Another Day in Paradise!

My smooth sailing is hitting an interesting point where our conveyancer and Mcdonald Jones has left us in an interesting position.


Our block has a put and call option on it which expires on 30th April, but we got an extension to the 14th of May. (thank GOd)

If we don't exchange before then, the price of the land will go up apparently.
My delay was getting the front page land contract over to the bank which only happened on Monday. So I have roughly 9 working days to get the bank to do Valuation, and also approve a Deposit Bond of 10%.

I nearly died on the inside today due to this, but my Broker assures me everything should be ok.
Kinda feel a little annoyed I have been placed in this position where MJH loose the Put and Call on this block in 14 Days forcing me to move heaven and earth.

Damn House and Land Packages! LOL.

My fingers are crossed this passes without delay and we can exchange on the 14th, otherwise I think I'm going to be a little deflated.

Both Contracts with the Bank

We have given now both contracts to the bank (Land and Construction). Hopefully we will get a good result on the Land within a week, I guess the bank now does it's valuation on the Land to see if all good.

Will be an interesting wait to say the least.......

Another Lesson in Buying a Home!

If anyone had told me, that before you are given full Unconditional Approval from your bank for your home loan, that you would need to part with over $16,000 in up-front deposits and fee's to start the process, I would of saved the mental torture and waited another 6 months before getting into this.

So as a First time home Buyer, if your thought process is that you only need the 5% Deposit for the Bank, and a Possible extra amount for Paying LMI upfront, you are dead set in for a surprise.

My breakdown of Cost's before being Fully approved are as Follows.

• $1000 Land Holding Deposit (You get this back after paying Builder Deposit)
• $5000 Building Deposit to start the Contract phase for Construction Quote (This comes off your Final Tender price)
• $2600 Conveyancing Fees
• $5000 Land Deposit to start Exchange (Plus 10% of Entire Value before/On Settlement)(Also comes off the Purchase Price)
• $3500 Landscape Design Bond (Paid on Land Settlement, you get this back later)

Then you will still need your 5% Deposit for the bank, and the LMI difference.

It's no wonder most first time home buyers buckle as they enter this process, because none of the above was a thought pattern of mine before heading into this, bah saving the basic 5% and LMI.

And let's not forget the unknowns for Rock Removal or Retaining walls that might come up during your build.

I am sure there are a few more cost's heading my way, 1 of which might be a security bond for the 10% upfront on the land, it's a 1.2% fee on the 10% deposit so I am only looking at around $300-$400 for this.

However it's an additional step I didn't for-see.

Let's hope over the coming week my front page land contract get's to the bank, and they approve the Land Loan to assist with the 10% Deposit needed.

All I can say at this point is wow!!! We are managing this, but it's juggling alot in a very short amount of time.

Execution!!!!

Our Conveyancing group KWS got back to us first thing in the morning to ask us to come in and execute the purchaser's counterpart of the Land Contract.

Luckily we both had today off so we went straight down to Bondi and got this done.
Exchange has begun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also forwarded the Soft copy of the Construction Contract to our Broker for the bank, just need the front page Land contract now signed by both parties, and the Bank has what it needs till CDC and DA approval, and that nasty Bank Valuation.

Only a Little Update.

We got our signed hard copy of the contract back from the builder today, just need to get this into a soft-copy now so that we can give to our broker for the Bank Loan.  (91 pages)

I reached out to our conveyancer as well, just to see what steps need to be taken to action the front page signing of the land contract, and begin exchange, hopefully hear from them tomorrow with some feedback.

Other than the above, we visited the block again and noticed the water had been hooked up with the taps out the front, and the Electrical Box (Little Green Cone) was there as well.

The feedback from Bingara is everything is still on time, so let's keep fingers crossed everything registers on time, would be great to be in the new home for Christmas if we get lucky.

Thought I would have a Crack!

My Landscape design has to be done soon, so I thought I would try a few ideas.
To be honest, I got nothing!

But here is my first crack at it, trying to put ideas down so that when I sit with someone that does this for a living, It will kind of make sense what I'm trying to say.

Contracts Signed!

We have signed the contracts and progressed to the next phase of our Home Build.

My Solicitor had reviewed the contract and came back with alot of Questions, and suggestions for changes on the contract.

The short answer on the changes, none were applied. The presented contract and MJH's stance was to not modify anything.

For a First time home buyer this can feel a little daunting, especially receiving legal advice from people that specialise in these legal matters, and to have them all rejected.

So for the next 2hrs i went through every clause that was questioned, and asked for explanation on why, and what impact this has.

At the end I felt MJH covered off these questions fairly well, however for all those people heading into a contract like this, don't expect any modifications at all, you have to make a gut commercial decision to hope you are making the right choice with the building company.

The legal advise I received helped me get better answers from MJH, making me feel more comfortable with the knowledge and explanation that was needed to be given.

Time to move onto the Land exchange now, and get that front page signed that the bank want's.

Waiting on Feedback!

Well tomorrow is the big day to sign this contract, but I am still awaiting feedback from my Solicitor.
I know they have holidays atm due to Passover, but hopefully they can review and give me a call in the morning.

Fingers crossed.

Then It's Land Contract Exchange time and then........................................... I get some feedback from Voyager point in relation to Unconditional Approval, I think you are right.......

This go's to show how green I am as a First home Buyer!

Voyager PointApril 16, 2014

Hi, I was reading home one forum. but i found very useful try to read as much as possible.
It caught my attention that you are starting your unconditional approval after your contract?. Maybe I am wrong, but don't you need your CDC/ DA approval for the unconditional approval?
Maybe, I am with the wrong bank lol.

Thanks for the feedback Voyager, it's appreciated!

Then it's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday is the Day of Signing!

We have sent the draft copy of contract to our Solicitor and Conveyancer.
They will review and get back to me over the next few days to ensure everything is in order.

We have booked our signing of the Contract for this Thursday, fingers crossed the Solicitor doesn't find anything in the contract that will hold things up.

We have 2 small changes I have found that need to be addressed, basically small admin changes in numbering, not a deal breaker, but because I do contracts where I work, it's important to me to have each clause correct.

Once signed the real work begins, Bank valuation, Land Exchange, Draft Landscape Design and the surveys of the land.

If all the above checks the right boxes, Off to council and wait for the Land to register. Getting close now.

Wasn't go to Post this But.......

Replacing the old post with a new 1.

I was informed today that MJH had mailed out the wrong contract, and that another client got my copy as well.

It seems the contract we got tonight via Express Post is the correct 1, so I am guessing that they duplicated mine and sent out to another client. Still unprofessional, but we seem to have the right contract.

Contract Emailed to me!

The contract was emailed across for me to look at over the weekend, then I head over to MJH next Tuesday to sign it away.

Noticed 1 error in the Schedule on Deposit, so will address that next week, however it does seem to fix itself in another clause later on, so a typo here for sure.

91 Pages to read through over the weekend, looks fairly standard and is a HIA Plain Language building Contract. However I will pass a copy over to my Conveyancer and Solicitor to review as well.

Some plan's are in there as well, with the changes for the Fire-place and Water point clearly noticeable, will look in more detail over these as well.

No Porch Tiles for Me!

Well today I was advised that during the colour meeting, and with us changing the floor tiles to Vinyl Floor Planks in the house, MJH have forgotten to now charge us for the front porch tiling.

Just a quick $900 extra to the construction to now have these included.

Simple answer, Delete it - I'll do it myself.

I'm guessing the next email will be they forgot to include the roof!

What's even more amazing, is the total cost of Tiling now matches what I was originally (By mistake) quoted for the tiling. Even though I am using a cheaper product. GO Figure!

Preparing for Sign-off!

Today's little update is around the Final Tender, Apparently this has been submitted for the Final Plans to be drawn up and the Contract.

The next steps are to go into Mcdonald Jones to Sign these off once they are complete. Could be 1 - 2 weeks for this to be done, could be sooner (who knows).

Getting closer to start Exchanging on the Land, what a journey.

No News today!

Well we didn't get any news on the slight change on the final tender today, maybe tomorrow now.

Final Tender!

Today we received the Final Tender to Evaluate after all the inclusions were added from the Colour Meeting's.

My budgeting came in very close so I was happy with my calculations thus far. The only thing that didn't appear on the Final Tender was the $5000 deposit as a deduction, I nearly imploded when I didn't see this as a line item.

Again this comes down to not being explained the process correctly, and for me this is soooo important as I am using that deduction to budget for my Electrical variation to be added to the Contract.

After a few emails I got the following answer.....

Jeff …. The $5000 comes off the total price . It will show as an amount already paid on the contract when it is prepared for you

It isn’t shown as a deduction on your tender …. Your tender shows the full price of which you have paid $5000 towards already

Hope this makes sense

So with the above feedback, when the contract is presented to me, I am praying my Contract Value is actually 5k less than the Final tender that was presented to me, because that 5k is going to pay for my Electrical, and that's what i have budgeted for since the beginning of this process.

I can't help worry that the 5k has been inbuilt into all the Tender Quotes, and when the contract is presented to hand to the bank, the price doesn't change and is over what I expected.

So my example below

• Final Tender Grand Total = $300,000 (Got this Today)
• Contract Grand Total =  $300,000 showing a $5,000 Reduction due to deposit paid.
• Contract Balance Owing = $295,000 (This is what the bank lends)

It's the balance owing figure I am concentrating on, cause that's what the loan is being Judged against.

Now I could be a total idiot, and complicating the whole process by doing my own head in for no reason at all, But when thing's are not explained properly, and you have to ask and ask again to clarify this process, you start to doubt the information you get, and Question Everything.

This will all come to a head when that contract is handed over to me to review, and I must admit. If that $5,000 doesn't show as a reduction and deduction on the Contract, I think i may just loose my sh*t!

Because from the very first Quote before you pay the 5k, it doesn't appear anywhere, then the next Quote again doesn't show this either (but you then pay the 5k). And for when the Final Tender comes across and it's still not there (and at this stage no one has given a straight answer) You really start to wonder how that 5k can be paid, but never come off the total value.

I might be going slightly nut's, but give me a straight answer and this shiznit wouldn't be such a problem.

Colour Palette's Sent Over

Jessica at MJH Put our Colour Palette's together, here they are.

Internal

External

The Fireplace Look!

This is a similar look at what the fireplace will look like as a pop out in the family room (600mm pop out), also wanting to tile the fireplace surround similar to this 1, however a different type of rock tile finish, will tile that after handover.

Surprise Email Today!

To my surprise I received an email from Mcdonald Jones Senior Management today (Hi Phil!!) in regards to my questions over the last few weeks, and to clarify the position Mcdonald Jones takes on certain area's of the contract process.

What I can clearly say with-out a doubt is the initial communication wasn't as transparent at the beginning which certainly lead to expectations which didn't meet my understanding until today and commitments a House and Land Package offers, compared to a stand-alone House contract, (You already own the land)

Lesson here, Ask better Questions....so my mistake as well.

The biggest difference here, and what I'de like to share with anyone heading into buying and building, is that a House and Land package (Depending on Builder I guess) is a Fixed price contract, with the only pricing that's visible to you, being additional variations you add to this contract ie:- Spa-Bath, Fireplace, Upgraded carpets (the additional cost)

So for my issue, it was based around carpets and tiling, where these are included into the fixed price contract but the actual money assigned to these were not visible. And yes some helpful advise from Brett@MJH who in my eye's was being Honest/Truthful/Transparent and really painting a picture that would better help me budget and decide if going with MJH was the right choice.

Let's be very clear here, I rate doing business on winning partnerships, and a win win! And with the information I got from my Sales contact at the start of this process made me feel comfortable I was making the right choice.

Needless to say, if your heading into this be prepared to understand that a Package is a package, and you generally don't get the visibility to each line item, where-as if you buy just the construction part, you get the visibility into all line items ie:- Basix/Site Costs/Carpets/Tiling etc etc.

Another learning curve in this process, and I do appreciate (Phil@MJH) reaching out to answer my questions.

We are still going ahead with the build with MJH, and there are only 2 things left to cover off in the final contract. That's insuring the $5k deposit is deducted off the Final contract, compared to the consolidated tender value, and also allocating the variation amount for the Electrical into the final contract.

So we wait until next week now to receive the final contract amount, hopefully it's fairly close to what I have budgeted for, add the Variation for the Electrical and then it's off to the Conveyancer and Bank to start the final steps to lock this deal in.

BTW, Hi Bill!

Fireplace Position Set.

Now the Colours are totally signed off.

We set the fireplace position, and opted for a Pop out instead of a Solid wall straight across, didn't want to loose all that space, now I got 2 corners to put some Plants in LOL.

We also got a little clarity on the carpets cost, well I had to do some number crunching myself to re-engineer the costing's, paid a little more than I thought, but it should be ok.

Now waiting on the final tender to be drawn up, then calculate the Electrical Variation. hopefully we get this today or tomorrow.