Grant Moffitt, sales manager for Haines House Haulage, which has been in the business for 25 years, is surprised at the number of people who want to buy a relocatable house without having land to put it on.
"Ninety per cent of them turn up without that and we can't do
anything with them ... "
The company offers free site inspections and sometimes finds that the land potential buyers have an eye on is not suitable for the house.
Haines has up to 180 houses in stock, ranging from granny flats to two-storey mansions.
Buyers can use the in-house drafting consultancy to work out issues such as land coverage and height to boundary. When the council permit is issued the house is delivered.
Haines puts the house on the foundations.
The buyer is responsible for sorting out the power, sewerage, water and telephone - and the front and back steps.
The buyer also does the painting and repair work on the building, although Mr Moffitt says people can pretty much move straight into many of the homes his company sells. "But we do have old villas that can take three to four months to get reconditioned."
He says it definitely works out cheaper than buying a new house. "And people can get a character house that has natural timber and tongue-and-groove floors, if that's what they want."
Sometimes people save up to half the cost of buying or building.
"I've got a granny flat now for $25,000 which was $56,000 new, so that's half.
"And I've got 1000 sq ft weatherboard tongue-and-groove houses for $40,000 and I've got some for $30,000 ... but you've got to do a lot more work."
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