I knew building a home would take time. We've been warned and we expected the time it would take to build our home would be longer than what the builder or land developer says it will take. I'm not bothered by it, but I have to admit the time has damped the excitement of relocating. I'm sure once we do start moving the rush will come back.
So an update post cause I've been reading other blogs and forums of people who have built homes and I enjoy reading and learning from other people's experience. If you are building or thinking of building check out Home One it's the whirlpool of home builders.
When we put our deposit down for our land back in September they said it should be registered by Christmas. It's June already. However, we did get an email 2 weeks ago from the property developer advising us that they've lodged registration of all the land on our estate with the council and expecting about 2-3 week turn around for titles to be registered!
Woohoo! Finally some real progress.
This email was also a heads up to let us know to start contacting our banks to get our finances in order because soon after the land is registered they will want the rest of their money for the purchase of the land.
The bank application process has also been a roller coaster ride. Although interest rates have been the lowest it's ever been, banks have been tighter on lending. It's really no surprise, however frustrating never the less.
We've faced some challenges leading up to getting approved for a loan. Before we even started we wanted to know how much we could borrow so we weren't wasting our time looking at locations or homes that we could not afford. This is how we learnt how tight banks were being at the moment and even with substantial savings hardly any debt our serviceability was pretty limited. In hindsight, this was probably a factor which gave us, even more, confidence to pursue that "sea change" we've always thought about doing. If you can't afford Sydney you got to buy elsewhere right?
My advice when it comes to the finance side of things, go with someone who is going to work for you. Someone who will take the time to explain things to you over and over again if need be, someone who is honest and experienced.
We've chosen a builder!! We choose the builder quite quickly. We were drawn to this one home because of how the stairs were designed. We dislike "grand staircases" - this is a personal preference ok. I dislike how a staircase and the void above one can take up so much space in a home. That's functional space you could be using. So the home we gravitated to was one where the staircase is kinda hidden behind the kitchen. I remember walking into this display home knowing it was a two story home, admiring the various rooms and then being surprised by discovering the staircase up to the second floor further down inside the home. We liked that feeling. I'm sure not everyone's style but was our deciding factor when it came down to selecting the home design.
We also realised later on it was a similar design to a home we looked at the first time I was pregnant. It was a one story home but there was a staircase behind one of the walls that took you up into the attic which was converted to a guest room, with its own ensuite and lounge area - it was a huge designer home. We always think about that home and we realised we gravitated to a design that was very similar.
Although we selected an existing design home we've made changes. If we're going to live in it for the next 15-25 years we want to be comfortable. I don't want to be walking past a particular wall everyday thinking, "we should've moved this" - modifications like that.
Of course changing the standard design costs money. Choosing high-quality finishes and making changes to rooms costs money, so whatever price you see on the website or catalogue for the home, expect to add another 100K to that price - and that's being conservative in my opinion. Yes, you can cut costs by doing some things yourself, if you know what you're doing. Yes, you can try getting more stuff included or minimise costs down by negotiating with the builder if you know what you're talking about. We've been fortunate to also know some people who are in the industry so we've had them review things for us, gave us the words to question costs, and validate plans. However, we're still at the mercy of the builders and their charges. I've struggled to comprehend certain things and costs especially when I apply my "Cam logic" to the situation. For example moving a room to the opposite side. My thought logic is 'I'm still paying for the room regardless why does it cost extra to relocate it?' Or another example is the kitchen island. When we measured the kitchen island in the display home against our plans, our one is smaller. To get the same size as the display home costs extra, but we're getting the bigger home design than the display home, so we've upgraded everything in the home, therefore, why is this costing extra? I get so defensive when they say things costs extra.
So that's the update. Next week I expect we'll be asked to settle the land. After we sign off on the prelim design it will go to our property developer to ensure our design meets our covenant agreements. That's been an interesting experience too, I'll save it for a separate post.
