Issue 19 May 2004, it "suggests that the upgrading or recycling of heritage buildings is an energy efficient option."* The results according to research carried out "showed that older housing actually costs less to maintain and occupy over the long-term life of the building, when compared to more modern housing."