Seriously are bank staff stupid or is it just the ones I deal with?
We authorised payment for our frame stage on the 1st of December... On the 12th I get an email from PD asking when they can expect payment so I call the bank to find out what's going on.
The bank have decided that they will only pay up to a certain point ad then we need to use the FHOG to cover the rest.
I said that's fine can you please just make the payment. The guy on the phone says "No, you need to send a payment request for the exact amount we will pay and then you need to pay the rest" I explained that I didn't have the FHOG and he said that it was bank policy to just give us the money and we can do what we want with it...
So rather then contact me by email/phone/mail the bank just waited for me to call to find out what was wrong..
Thankfully PD gets this all the time and the Accounts Woman is absolutely lovely (she puts smily faces in her emails!!) so it's not going to hold up my build but still.
Stupid bloody ANZ and their dumdum staff are making me cross >:(
Oh and I also need to call the State Revenue Office and find out when exactly they are going to give us our FHOG.. *sigh* I thought all the paper work was over :(
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Frames...
Well our frames have begun, It looks like we have all of our walls up and our windows and glass doors done. Not much more to say so enjoy the photos!
Oh and you may notice it was raining just a little while we were there :-D
Front of our house from the street
Just a little puddle ;-)
The view from our garage
Frames!
Living room double glass doors to back yard
Oh and you may notice it was raining just a little while we were there :-D
Front door - Privacy windows FTW.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
We have been slabed..
Well we have been slabed!
I had a call today from our Site Supervisor letting us know that they will start framing on Wednesday so hopefully all goes well and we have a bit of sunshine over the next few weeks. We also received our first progress payment bill from our builder, it doesn't take them long!
Here's a couple of photos of our slab.
And our Meter Box.
I had a call today from our Site Supervisor letting us know that they will start framing on Wednesday so hopefully all goes well and we have a bit of sunshine over the next few weeks. We also received our first progress payment bill from our builder, it doesn't take them long!
Here's a couple of photos of our slab.
And our Meter Box.
Site scrape and a Port-A-Loo...
Our site scrape was done on Monday(7/11) so we headed up to Wallan to check out our progress and to my amazement our block is now completely flat and we have our first ever structure... of sorts... A Port-A-Loo counts as structure doesn't it??
As you will see our builder has already put all the plumbing in as well, ready for our slab to be poured, which is due on Thursday!
SO now for the photos....
From the back looking to the front
As you will see our builder has already put all the plumbing in as well, ready for our slab to be poured, which is due on Thursday!
SO now for the photos....
From the front of our block looking to the back
And of course out Port-A-Loo! (The door was open when we got there... No way would we use it ;-)
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
We have a beginning..
We have finally been given an official start date
Our site scrape - when the heave machinery is sent in to clear the top layer of vegetation ready for pipes and the slab - will be on the 7th of November.
Our slab will be poured on the 17th of November.
This is a couple of photos of our block before and after its hair cut
Our site scrape - when the heave machinery is sent in to clear the top layer of vegetation ready for pipes and the slab - will be on the 7th of November.
Our slab will be poured on the 17th of November.
This is a couple of photos of our block before and after its hair cut
And.... WE HAVE A TAP!!
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Now the fun begins...
We have finally (hopefully) done our last bit of signing for the house.
Pete and I met with our broker on Friday night to sign our Mortgage documents which were lodged with the bank on Monday.
We have also just signed off on our final drawings for the house which mean no more changes can come for us and that we now are officially locked in to building!
Our builder requested that we remove the rubbish from our block and that we give it a hair cut before they get started with the site scrape, which we took care of over the weekend.
So now we just have to wait to be given an official start date from the builder and we should be off and running.
Pete and I met with our broker on Friday night to sign our Mortgage documents which were lodged with the bank on Monday.
We have also just signed off on our final drawings for the house which mean no more changes can come for us and that we now are officially locked in to building!
Our builder requested that we remove the rubbish from our block and that we give it a hair cut before they get started with the site scrape, which we took care of over the weekend.
So now we just have to wait to be given an official start date from the builder and we should be off and running.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Good News...
Finally some good news...
We have finally received unconditional approval from the bank for our construction loan, It felt like we were waiting a life time, it took them almost a full month from when we signed our contract to when we finally received the good news. All we have wait for now is the loan contract to be drawn up so we can sign it and then we will finally have a site start date from our builder.
We have also changed the design of our rangehood from the standard one our builder provides to one with a glass canopy... I have been trying to do this since we signed our contract on the 19th but have been waiting for PD to get back to me on exactly what our options were as they only like you to pick form a few selected models.
This is the rangehood I've picked.. Well with Peters help of course!
We have finally received unconditional approval from the bank for our construction loan, It felt like we were waiting a life time, it took them almost a full month from when we signed our contract to when we finally received the good news. All we have wait for now is the loan contract to be drawn up so we can sign it and then we will finally have a site start date from our builder.
We have also changed the design of our rangehood from the standard one our builder provides to one with a glass canopy... I have been trying to do this since we signed our contract on the 19th but have been waiting for PD to get back to me on exactly what our options were as they only like you to pick form a few selected models.
This is the rangehood I've picked.. Well with Peters help of course!
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Just move it over...
I got a call on Monday from our building Co-ordinator at Porter Davis who said she had good news and bad news...
The good news: we have developer approval
The bad news: we were rejected by the council
Our house was to close to the fence line of the house next to ours. We had 2 options to get around this.
1) knock on our neighbours door and ask them to consent to us building on their fence line.
2) move our house 1.15 meters to the left away from the fence.
When our salesman originally plotted our house sitting he put it right up on the fence line. As this wasn't something we asked for, it was just something he took upon himself to do we opted to move the house over. Makes no difference to us as we don't require car access to our back yard any way.
Soo.. Slightly delayed but things are moving!
The good news: we have developer approval
The bad news: we were rejected by the council
Our house was to close to the fence line of the house next to ours. We had 2 options to get around this.
1) knock on our neighbours door and ask them to consent to us building on their fence line.
2) move our house 1.15 meters to the left away from the fence.
When our salesman originally plotted our house sitting he put it right up on the fence line. As this wasn't something we asked for, it was just something he took upon himself to do we opted to move the house over. Makes no difference to us as we don't require car access to our back yard any way.
Soo.. Slightly delayed but things are moving!
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Contract Signing...
We had our contract signing appointment at the Porter Davis Northern office in Bundoora on Friday afternoon. We met with our Customer Service Co-ordinator who went over all the important points in our contract as well as covering all of the other information that needed to be signed off on by us.
During the appointment we covered:
The Porter Davis contract
The HIA New Homes Contract:
Once everything had been covered we needed to clarify a few points as well as check a couple of things that we thought were included in our original sales quote that we hadn't covered. At the end of it all we included a couple more cost to our build which were:
Once we were satisfied we signed all the documents and paid a 5% deposit. Our Customer Service Co-ordinator will now need to send a copy of our signed contract off to our broker to get our Constructions Loan approved and then we will finally be done with all the admin side of our home and we can get ready for the construction fun!
During the appointment we covered:
The Porter Davis contract
- Promotional items
- Upgrades and variations and plans to demonstrate these items
- Porter Davis terms and conditions
- Specifications
- 6 star energy report
- Soil report
- Insurance details
The HIA New Homes Contract:
- All the legal obligations of each of the parties to the contract (ie Porter Davis & the Client)
- The terms and conditions to allow construction of a house in an efficient and orderly fashion
Once everything had been covered we needed to clarify a few points as well as check a couple of things that we thought were included in our original sales quote that we hadn't covered. At the end of it all we included a couple more cost to our build which were:
- Fly screens to all opening windows and Doors - $4500
- 6 Extra Down lights to living area -$900
Once we were satisfied we signed all the documents and paid a 5% deposit. Our Customer Service Co-ordinator will now need to send a copy of our signed contract off to our broker to get our Constructions Loan approved and then we will finally be done with all the admin side of our home and we can get ready for the construction fun!
Monday, 12 September 2011
Colours and Electrical...
Today we had both our electrical and colour appointments at Hopetoun Interiors in Port Melbourne.
Electrical Appointment
Our first appointment was our electrical appointment in which we picked we picked where all our lights, power points, internet connection, phone line etc.
We ended up adding more lights, down lights, double power points, outdoor power points and extra data point throughout the house. We also added Pre wiring for a 7.1 surround sound system as well as 2 outdoor speakers which will be linked in to our sound system. All up we ended up only going over our electrical budget by about $500 so we were very happy with the results.
Colour Selection
We have already been to have a look at all the colour options we had so when it came time to sit down with our colour consultant we were pretty much ready to choose everything we wanted. These are the selections we made:
Kitchen/Interior:
Walls: Flokati
Bench Top: Ceaser Stone - Osprey
Bottom Cabinets: Burnished Wood
Overhead Cabinets: Polar White
Internal Doors: Oriental White (Gloss)
Splash Back: Dulux Align
Electrical Appointment
Our first appointment was our electrical appointment in which we picked we picked where all our lights, power points, internet connection, phone line etc.
We ended up adding more lights, down lights, double power points, outdoor power points and extra data point throughout the house. We also added Pre wiring for a 7.1 surround sound system as well as 2 outdoor speakers which will be linked in to our sound system. All up we ended up only going over our electrical budget by about $500 so we were very happy with the results.
Colour Selection
We have already been to have a look at all the colour options we had so when it came time to sit down with our colour consultant we were pretty much ready to choose everything we wanted. These are the selections we made:
Kitchen/Interior:
Walls: Flokati
Bench Top: Ceaser Stone - Osprey
Bottom Cabinets: Burnished Wood
Overhead Cabinets: Polar White
Internal Doors: Oriental White (Gloss)
Splash Back: Dulux Align
Carpet: Chester - Rainy winter (I Forgot to take a photo but it's a dark grey carpet)
Interior Door Handles: Velocity Glide - Chrome
Outdoor:
Brick: Homestead Red Gum
Morter Joint: Rolled Joints - Standard colour
Infill Above G/Door, Render: Colourbond Woodland Grey
Garage: Woodland Grey
Fascias, Gutters, Downpipes: Colourbond Monument
Windows: Black
Roof Tiles: Ebony
Front Door: Panelmasta Caprice
Colour Woodland Grey
Glass Infill in the Front Door: Rice Paper
Windows Either Side of Front Door: Rice Paper
Bathroom/Ensuite:
Bench Top: Ceaser Stone Zulu
Cabinets: Natural White
Sink: Valentino
Laundry:
Bench Top: Laminex - WHite Valencia
Cabinet: Burnished Wood
Bench Top: Laminex - WHite Valencia
Cabinet: Burnished Wood
So that's about all the photos I have, we also upgraded the toilets but didn't really think that I needed to take a photo!
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Tiles...
Tile selection went as smoothly as I could of hoped for. It only took about 15 minutes to go through everything that we wanted to pick as we pretty much had already selected everything. I of course took way to many photos but at least it means I have something to show for the effort. We have been sent home with 3 full size tiles as samples to help us with our colour selection on Monday. We have decided to pick the same tiles / Colours for the Ensuite and bathroom as that way we know it will work with the selections we make for the rest of the house. These are the tiles we have selected:
Bathroom/Ensuite:
Shower walls, Vanity Splash, Hob, Niche: Gloss White 20x30
Ensuite, Bathroom, WC Floors: Victoria Black 40x40
Trims: Aluminium Bright Si 10mm x 3m
Entry, Foyer, Study, Dining, Living, Kitchen, Laundry: Decona Grey 40x40
Now just the Colour and Electrical Appointment to go!
Bathroom/Ensuite:
Shower walls, Vanity Splash, Hob, Niche: Gloss White 20x30
Ensuite, Bathroom, WC Floors: Victoria Black 40x40
Feature Tile: Glass Listello Nero Marble Mix (This will run from the floor to the roof of the shower in a strip 6 wide)
Now just the Colour and Electrical Appointment to go!
Friday, 9 September 2011
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Appointments and Settlement...
Appointments
Tile Selection
Unfortunately due to car issues we had to reschedule our tile appointment from last tuesday to tomorrow which means that Pete is unable to get the time off work. We went to the The Tile People (Yes that is the actual name of the company, their website is HERE ) on Saturday to pick everything together so that I can go tomorrow by myself and know exactly what we both are after.I just remember to take plenty of photos to show Peter just in case I have to pick something that we didn't think of on Saturday!
Colour Selection
Colour selection is going to take almost a whole day with the rest of he day given over to electrical selection.. or more like which light goes where and exactly how many power points do we need in the theater room? So I'm really looking forward to that...
Contract
Our last appointment will be our contract appointment where we find out the final cost to build our home, agree to it and sign our contract to start building. We will also be required to pay another 5% of the total cost of our build to get the ball rolling.
Settlement
Our land settles in two more sleeps. On 9/9/2011 we will officially be land owners. The is a small chance that it could be delayed until 13/9/2011 if something goes wrong at the bank but so far it looks like everything is on track for our Friday settlement. If everything does go to plan it will be drinks on us on Friday night!
Tile Selection
Unfortunately due to car issues we had to reschedule our tile appointment from last tuesday to tomorrow which means that Pete is unable to get the time off work. We went to the The Tile People (Yes that is the actual name of the company, their website is HERE ) on Saturday to pick everything together so that I can go tomorrow by myself and know exactly what we both are after.I just remember to take plenty of photos to show Peter just in case I have to pick something that we didn't think of on Saturday!
Colour Selection
Colour selection is going to take almost a whole day with the rest of he day given over to electrical selection.. or more like which light goes where and exactly how many power points do we need in the theater room? So I'm really looking forward to that...
Contract
Our last appointment will be our contract appointment where we find out the final cost to build our home, agree to it and sign our contract to start building. We will also be required to pay another 5% of the total cost of our build to get the ball rolling.
Settlement
Our land settles in two more sleeps. On 9/9/2011 we will officially be land owners. The is a small chance that it could be delayed until 13/9/2011 if something goes wrong at the bank but so far it looks like everything is on track for our Friday settlement. If everything does go to plan it will be drinks on us on Friday night!
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Oh the stress, Oh the stress of it all...
A couple of weeks ago everything almost fell apart with our finances for our block of land. Our lender valued the block at $15,000 less then what we paid for it, a day out from when our contract was no longer subject to finance.. We were a bit stuck (replace the "st' with 'f' and add a 'ed' to the end to get a more accurate description to how I felt), with only a few hours to either come up with the difference or figure something else out.
Luckily for us our Broker is amazing and came up with a plan. Fast forward twelve days and we have our loan, we are eight days away from signing our settlement on our land and are on track to start building in September.
We have all our selection appointments in the next 2 weeks before our final contract appointment with Porter Davis on the 16th... Colours, tiles, electrics... It goes on and on but in the end we will have a house we are excited about and a place to call our own!
Now just to try to work our if Pete and I can agree on the colour of the splash back...
Luckily for us our Broker is amazing and came up with a plan. Fast forward twelve days and we have our loan, we are eight days away from signing our settlement on our land and are on track to start building in September.
We have all our selection appointments in the next 2 weeks before our final contract appointment with Porter Davis on the 16th... Colours, tiles, electrics... It goes on and on but in the end we will have a house we are excited about and a place to call our own!
Now just to try to work our if Pete and I can agree on the colour of the splash back...
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Wallara Waters...
Whats planned for Wallara Waters:
The land for sale in Wallara Waters will offer rural charm at its finest. With the land estate promising to provide an exclusive residential community, Wallara Waters endeavours to be a truly liveable estate for families at all stages.
With 186 hectares in total, the Wallan development will provide residents with open space and wetlands, enabling ease of a picnic, kicking a ball around or daily exercise routines within the estates reserves. Residents will enjoy a grand entry feature and lake, creating a natural haven for your family to enjoy the outdoors.
Located within the estate schools and a shopping precinct have both been proposed as well as the use of recycled water to ensure your gardens are kept lush and green. Just outside the Wallara Waters estate is the local train station, which will have you at Southern Cross Station in approximately 40 minutes.
The new land for sale in Wallara Waters offers a variety of lot sizes to build your dream home. This master-planned community promises to be a serene environment for your family to enjoy, close to all amenities and located less than 50km drive from Melbourne’s CBD.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
The house...
We are planning to build the Drysdale 30 which is a Porter Davis home.
You can find the floor plans HERE
You can find more information as well as photos of the display home HERE
We have already gone to see the sales rep at the Porter Davis display home in the Highlands estate in Craigiburn to get a quote to build as well as place a $1000 deposit down to lock in a build start date for September.
You can find the floor plans HERE
You can find more information as well as photos of the display home HERE
We have already gone to see the sales rep at the Porter Davis display home in the Highlands estate in Craigiburn to get a quote to build as well as place a $1000 deposit down to lock in a build start date for September.
Above: This is the Waterside Facade for the Drysdale. Ours will look the same but in different colours.
Below: This is a simplified view of our floor plan to give you an idea of what the house looks like.
The Land...
We found our land online and were very lucky as it had only been up for six days before we found it. The original listing can be found HERE but as listings only stay online for as long as they are needed I will also post the details here to be safe.
The below was taken from the LJ Hooker website 03/08/2011
If your looking for a bigger allotment near a park then then let your search end here! This is one of the last remaining blocks available in Balmain Circuit, which overlooks what is soon to be Merri Creek Park, an open greenspace space which will accommodate BBQ facitities, playground and a half basketball court; perfect for families with children or those who love to picnic! Offering 612sqm, with fences to two sides; plus gas, water, power, sewer and phone services all available. (dimensions 18m X 34m - 612m2)
The below was taken from the LJ Hooker website 03/08/2011
XX Balmain Circuit , WALLAN
If your looking for a bigger allotment near a park then then let your search end here! This is one of the last remaining blocks available in Balmain Circuit, which overlooks what is soon to be Merri Creek Park, an open greenspace space which will accommodate BBQ facitities, playground and a half basketball court; perfect for families with children or those who love to picnic! Offering 612sqm, with fences to two sides; plus gas, water, power, sewer and phone services all available. (dimensions 18m X 34m - 612m2)
The Wallara Waters Estate is is a Green Estate; offering wide open spaces, a grand enrty lake and recycled water for all residents, which means green gardens all year round.
Planned for the future there is a proposed schools and a shopping precinct, plus the estate is located within walking distance to the local train station, which will have you at Southern Cross Station in approximately 40 minutes.This is the place to be, enquire today to avoid missing out!
The Estate Plan
The park across from our block
Our block!!!
Up until now...
We originally signed up for a house and land package with one of the big ten builders in February. We have had quite a few dramas with the builder and the finance company they insisted we go with as the builder owned the land. We walked away from the builder and the finance company and haven't looked back. We put an offer in on a block of land on friday (28/7) which was rejected. The vendor came back to us with a counter offer, Which we accepted. We signed land contracts on Saturday (30/7)
Sunday we had an appointment at the Porter Davis office (at the Highland display village in Craigieburn) to pay a $1000 holding deposit to lock in a September build start date on the house we want to build on our new block of land.
I am now hopeful that we can concentrate on the actual construction of our home. We are really excited and feeling positive about this stage of the process as we are ready to leave the negative behind and are now itching to have a place we can call our own again. This is where the real story begins.
Sunday we had an appointment at the Porter Davis office (at the Highland display village in Craigieburn) to pay a $1000 holding deposit to lock in a September build start date on the house we want to build on our new block of land.
I am now hopeful that we can concentrate on the actual construction of our home. We are really excited and feeling positive about this stage of the process as we are ready to leave the negative behind and are now itching to have a place we can call our own again. This is where the real story begins.
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