Pics!

Well, finally have some time to post some preliminary pics for you guys to enjoy!

This is a pic of our lot looking at it from the footpath. Doesnt look like much now, but it looks pretty massive! I cant wait to see something on it!

Sold to us!! Hee hee hee!

So, it's been nearly 3 weeks since our contract appointment with our final variations. We havent heard hide nor hair from our Customer Service Rep since that meeting and our site start date is fast approaching. We havent signed off on our final variations because we havent even seen them fully to read over them and make any corrections if mistakes have been made. Grr.. if site start is pushed back then it's not our fault. We have given them everything they've asked for and they've given us nothing but grief.

On a lighter note, our tile appointment on the 6th went great! We managed to get what we want for a price that even surprised us! It also took less time than we we told to allocate. I guess that comes from us doing our research before-hand (a good tip to remember when you're building - DO YOUR RESEARCH and dont go in without a clue of what you want... you'll be there forever!!).

So that's it so far.. hopefully more to come!

The Time Is Near...

Countdown to:

Colour/Interiors Appointment: 4 days

Contract Signing: 7 days

Tile Appointment: 14 days

Approximate Site Start: 9 weeks


Well, nothing major has happened since the last post. We've just been going over and over our tiles and colors and door designs and cupboard designs and I think we've pretty much got everything figured out. Hopefully these appointments wont take long, as we've heard they can go for hours! I've also found out our CSC is an extremely hard person to get in contact with. I sent an email regarding some queries I had, but still havent got a reply yet, and that was 5 days ago! I rang the office this morning and apparently they're sick and will be back tomorrow. *sigh*

We spent a few hours at National Tiles on Saturday looking at tiles that we liked, speculating on whether we should have feature tiles in the bathrooms and showers and which tiles were upgrades etc. We then spent yesterday going to random display homes (mostly looking at the bathroom and what tiles and designs they've used for the vanity) but also looking at what colours go together in other rooms of the house, and ideas for the backyard. Both were pretty good exercises as we saw a few nice bathrooms with designs we liked, and got a few ideas on what we can do with the other rooms in our home.

Ugh.. Tender...

Well, we finally made it to tender, only to find out that having a pre-approval from the bank (which our mortgage broker said was ok) wasnt enough of a guarantee that we were serious about building, and we are going to have to pay 3% of the quoted price up front!! Apparently, no other builder does this except the one we're building with! Hrmm.. I feel like we're being jibbed..

Anyways, we added all our structural variations and upgrades and it didnt come up too badly. Our site costs, which we thought were going to be sky high, only came up around $900 more than what we were quoted which was great! This included an upgrade to the concrete slab as well, so I guess that was pretty good. At the moment, our structural variations include:

• upgrade concrete slab to "H-Class" slab
• upgrade to higher door height for all room doors
• added cupboards to both sides of the rangehood
• added pot drawers
• added a cupboard to the top of fridge space
• widened fridge space to 950mm
• added a door to the ensuite and rumpus
• changed the window size of two bedrooms
• changed bi-fold doors leading to proposed alfresco area to french doors

I think that's about it off the top of my head.

Next up is our colour appointment in about a week. I'm talking wall colours, bricks, roof tiles, door, locks, handles, cupboards, garage door, front door, sinks, taps etc etc.. you name it, we have to pick it.. argh.. Then about a week after that is our tile appointment. I'm still not ready!! :) And what about the upgrades that we might pick?

Oh dear.. what have I gotten myself into?

Finally... Tender!

Just a quick update...

• We got finally got the call from the north office and they have all our papers in order (thank God) and have tender booked for two weeks away!! So next stop, colour and tile appointments! It cant be this soon!! I still havent finalised my colour scheme!!! I think I've gone to Bunnings so many times people might think I work there! I need to see more Laminex colour chips! I need to go back to the interiors show room!
• We still havent decided on what colour we want our floor, but we're leaning very much towards strand woven bamboo. Apparently it's a lot more durable and waterproof than normal timber floors which would be a lot of help in the kitchen area.
• We've been traipsing through lighting stores and furniture stores all weekend looking at down lights and dining suites and we bought a couch! It's HOT! It's red leather with chaise lounge and ottoman. I am in love with my new couch! Hahaha

That's it for now.. We'll keep you posted!

Our Little Piece of Australia

Hi everyone!

Well, it has been decided by Kir and I that we would start a blog to keep all of you, our close friends and family, updated as we endeavour to construct our brand spanking new home.

This is how the story starts..

Earlier this year, after much debate and procrastination, Kir and I finally decided to commit to purchasing a piece of land. It wasnt an easy decision to make, but we weighed up the pros and the cons of buying land and building versus buying a place that was already established, and buying somewhere that was further out versus somewhere closer to the CBD, and the pros far out-weighed the cons for buying and building somewhere a little further out.

So, on April 27th 2008, with much trepidation, we put a deposit down on a fairly decent sized block of land (16 x 32 M) in Craigieburn. Contract signed with the land developers, we headed off to see a mortgage broker to see if the bank would give us poor, unfortunate people some money to make our dream a reality.

After many phone calls and a ton of paperwork, our loan was finalised and we became proud owners of Lot 4245 in Craigieburn.

Now the fun part begins.. building the house! We have decided on the Heywood28 by Porter Davis. It's pretty much exactly what we want.. spacious but still cosy enough for the both of us.. for now.. :)

We had our variation appointment about two weeks ago, but we couldnt get the quote that night due to their system being down. We had to wait about 5 days before we got a copy, and even then, we had to chase them up for it!! Not only that, they had our paperwork sent to their East office instead of their North office.. great start guys.. but things are fixed now. The north office has our paperwork and we have been contacted by their manager.

Anyway, we are now currently waiting for one of their Customer Service Consultants from the North office to contact us so we can book our colour and tile appointments as well as a date for tender.

So that's as far as we are at the moment. Hopefully you can tune in occasionally and join us on our journey to becoming brand new home owners!