Greetings all!

I just came across this wonderful website and thought I would share my current experiences with building a house as we are just about to begin the exciting construction phase!

We've gone through First Home Buyers Direct in Osborne Park, WA. They have been very professional with helping choose an affordable and good design as well as suitable land in Baldivis (6171). I first went to them in February 2012 and went ahead with their "Botanica" design. It can be viewed here.

The land was through The Dales on a nice 462sq m corner block and the deposit was paid on February 29th. Unfortunately it took months and months before the land was titled, and then my broker and I thought it was best to apply for the land loan and building loan separately. This meant I had to pay the stamp duty on the land first, but not to worry as this gets immediately refunded at the slab construction stage along with the $7000 FHOG.

29/02/2012: [ img ]

We made several edits during pre-start, including knocking down an entire room to make the master bedroom's en-suite bathroom and wardrobe bigger. We preferred to have wooden floor throughout the home including the bedrooms instead of carpet.

After the loans were approved and pre-start variation fee was paid the holidays came, and now in January they are just about to begin construction. Slab stage is estimated to be completed by the 18th of January and majority of the work will be done this week. I drove past a few days ago and they rolled out the land in the shape of where the slab will be.

12/01/2013: [ img ]

Looking forward to sharing more with you in the weeks to come!

Tas.

Welcome guys - another Baldivian! We also deleted fourth bedroom to make other rooms larger. You have had a long journey.


We have a Baldivis thread here you are welcome to chat with us.

Welcome! I can't wait to be in the same stage as you! There seems to be a lot of people here building in Baldivis. We did actually head down there early on to meet with our sales guy and look at displays. It was lovely and we considered it for a brief moment but its a little to far away from family and friends.

Thanks donna61 and fmac! Yup Baldivis is absolutely beautiful. We are located less than a km behind Highbury Park Estate which is simply stunning and still makes my jaw drop each time I drive past.

The only downside is the distance, but I think looking into the future with better technologies and transportation upgrades etc Baldivis won't feel so far. Aubin Grove would have been my first preference if money wasn't an issue. It's good to be next to the freeway in any case and we are quite happy with the peaceful surroundings.

It has taken a long time to get things moving but the fact that they finally are now feels great. Huge sigh of relief! I will be heading over to the site every Saturday to take photos and I'll update this page on the progress of what we hope will be a perfectly built home.

We selected colours, designs, etc as well of course but I'll let everyone viewing this forum see them as the photos come up!

love your block
are you near the beach
congrats on the progress
looking forward to following your build

Welcome & Congrats..

How exciting! Look forward to see the progress.. Ive only been waiting a month past our titles were due so not too bad yet.

Thanks everyone. Two small updates:

1.) I heard that the worker's dunny is on site
2.) Also works are in progress and slab is being poured on Monday 21st of January. It should take 1-2 weeks to dry enough to "put weight on" and brick stage will commence by the first week of February I'd hope.

I will go to the site twice over the next week and take some snaps. Looking forward to posting them here!

Posting to follow build I recognise your lot I think... wanna PM me what streets its on corner of. I have feeling your like one street away from my current house haha

Update:

Footings have been completed, along with plumbing structures and plastic cover with mesh. Thanks to LeanneR for letting me know of the developments as she lives close by. Slab should be finished within a day or two.

A few photographs below:

Front View:
[ img ]

Front 45deg:
[ img ]

Side View:
[ img ]

Back 45deg:
[ img ]

Great to see another Baldivis build.

We are renting in The Ridge Estate while we build and couldn't be happier with the suburb (except for the yellow sand that gets in everything!!!)

Look forward to seeing your progress.

Munchy - I rented in the ridge when we built this place haha

Tas - ill drive past any day I leave house and let you know if anything major happens (slab, bricks delivered, bricks started and so on). It's so close and on my way out anyways haha

very exciting tas.. its so much fun seeing stuff actually happen and not just a dirt pile

Slab is COMPLETE! Yippee!!!

Next stage will be bricks! Can't wait! Once again photographs below:

Front View:
[ img ]

Front 45deg:
[ img ]

Conslabulations!!!!

[ img ][ img ][ img ][ img ][ img ][ img ]

Thank you! Will continue posting more pics as they come

conslabulations

Very nice house design and congratulations on having the slab poured! I was lucky with my land purchase, where the titles came out less than a month after I placed a deposit down.

I look forward to following your house build

Cheers Mike! 1 month does sound lucky I just had a call from my building company this morning (First Home Buyers Direct) confirming that the initial stages of construction have been completed (slab), and brickwork will begin next week. Exciting!

I will be in Thailand for 2 weeks, can't wait to see the progress when I return in early Feb!

Tas ican take photos if needed just PM me when you want a photo update (that's if you go online whilst on holiday haha)

External Bricks done! Some photos below all courtesy of LeanneR who was kind enough to go down for us over the last few days and take some photos to keep us updated

Front View:
[ img ]
(c) LeanneR 2013

Front 45deg:
[ img ]
(c) LeanneR 2013

Side 45deg:
[ img ]
(c) LeanneR 2013

Back 45deg:
[ img ]
(c) LeanneR 2013

Internal bricks hopefully done next week and then roof the week after!