Another look at the block today!

Myself and Aedan went for Another drive today, Aedan was all stocked up in the back seat.

Thought I would try and get a shot of the block from a different angle.

Colours Signed Off! Variation approved!

Today was one of those day's where you just wonder if things will fall into place, I had my doubts at first however the variation to my contract came back with the changes we were looking for on the tiles, and we signed off on the Colour Selection as well.

So the main final tender should come back to me early next week, just need to look and check to see I am still on Budget, there's a small chance the budget will hurt a bit, we had the carpets pre-quoted during the consolidated tender phase, and now need to double check the old quoted rate isn't too far below the new rate that needs to be entered.  This will impact the price, I just need clarity by how much. It's hidden cost's like this that can catch you out, so my advise here would be to only get tiles and carpets quoted once you are at Colour Selection.

I'll be honest and say, it was a challenge to get this transparent, and changed without a small bloody nose given. If you ever feel like you might be getting hood winked, ask and ask again, if that fails - Demand IT!

If it all stacks up next week, I just need to include a variation into the Tender for the bank, so that i can cover the Electrical component, you don't do this till the Land registers but Mr Bank want's to see it before you move into Exchanging on the land. In particular House and land Packages.

Quick look at the Colours

I will do a more up to date colours in the colours Section, but here are some of our selections.

Aysha catching a happy snap of me and Jessica of MJH going over the Plans...

Here are the External colours:

Garage, Porch and Driveway:

This is the En-Suite and Main bathroom colours:

The Kitchen area with the Flooring and Carpets: Vinyl Planks in Lounge/Dining/Entry/Kitchen/Children's Activity, Carpets in all Bed's and Media Room.

Full Colour Selection and Prelim Plans Done.

What a day..... 6 hours in total, and a crappy 2hr's travel time in the morning due to the rain.
Will update more later on, but our Colour Interior Designer Jessica was Great and Patient, and Suzzanne our CLO was awesome as well. Sorry to Blast you Suzzanne, but MJH had it coming.

Just need 1 Question resolved before i sign anything off, and it's all about the Tiles downgrading to Vinyl planks. It's a cost saving of $2601 which I want credited, and so far none have been able to say yes.

So I had to put the angry hat on, and go into bat. Hopefully this is resolved tomorrow.

You-Tube is my Friend!

Now I have spent the last 4 hours going over my Draft plans, then comparing things to my consolidated tender. Like Tiled areas, Carpet areas, driveway length and how much of the bag and paint was allocated to the plan's itself.

Firstly when I looked at the plans I thought OoOOo pritty. But I wanted to understand the Square metres per room, and how to read them.

The biggest thing I was looking for was the actual floor space in SQM for all our floor coverings. In reading the interwebs, it's crucial to allow a 10% buffer on this for cut off's etc.

My main mission in all this, is to save money, get quoted accurately and allocate the additional money to other items in my budget that i would love to have. So far I have uncovered a few Questions that need to be raised in my Colour meeting, more around how my consolidated tender was built and how they calculated the SQM, and a better understanding of the prices given to me in the quote.

This has come about from including the Tiles, Carpets, Bag and paint and driveway into the quote before getting the draft plans. Now that I have them, the magnifying glass is out!

Most probably nothing Sinister in this, however I tend to be a details type person, and love breaking down things to see how they work or add up. And let's be honest, being a first time Home owner and never built before, I want this shiznit EXACT!

 If anything, I can pull everything out of the tender I'm not happy with, and add them back in hey!.

Draft Plans Emailed to me today!

Had the draft plans emailed across today, now to get skilled in reading plans.
Shame I cant see what the Square metre is per room, that would be helpful in costing the carpets and tiled areas.

Maybe I am reading them wrong. Question for Thursday for sure. My Initial quote on covered areas seemed high in $$ vs the actual living area's provided on the plans, so keen to see if I have a saving here for the budget.

Final Colour Meeting in 2 Days!

Well the last week has been all about looking at colours, finishes and what final pieces of the house we would like to have.

In this whole process the final budget is still up in the air, and really won't know how close we are to hitting the mark until the final quote is done. So this Thursday is going to be a solid day of number crunching.

Very much stuck on Vinyl Planks, or Ceramic Tiles for the main areas. Leaning towards the Vinyl Planks as they are a little more cost effective, and also come close to the Wood finish we would like to have. So far the Gerflor Ironwood Plank is leading the charge.

Final colour picks for the Kitchen and Bathrooms are still not 100% clear, but we have a good idea of what we are looking for. The other choice we have is full tiling in the bathrooms, however the cost to do this is fairly high.

Either way this Thursday I will have a good update coming in, with our Full colour choices and upgrades. How exciting.

First Grant Lodged

Managed to get down to KWS today to sign our Exemption and Concession Grant for the Land.
Looking forward to paying ZERO stamp-duty.

Only 1 week to go before we finally sit down and really nut out the final touches to the house, and review that final build cost.

Then it's time to move into exchange on the land, and final tender given to the bank!.

What I think our house might look like!

Thought I would Play around with the Finish we are after, this is something my Wife and myself seem to like.

PS.... Don't go bagging my artistic cut n paste!

• bag and paint around Mid-section, Possibly a darker shade.
• Tiled Porch
• Ledgestone Pillars either side of bag and paint
• Caoba Garage door, front door stained same colour
• Austral Freedom bricks
• Colourbond Monument Roof
• Surfmist eaves
• Ironstone Gutters or Basalt
• Plantation shutters
• Nex15L Front Door (Wrong 1 in Picture) But stained same as Garage

And then the way it was Built.... 

Today's Update, Bit's & Pieces!

I think the things I have learn't over the last 1 week is pure patience, and not to over complicate things.
Understanding the process is most probably the more important part here, because with-out knowing what steps are next, you kinda feel a little bewildered at times.

Our Conveyancer has Shot out a letter to the Mcdonald Jones Legal team to begin the exchange of contracts for the Land, now I know the exchange can't happen till the draft Building contract is drawn up, which can take up too 2 weeks after our Colour Meeting on the 27th, So around 2nd week of April this can be done. As long as we don't make any other changes.........fingers crossed.

Another thing I learn't today is in regards to the Electrical meeting, which isn't done till the plans are lodged with council, so for me this kinda slows the loan process down with the bank. So now I need to add a variation amount to the building contract to help cover the Electrical cost - (Hmm how much) Anywhere from 5-10k variation.

This is all good, but I need to ensure I don't go over my budget, and also don't leave myself short of items I would really need/want before the approval is passed with the bank.

The next thing I learn't today, and I got to tell you I am very green around the gills with this whole process, is that we can't settle on the land, until it's registered. So best case is June this year for settlement on the land.

Once the land is Settled, Game on! Council and waiting....Ooooo yeah!

So my Big thing's coming up

• Sign and have Witnessed the First Home- New Home Exemption or Concession from Duty grant with conveyancer on the 19th and get this lodged.
• First Review of Plans 27th March with my CLO Suzzanne early morning
• Full colour meeting 27th with Lisa, this will take majority of the day, and is the cool part. (BUDGET)
• Draft Building contract around 7th - 11th April
• Bank valuation (O Jesus)

More updates as they come.

Another Quick trip to the block

Me and Aedan went for another quick drive today, stopped in at Bingara and saw the block again, looks like all the piping for the street is starting to get laid, bit by bit it's getting ready for submission to council to register the land.

Looks like our block is the storage site for all the orange Pipes.

First Colour Walk through Done

The Reception

What an exciting 2hrs out at MJH today.

What lies through this door hey?

To be honest, what go's on tour stay's on tour, no more past this point I guess!

However here is the Bible that cannot be found on the net.....

It's almost like the un-spoken word, can you put the inner details up for all to read, at this stage I have never found it myself, so maybe it's best kept a secret.

The Unexpected Costs as a First time Home Buyer!

What a journey this has been so far, and again today yet another moment where you get unexpected news again. (Well I remember reading it somewhere, but forgot) thanks Mr Conveyancer for kindly reminding me.

If I new all the things that could come up as you entered into building a new home, I'de be a more wise owl that's for sure.

It's not only the Deposit you have to worry about to make Mr bank happy to speak to you, it's also the extra you need to cover for the LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) this on its own can be 10-20k on-top of your deposit. Then you have to consider the extra deposit you need to give to the builder to start the quote process on the house (3-5k here), and let's not forget the holding deposit for the land. (1k for me)

Once this is all covered off, you then need to have a few thousand spare for the Conveyancer, set a little aside for unknowns like a deposit for Building and Landscaping if your building in a community estate, this is an additional 3.5k on it's own where we are building (GASP) (this sits in a trust to ensure we finish the Landscaping). On-top of all this, ensure you have a little piggy bank of a few thousand set aside in the event the Site cost's blow out due to un-for-seen things like Big Rocks while digging and clearing your block.

I guess this isn't just about me, it's really a brain-dump for other people heading into this themselves. It's not just about the 5%, 10%, 20% Deposit, there is Sooooooo Much more to consider and save before you enter into this.

So far we are managing it well, but seriously, Where's the little hand-out in life to pre-warn you.

O and PS...... Wait till you head into the Colour and Electrical meetings, make sure that Conditional loan has a buffer in it to be able to get some cool changes done before you lock in with the bank! Can easily spend another 10-60k here without blinking an eye.

2 More Sleeps!!!

Talk about being a Kid in a Candy Store....... 2 Sleeps to go and we have our first Colour Walk-through meeting, really looking forward to the process and ranges to ponder over before our main meeting on the 27th of March.

My Wife thinks I'm nuts currently, but hey it's not everyday you build a house Right. Looking forward to meeting our CLO Suzzanne on the day.

Day 2 Of the Weekend!

Yes...... Back to the display villages to soak in the Designs and Features.
Each time I go I notice something new, and take a quick happy snap.

Visited Gregory Hills Milano Today, and Also the Kellyville Ridge Milano.
I have to admit, the 16m Milano has the bigger feel about it for sure over the 15m.

If only the budget allowed the extra 12k.

Here's my Son, Eyeing off the Children's activity with some other children playing at the Desk.

And yes, without a Doubt, going for the Cupboard to see what's in there...

The Black finish Splash-back with the dark benches, Most probably going for a Dark colour like this as well

Rippled tiles on the wall

Plantation Shutters - I so want these. Just need to get a quote.

More Shutters in the bathroom

Added some display Photos

Hi Everyone,

Went for a Drive again today and looked at the Display at Kellyville, the Monacho One is on display there, but has an almost identical floorplan/layout as the Milano, Except the childrens Activity is different.

However I wanted to capture a few internal shots, and created a new tab called Milano Display Photo's.
I will keep adding cool picks from the different Display Villages.

Land Holding Deposit Back via Snail mail!

Yup....... Land holding deposit back via mail as a cheque.

What-ever happened to EFT. I can't even remember the last time I had to cash a cheque.
Anyway, more money for the Conveyancer Trust, top that baby up!

Waiting!!!

Yes I have come to the conclusion, If I am not in control of the project and the process I suffer from lack of patience.

I think this comes from being a Project Manager and Operations Manager in my current role, and managing the process and expectations.

But anyway, It's a blog, and I can rant as much as needed.!!!

Deposit Paid To Conveyancer!

The money has been deposited to start the Conveyancing. Fingers crossed not to many roadblocks now.
My Conveyancer was really helpful and made me feel comfortable things were now under control.

Question Everything!!

So,

After my initial shock of the conveyancing fee's, I went back to my Conveyancer and Questioned the price.
Let's just say when I mentioned my shock, I didn't get the door slammed in my face, However I had a pleasant discussion and came to a good work around that favoured both parties

Lesson in this, even if you are dealing with professional people, Negotiate Everything! Especially if your on a tight budget.

Don't be scared to Question things or change your mind.

Conveyancer Quote Just came Back.... I think I just Died!

Wow,

The cost to conduct the conveyancing hit a whole new level of WTF>...
Now to source another Conveyancer that isn't wanting me to mortgage the contract itself, or possibly negotiate a better rate.

Conveyancer Has the Land Files

Well......

Got notified by the Conveyancer today they have received the Land Files, 2 Big Files!!!!
Now need to have the quote come back on how much this will cost.

Never like more bills!!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed they look after me.

We have TAR!!! in the street.

Went past the Land today to kill some time with my Son, and sure enough they have actually laid Tar down on the street. Cool to see things slowly change.

Hard to see from here, however I couldn't exactly do the Rambo over the fence with my Little man Aedan.

Building the Blog Site

Now building this blog is a little easier than I first thought, was not even going to consider doing this at all...
However I have the bug now and will build and continue......... Great way to take the mind off waiting for other things to fall into place for the home.

The Land - Bingara Gorge - Wilton