Still waiting...

Well, we're still waiting. It's crazy to think that we actually thought we might be midway through our build by now... No such luck! The latest we've heard from the developer is settlement is to be around the end of February. I am skeptical as are many others!

I am feeling a bit down about the waiting unfortunately. I think it's because I really like researching and working out everything to do with the house and now we're just sitting idle. I think I am finally almost 100% happy with all of our selections. We had a few more variations- one which was pretty major. If budgets weren't an issue I could very easily go all out with upgrades :)

1. We received notification that we'd need to change brick because ours had been discontinued. We decided to go with an upgraded brick- Austral's 'Gertrudis Brown'. To go with this we changed our roof, gutters, fascia, down pipes, rain tank and windows all to 'Woodland Grey' and the render to Taubmans 'Coffee Cake'. We also upgraded to laundry door to a stain instead of painted.

2. There was a heap of discussion on the homeone forum about the dreaded ugly cooker switch. We found out at our electrical appointment that the cooker switch was mandatory in all new houses and it needed to be clearly visible. We had to pay for it $150 and pay for a cut in the glass splashback ($70). Originally I wanted Saturn switches for the splashback but when I found out about the switch we just made the switches slimline white. Anyway, it came up on the forum that there is a Saturn cooker switch so our amazing electrical consultant edited our electricals for no admin cost and worked out that we could upgrade to Saturn switches too... Amazing :)

I also made an Enquiry about getting bifold s onto the alfresco but our CLO ruled that out pretty quickly. Such a shame but with all the admin costs it just doesn't seem to be worth it... Also you can't have fly screens on bifold s which isn't very practical here.

Well Christmas is only a week away now. Little miss 10 months' first christmas. Very exciting :) we're off down the coast for a beach trip on the weekend, then back for Christmas and up to Newcastle for New Years and more beach. I plan on forgetting all this house stuff while we're on our much needed break.

Merry Christmas xx

Update and electrical...

It's been a while since my last post... Things have been happening but now that I've returned to work after 8 months maternity leave, life has become a lot busier with a lot less time to contemplate everything that's happening.

Update on land- still no settlement, however we have a curb and gutter and maybe a road... We definitely had road base the weekend before last! The site is still closed to the public but the display homes are meant to open next month so we will get access then. Still looking for a late January/early February settlement.

Update on house- whilst reading another blog it came up that the everyday life bricks had seen some changes. I called austral who confirmed my fears... Our bricks were only temporary due to a shortage of new bricks... So we contacted MJH and they told us to select new ones... We've picked Gertrudis Brown from the Bowral range- a premium brick which is not often used in the ACT according to the sales guy at austral. With the change in brick, we've also decided to change everything else to do with the exterior. We're still waiting to hear from our colours consultant on this but we're thinking Colourbond "deep ocean" for roof, gutters, fascia and windows, surfmist render (or similar) and unsure of down pipes and tank. I really want a beautiful house!!! I have honestly been dreaming about bricks lately... I hope my colour choices work. Also, as we're getting shutters, I'm really worried that white shutters will look odd with blue windows.

Bank update- we've found a great mortgage broker and the paperwork is in progress. He doesn't like the variations that MJH does and when I asked our CLO about this he was rude and now I never want to deal with him again! Matt can have that job from now on. I just don't understand why a CLO would be rude... I worked in customer service roles for many years and I always ensured my phone manner was excellent. Matt and I feel our CLO is not suited to the job, but anyway...

Garden update- we have been slack and still haven't submitted our plans to MJH... Will do so in the next 2 weeks... We did however buy our hedge (photinia robusta)- we are desperately trying to grow it to an advanced size before we move in. We also got a quote done for our retaining walls... One large wall which spans almost the width of the back fence and all the way down the side of the house with a set of stairs and a low stone wall with letterbox pier to the front... All done in beautiful blue stone. The quote was under what I thought it would be (before the quote came back I was stressing it was going to be above $25k), so we're excited about this...

Hmm, electrical appointment went well. It was very very clear and organised. We definitely walked out with a sense of happiness and relief- we got everything we wanted. The time went over but I'm not surprised... 3:30pm appointment is a bit late- we didn't leave until 6:30.

Okay, so we got pretty much everything from my previous post...

Down lights throughout home (LED warm white with white casing)
Tastics in bathrooms (4 x heat)... We didn't get the $900 ones as I read a lot of bad reviews on them- they did require an extra circuit
Spotlight for above garage
Spotlight in backyard
Dimmers to media room
Sensor pantry light
Fluros in garage 2 x double
Ducted vacuum hills cyclonic
Vac pan (white)
Extra power points
2 x tv bracket combos
Outdoor lights for laundry and back of house
Slimline switches throughout
Pre wire for outdoor fan
3 pendants (concrete ones)
2, 3, 4 and 5 gang switches
2 way switches
... And I think that's all...

All up we spent $13.5k on extra electrical but we just wanted it all to be done and sorted before we move in.

Hmm... I don't remember doing a colour selections blog! That will be next! ... And photos too!

Electrical appointment...

Well, unfortunately still no news on the land. The first release people are closing in on settlement but have been advised that it will still be at least mid October before they're allowed to build. I think council take a minimum of 4 weeks.

I really don't want to stress about things but if we haven't received council approval by January we start paying $1k a month. We got in very early, so I guess we have missed at least 2 price rises... Possibly 3 price rises by the time we can start. I read a lot of blogs and threads about stressful situations and I just want to enjoy the whole experience. My partners sister had a very frustrating build and is now suffering through the drama of having post handover problems, so I'm very aware that it can all end in tears.  Fingers crossed we have a smoothe run!

Anyway, tomorrow is another pre build milestone. I love everything house related so I am really looking forward to it- it's electrical time :) They have allotted us 2 hours which I don't think will be enough, but we will see. We're taking baby L along... Hopefully she's on her best behaviour.

We have included an $11k allowance for tomorrow- fingers and toes crossed that we are under.

This is what we need:
Down lights throughout (not bed 2, 3 or 4)
Sensor pantry light
Tastics in bathrooms
3 x pendants
Exhaust fan/light in laundry
Fluro in garage
Extra power points (+1 outdoor)
Ducted vacuum
Vac pan
Tv bracket pack x2
Antenna (not sure if we need 1 though)
Dimmer for theatre and maybe alfresco

This is what we'd like if we can afford it:
Security sensor above garage
Alfresco fan
Fancy switches on the splashback
Slimline switches
Patio sensor down lights

I also think we need to get some extra vents put in for our ducted heating (7 are included) and that won't be enough and potentially we will need to buy extra circuits or something so we don't overload the power box... Like we do at our current house on a weekly basis... No washing machine while vacuuming or ironing. Perhaps our house now is allergic to housework haha.

Anyway, I shall be back with all things electrical soon :)

Waiting...

Well not much has happened lately. Our plan was finally approved by the developer, so now we just wait for them to tell us our land is good to go!

We have started speaking with mortgage brokers too. As this is our first home, we've never had to ask for hundreds of thousands of dollars so it's all very daunting. Thankfully we have good jobs so getting a bank to lend us money shouldn't be an issue (or so says mr mortgage broker man). At the moment we are just trying to save- which will be much easier to do when I go back to work in just over a month *cry*. Maternity leave is the best!

So apart from the money aspect, we've been doing a lot of thinking about garden plans. We are thinking native for the front and easy care, child friendly and nice looking for the back yard. Our builder has given a couple of plans (free of charge) to use. A garden plan is needed to gain approval.

Contract signed...

Well, it's done. We finally signed our contract! It took 3 hours but we took care with everything to ensure we haven't missed anything. At the office they have just done the colour studio fit out and we saw the pendant lights we want... They're big and a bit bling but I think they'll look great!

Our land registration has been pushed back to November now... It's not a huge concern for us as it means more time to save, save, save!

Next step... Electrical. We have budgeted $11k and plan to do everything through mjh. I hope we come under budget. We want LED down lights throughout, pendants in the kitchen, ducted vacuum, extra power points, and two tv bracket packs, tactics in the bathrooms possibly a fan too... Nothing over the top.

Patience...

We are patiently waiting to receive another deposit variation from MJH.... Because we have had some issues with our plans, we had to change a few things and add a study and change the style of the wardrobe. The problem being our block needing to have 2 rooms to the front of the house. Our original plan only had 1 room with the appearance of 2. Mjh are meeting us half way as we were assured back in oct/nov last year the the appearance of 2 rooms would be approved by the developer.

Waiting, waiting... We were promised we would receive it yesterday morning.. At the latest!

The very beginning...

So, my very first blog! Fingers crossed it is easy as I am not even slightly tech-savvy. I'm also not down with blog lingo, so you will have to excuse me, haha.

Well, a little about me... I am writing this as my babies are sleeping. I have Little Miss L who is almost 3 months old and Master J who is 3 years old. I am very lucky that Master J still has day sleeps. My partner, Matt and I have been renting our little free standing unit for 3 and a bit years and have decided to take the plunge and build our very first home. We have officially grown out of our little 3 beddy, it's bursting at the seams.. Overflowing with matchbox cars, dinosaurs, Lego, Tupperware and every other thing you can think of!

Early'ish last year we bought a block of land in a new development called Googong. It's just across the border and will be a new township.. It is unlike any suburbs in Canberra... Requirements such as electric car charging station in the garage, living space in front yard, garden completed within 3 months... With specific requirements such as an advanced hedge, 2 large trees, pathway... There's actually 70 plus pages of requirements. I am happy with this as it will ensure the town looks great. With the requirements, we will also be kinder on the environment... Something I think we can all improve on.

We decided  at the end of last year to build with McDonald Jones Homes. Their designs stood out, they're unlike any display homes in Canberra, where we live!  Also, they are part of the Guild and they are aware of the requirements of the township... Making it a bit easier for us.

We signed our first tender in January this year, completed colours in March and we are now waiting on final contract (I think)... Unless I have missed a step. We have had to modify our design a bit, to incorporate 2 rooms to the front of the house (another requirement for blocks over 18m wide).

Our house is the Veuve aka the Havana. It will suit our family perfectly. I will upload photos of our colours when I work out how to do this. I hope to do as many others have done with their blogs, documenting everything to do with building our very first home.

Oh, another thing, our land won't be released until September... As far away as that seems, with 2 children, time really does fly!!!!