Here we go......!

OK, it's been over 3 weeks since my last post-and what a lot has happened!

We've managed to move into our rental(despite the husband going fishing for a week-luckily he brought home fresh schnapper!), had settlement on our old house, applied for our bank loan for the new house, accepted a final quotation from National Builders Group and now all systems are go!

The valuation from the Bank came back just what we hoped for, so we will be able to build what we want (and still have an indecently large mortgage). We did delete the verandah off the front of the house-couldn't justify the $11,900 cost! Maybe when we win Tattslotto.... :-)

Oh the pain......

Well, we received our quote from National Builders-and i think that I'm still quivering-$262,000! Because of the soil test as "H", they want to add $5500 to the cost of the slab!

The cost of the water tanks is also $5000 more than what the builder indicated it should be (I'll be contacting local suppliers and getting other prices)...other than that quoted items were actually reasonable. We had got NBG to quote on a verandah across the front of the house, which came in at $11,500.If the loan is approved I think that we will delete the verandah as a luxury, not a necessity (the house will front South West).

In regards to the soil test and slab, we have had another company peruse the Intrax report and give their opinion as to whether we should have another test done in order to get a different recommendation. The reply was that their company would rate the slab as requiring "m"with 600m footings-so we are waiting to see whether or not that is a cheaper option.

We have submitted the quote and land contract to the Bank for our loan application and are now waiting upon valuation-which can take up to a week. Our issue will be that although we have paid $90,000 for our acre, our land can immediately be sold off as two half acre lots (at $75,000 each)due to the two titles. We need the at completion valuation to reflect this so that we can avoid mortgage insurance.......

Questions & Quote

Tomorrow Cristian and I will be heading to Ballarat to have the building quote presented to us-should be an interesting exercise! We haven't heard anymore about the soil test debacle and what ramifications will follow from that-all will be revealed tomorrow!

In the mean time, we are in the process of moving into the rental. Luckily, number 1 son (actually, only son!) has a ute-so has been ferrying furniture from one address to another for us......saving a small fortune on removalist fees! His fuel costs are a fraction of what we would have had to pay the professionals-mind you, when we move out to the new house next year we will pay for the experts!

I'm not sure whether or not I'm looking forward to tomorrow..after we receive the quote we will submit our loan application to the Bank (Which bank?) and wait for their response. The loan will depend on the valuation upon completion of the property and what equity we would have at that point in time. Winslow and Mailors Flat are both areas of growth due to the fact that they are within 15mins of Warrnambool and are offering lifestyle blocks (1acre plus) from $90k. Our block is on two titles with dual access, so the valuation should reflect that fact-fingers crossed!

Suspicious soil?

Yesterday, I received a phone call from National Builders Group to say that the results of our soil test were in.......

The company involved with performing the test have listed our block as "P"class-problem block! This is despite the fact that every other block (including the one next door)in the area meets the standard for "M"classification-or a standard slab.

The reason given is that there are"trees on this and adjacent blocks"! Yep, the fact that our block has a mature gum tree at the very front boundary is cause for concern.......the city centric twit who has performed the soil test believes that the fact that our house will be set 20m away from the 7m high tree is still cause for concern!

The funniest quote from the report is that the block is "subjected to unusual moisture conditions"-because we actually get rain here-unlike Melbourne!

The actual readings taken from the report are well within the range for a normal slab-so I have spoken to the local builder who will be actually building the house and he's perusing the report and will talk to the company involved. I have also submitted a soil report from the block across the road (thanks to the builder whom we bought the block from) which shows nearly identical readings and recommends a standard slab.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is-if it will only cost a couple of thousand for a slab upgrade, then it may be worth it. If it is thousands then we will get another soil report done by a local company who know more about rural areas and go from there!

Freaking out the "city folk"!

Yesterday I received a couple of calls from the engineering firm which will be conducting the soil test on our block-which is quick work I must say!

The gentleman was a bit perturbed at the fact that Google maps shows very little in the way of development at Winslow....and was also a bit nonplussed when I told him that one of the local farmers has placed a couple of head of cattle on the block with a temporary electric wire! Apparently that's not done in the City!!! :-)

He was relieved (somewhat) when I explained that the image on Google is slightly outdated and that we actually have a sealed road all the way to our block!

I discovered last week that Winslow is actually classified in the "hamlet"catergory-how cute!

Ballaarat-here we come!

Tomorrow, His Lordship and I are driving the two hours to Ballaarat to meet with Leah-the Customer Service Rep from National Builders.

While there we will go through the list of changes we will need for the house...and what they will cost! :-)

Friends of our son's are also building with NBG at Winslow-on a block at the other end of the street from us..so it looks like we will be building at the same time!

Last Saturday we took our two young grandsons out to the block to have a rum around. While we were there our neighbour turned up with a rideon mower to mow his block-so we got chatting. Actually, we probably spoke more to him in 15minutes than we have to any of our neighbours here in the last 5 years-that's community in the country for you!

Saga continues....

OK, it now looks like we may be back to building with National Builders Group again! We are still waiting on the quote from Rod Stephens, but have also found out that National Builders will build at Winslow. NBG also offer the option of a waste water treatment system instead of a normal septic-which will mean water for the garden won't be an issue...

WE can get much more house for the money through National Builders and it will also include a double garage and the house will be brick veneer-which all means a better valuation-very important when you are applying for the bank loan!!!!

Big, Big Backflip!

OK, it's been nearly two weeks since the last update-and what a change has occured!

His Lordship and I have decided that we are actually going to buy an acre block out at Winslow ( Lot 6 Church St)! Economics and lifestyle have been the driving force behind the decision...after all, owing 100k less to a bank can be quite an incentive....

The reality is that by moving 15 minutes out of town we will be enabling ourselves to have a much more self sufficient lifestyle- to say nothing of the amount of space we will have!

We are currently waiting on a quote from Rod Stephens- a local builder who specialises in building country homes. We have selected a design which has around 18 sqs of living-smaller than what we are currently in, but more effeciently designed.

Rod's quote will take a couple of weeks to come in, so in the mean time I will be checking out various appliances and options. There is power, but no gas or town water on the block, which will mean rainwater tanks and a septic system.

Plans perfected?

Although it has been over a week since my last report, there has still been quite a bit happening!

We have visited quite a few display homes and also continued to research which option would be best in regards to our block of land. We had been toying with the idea of an acre out of town ( from $75- $95k)-which enables quite an extensive garden and a certain degree of self sufficiency. However, at this point the 20 min drive in and out of town a few times a day makes this a less than feasible proposition!

Therefore, I have contacted the agent for Marrakai Estate nad confirmed our purchase through them. Our house doesn't settle until December 1st, so we have negotiated a smaller deposit until then.

We have also made an appointment to travel to Ballarat on September 30th to meet with the National Builders representative for costings on changes to the house plan we have chosen. There are a few minor changes which we would like to make, so the cost should be reasonable!

We have been through a number of display homes with various builders- but none can offer the value for money that National Builders can. Symonds comes close, but doesn't quite make it!

Firm Foundations

Even though it will be some months before we can commence building, we have still been busy with the whole process! Over the past week we have confirmed that there will be some fill on the land. After speaking to Mark Conlan (the local builder who builds for National Builders), it has been confirmed that we will definately be looking at around $5000 to upgrade the slab.

It's official!

After 11 months, we have finally sold our house! The sold sticker went up today and settlement will be on December 1st.

$$$$$$$$$......

Our Customer Service Rep from National Builders (Michelle) rang yesterday to talk about upgrading our slab. Although we haven't got soil tests done yet, we feel that it's a good idea to have a ball park figuire.

Michelle was confident that it would only be a "M"slab, but as I pointed out to her, it's clay soil and will have some fill. I don't think that it will need deep footing piers-only waffle pods, but we will contact the local builder who constructs locally for National Builders and discuss it with him.

At some point over the next couple of weeks we will also make the 2hr trip to Ballarat to meet face to face with Michelle.

This morning His Lordship was laying in bed "thinking about Turbo's new kennel"! The fact that the "kennel"has to house the human members of the family too is apparently a secondary consideration.....

The Princess keeps requesting an outdoor shower-which actually makes a bit of sense considering our lifestyle! I wonder how much it would cost to have one plumbed in during construction?

Soiled again....

After taking 11 months to sell this house, we have finally received some good news! We have been waiting for the couple who signed contracts a couple of weeks ago to receive notice that a sale of theirs has gone through-in order for our sale to become unconditional. Today it has! Yippee!

However, we have realised that we will probably have to upgrade the slab of the house we are going to build. Most builders have "M"class slabs as standard, whereas in Warrnambool a minimum of "H"class is usually required due to the clay based soil. It will be interesting as to how much extra that is going to cost!

Planting (and planning) the seed....

An integral part of the whole planning and building process is the garden. What style of garden should we have? Many people leave the garden planning until the last minute-or even until after they have moved in. I think that a lot of thought needs to be put in prior to the plans of the house being finalised. Much thought needs to be applied to where the house will be sited on the block as this will dictate where gardens, lawns and utilities such as clothes lines and garden sheds can be placed.

The last two homes we have built have had gardens loosely based on English lines-plenty of flowers, deciduous trees and a vegie garden. Considering that these blocks were 1/2 acre and 1/4 acre is size, there was quite a bit of scope for the garden!As you can see from these photos, our current garden is unfurling it's finery for the spring ahead.

This time the house block will be 760sq m, and we are wanting a different design for the garden. Although we currently have a large alfresco area (13m x 5m) we rarely use it (although I find that it is very useful as an undercover closeline!) as it doesn't flow very well between the living areas and the garden. I am keen for the new outdoor entertaining area (which will be on the northern side of the house) to become a well utilised feature in our future home.

Beware the BUDGET! And traps for young players...

I don't think that there is anything which becomes more all consuming than the dreaded "B"word! Our total budget for this house is $360,000-which becomes quite scary when I remember what the budget was for our first house.....

Within this amount we need to pay for: land (including the stamp duty), house, driveway and crossover, fencing, window coverings and basic landscaping.

Many people fail to allow for the "extra"costs listed above-and receive quite a shock when they realise how much more money they need to find! For example, the stamp duty on our block will be around the $5000 mark. The governement will debit your nominated account for the stamp duty-so it is imperative that the correct amount is available as there will be no date given as to when the stamp duty will be withdrawn-potentially creating a nasty and expensive surprise if your account is overdrawn.

A good lender will factor in and discuss these amounts when you apply for finance.

Part of the process for us over the past few months has been finalising how we will spend our money on this house-what do we really need as opposed to what we want.

Mind you- we have decided that I really need reconstituted stone bench tops! Lucky for me that National Builders Group are offering them as a special inclusion!

The before photos....

The machinery set to create the estate.

Currently all is green-

and muddy!

The site pegs are in place-just waiting for good weather!

Our block (Lot 77 Wells Street) will be somewhere towards the centre of the picture.

Weather it will or whether it wont...

After weeks of wet weather, it looks like it might fine up! Which is reassuring because everything is currently at a standstill on the Marrakai Estate!

The reason we have decided to build in this estate is because of the overall aims of the developer to ensure a reasonably eco friendly approach to water usage. They have designed various features on the Estate itself (eg: wetlands, retaining swales) and each home must have a water tank fitted. There is also a number of rebates offered for those who have a grey water system and leave guards fitted-all of which bodes well for the future!

There is also a fantastic playground and walking tracks planned-which promotes a great lifestyle in the area. The fact that there are no unit developments is another plus!!!

On another note, we have continued looking at costings from other builders-and can't believe the amounts some charge! One company who builds locally wants $310,000 for a house the same size as what we are building with National Builders for $205,000-and only offers basic inclusions! It really pays to do your research!

Here we go again!

Well, you would think that we would learn...

After previously building a home 3 times (always for the last time!), we are doing it again! This time I really understand how the space within the house needs to reflect our lifestyle.

Driven by the opportunity to upgrade the quality of our home, while slightly diminishing the size of our mortgage, we have just sold our home in Warrnambool through Roberts One (www.robertsone.com.au) . At the same time we have selected a block of land at the Marrakai Estate (www.marrakaiestate.com.au) and paid a deposit on both the land and the house we will build.

We have selected the Concept 250E design with National Builders Group and thus far everything is going well. The sales rep from NBG (Michelle) has been very helpful and communicative. I suppose it helps when you've been through this before and know what questions to ask!

We won't be able to commence building before March 2010 as the subdivision isn't completed-we have been told that February is the likely start date but I doubt it!

In the mean time I'll be enjoying myself finalising house plans and selecting the fitout for the house-and National Builders have a great selection to choose from!