Scott, I just realised I'm already following your blog. I'm not sure how I came across it
Have you got any tips for building at PT?
That's great news Ruth. How long does your builder estimate for the build?
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 21Mar 15, 2013 10:12 pm Scott, I just realised I'm already following your blog. I'm not sure how I came across it Have you got any tips for building at PT? That's great news Ruth. How long does your builder estimate for the build? Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 22Mar 15, 2013 10:26 pm Ohmistershefield, our contract is for 30 weeks - I hope it is abit quicker than this as it has taken a longtime to get to this stage, but so long as we are in our house before Christmas, I will be happy! Who are you planning on building with? Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 23Mar 15, 2013 10:32 pm I'll cross everything you'll be in before Christmas. My MIL said we'd be in for Christmas, but didn't say which one We're building with Eden Brae. They advised 28 weeks to build from the start of earth works... As of today EB estimate they'll start July 2013. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 24Mar 15, 2013 10:46 pm Thank you!! Eden Brae have lovely homes. Did you buy a house/land package - how does that work? Do you have to choose a certain design? That is great if you could start in July, I was always expecting 6 months for admin, 6 months for build. we signed our tender with Rawson in early July last year, so our admin stage has been very drawn out but I am trying to be patient!! Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 25Mar 15, 2013 11:05 pm We're doing a house and land package, we chose one but didn't like the block due to pine trees being on there (it was at our cost to remove the trees). So we chose a different block but kept the original house selected. The only thing with the EB homes is we can't have the same colours and facade as our neighbors (which is understandable). That has been slightly restrictive given there are only two standard facades at no extra cost. You've been very patient. Hopefully the build doesn't get prolonged. I'm not getting excited until the end of the process. I've found the building process lacking information on the builders part. Without this forum I wouldn't have the knowledge I had today to make informed choices or understanding of the processes. If asked by EB, I would suggest a timeline or what to expect from your sales consultant; tender; colours etc. When decisions are required to be made and what should be considered at each stage. I feel our sales consultant should have informed us more or given suggestions for modifications to the house. I was annoyed as we have seen him twice and only the first changes were at the tender today and not the subsequent ones. The subsequent changes were more detailed after researching the possibilities (and speaking to another consultant at the display village of the house we're building). It's certainly a learning process. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 26Mar 16, 2013 6:19 pm scotta_74 Hi Guys, Welcome to Pitt Town you wont regret building here! My wife our two kids and I have been here for just on one year now and we love it. Were are in stage 2B of Vermont and have seen so much change just in the short time we have been here. I was amazed at how close everything is to here with the furthest you will have to travel for most things being either Rouse Hill or Windsor/ Richmond. The Pub down the road does a good $10 pasta night on Tuesdays as well. Look forward to watching your builds progress. Goodluck Scott Hi Scott Nice to meet an existing Vermont resident, and especially to read your positive comments. We drove around the new established estate and were very impressed. I could spot lots of McDonald Jones homes. We are waiting on our tender for the Havana One. Can I ask how you found MDJ to deal with? Did you shop around and compare builder before choosing them? Can you tell us about the demographic in the estate? Is it mostly families, younger, older etc. we have four kids between my partner and I - currently 17, 15, 10 and 8. The teens aren't too keen on moving 'so far out' lol. The oldest one is driving with his own car, so I think he will be fine. The $10 pasta sounds worth investigating Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 27Mar 16, 2013 6:28 pm Hi Ladies I find I am devoting every spare minute towards researching builders and costs etc. Ruth maybe I dismissed Rawson too quickly. Their prices include EVERYTHING like floorcoverings, driveways etc. Plus I read on here they have better quality inclusions such as Daikin air con, whereas MDJ use some cheaper generic brand. Can you tell me if you can delete items from their price to bring down the cost, for example if you wanted to do your own floors, or if you wanted to delete the Caesarstone etc etc? Plus their website has no prices....cheeky! Yes Renee, our block is supposed to be Eden Brae, but Janet said we could choose anyone other than McDonald Jones. I put them out of my mind for that reason and then my partner had an epiphany and said "hey, wait a second this is a big deal for us and if you want a MDJ honey you should have it". LOL! Shhhh let's just see if they try and stop us Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 28Mar 17, 2013 11:06 pm Ohmistershefield - I totally agree with you regarding the building process. We feel that because the large project companies are building new homes everyday they should be guiding you more in the decisions. It has been frustrating that we have to really be on the ball when looking at each set of plans to make sure everything is covered, which is really hard esp if you are not used to looking at building plans. Ally - which lot number are you buying? Regarding Rawson's pricing - yes I think that their houses are more expensive when you look at the base price of other builders, but Rawson does include a lot of extras in their price. Yes, you can delete items from their price list to make the cost cheaper but you also have to remember that you will still have to pay and organize those things at the end of your build. For us we deleted the driveway because we have friend who is a concretor , but we have chosen to have bamboo floorboards installed by Rawson even though they may have worked out to be slightly more expensive because they are installed at the correct time during the build and we didn't have to muck around with the skirting boards after handover plus they will also be covered under the builders warranty. You can also choose to delete smaller inclusions too for instance we deleted the water purifier near the sink because we will have a fridge with a water tap and we deleted the towel rails from the bathrooms because we are installing heated towel rails ourselves, however, sometimes you only get a small credit for these little things. Even though Rawson's have a fixed price and it appears as if everything is included you still find yourself spending more money to upgrade things. The two biggest things we spent extra money on was extra storage cupboards and electrical. Project homes never have enough build in storage for a family! Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 29Mar 17, 2013 11:25 pm Hi Ruth, Does Rawson Homes go through DiLorenzo for their flooring? We're looking at floor boards. Just wondering do you know the Janka rating in the ones you've chosen? I'm team floor boards however, I also allow my dog inside and I'm afraid of scratches. So at the moment it's a choice between floor boards and tiles. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 30Mar 18, 2013 6:48 am Hi, No - Rawson's doesn't use DiLorenzo, they use Tiles Direct. Sorry I don't know the Janka rating our floorboards. We chose coffee coloured bamboo floorboards, they already have a aged kind of look as with 3 kids it is inevitable that they will get scratched! We have pine floorboards in our house now - I think the scratches and dents add rustic charm - ha ha ha!! Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 31Mar 18, 2013 5:40 pm [quote="river"Ally - which lot number are you buying? Regarding Rawson's pricing - yes I think that their houses are more expensive when you look at the base price of other builders, but Rawson does include a lot of extras in their price. Yes, you can delete items from their price list to make the cost cheaper but you also have to remember that you will still have to pay and organize those things at the end of your build. For us we deleted the driveway because we have friend who is a concretor , but we have chosen to have bamboo floorboards installed by Rawson even though they may have worked out to be slightly more expensive because they are installed at the correct time during the build and we didn't have to muck around with the skirting boards after handover plus they will also be covered under the builders warranty. You can also choose to delete smaller inclusions too for instance we deleted the water purifier near the sink because we will have a fridge with a water tap and we deleted the towel rails from the bathrooms because we are installing heated towel rails ourselves, however, sometimes you only get a small credit for these little things. Even though Rawson's have a fixed price and it appears as if everything is included you still find yourself spending more money to upgrade things. The two biggest things we spent extra money on was extra storage cupboards and electrical. Project homes never have enough build in storage for a family![/quote] Hi Ruth We are lot 2029 Fernadell Drive. Our Beechwood tender won't be ready for another week. The MDJ one should be ready by Friday. Having said that, we are still looking at other avenues. I really like Cabarita Rawson have on display at The Ponds and the salesman was very helpful. Just don't see how it can be done in our budget. Maybe I am in for a rude shock with these tenders, lol. Regards Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 32Mar 19, 2013 8:45 am Hi Ally, It is difficult being patient waiting for tenders isn't it? As the longer you wait the more things you think of!! The tender process seems along time ago for us. I know that you are waiting for tenders from MDJ and Beechwood but have you looked at Allworth Homes? A few friends of ours have built with them and whilst their display homes don't have the wow factor of say Rawson of MacJones displays, their finished homes are very practical for families and they have the reputation of fast build times. It can be so difficult looking at display homes because you can so easily fall in love with the look of the house and totally forget that some of the features are not practical for your family or are over the top. For example the garage door on the display home for the house we are building is $15,000!! I can think of many other things I would rather spend that money on. At least with some of the builders that have less expensive display homes you are probably getting a better indication of what you would be getting in the base price. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 33Mar 19, 2013 7:27 pm Ruth you must have read my mind. We decided Allworth have to be the next we visit. What you say about display homes is so true. Unless your budget is unlimited you won't get a home like the display. I have to be content having a new home in a nice area and maybe cut back on the fancy finishes. We have even decided we may have to do air con and floor coverings after to save more $$$. I will have to be more pragmatic when we next visit Allworth again. Watch this space Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 34Mar 19, 2013 7:37 pm Allworth have outstanding workmanship. They select good sub contractors (I've been advised by a Tradie). My mind fails to operate with that sensibility Ally. I've noticed waterfall edging to the kitchen benchtops and can't get past it. Looks like tomorrow we'll be signing off on the Tender. Tanya from EB has been great in responding to my multiple questions. Today I was in stress overload. I was so worried about the structural aspects of the house as they can't be changed after the tender is signed off without incurring a cost. Have you also been advised about the driveway? We can longer have the colored driveway or pavers going to the kerb. The reason? The council wants to distinguish the council strip. Or if maintenance is required the council doesn't have to match the driveway. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 35Mar 19, 2013 8:27 pm We haven't been advised anything about the driveway. I wonder if they can change that for us when our plans have already been approved? Doesn't really bother me too much because we are only planning on having charcoal coloured concrete anyway. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 36Mar 21, 2013 4:06 pm Exciting update! We have received a call from McDonald Jones to say our tender is ready for presentation, exactly one week from when we commissioned it. Very impressive, and we were kept up to date with SMS messages along the way! We are going in tomorrow afternoon to run through it. We will do this with our salesperson at Kellyville Ridge, so very convenient. Beechwood Homes on the other hand have had our information for 15 days yet and no idea when the tender will be ready for presentation. We haven't heard a peep from them, but we chased it ourselves yesterday and she said she hopes to hear by Friday. We will then have to make an appointment to drive down to Oran Park when we have some time off to go through it. I can't wait to see the contents and most importantly the bottom line. Regards Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 37Mar 21, 2013 11:19 pm That's great Ally about the tender with MDJ - it's nice to have some progress isn't it? Which design did you ask them to price? We really liked the MDJ homes - they were our second choice, it was just that the Rawson home fitted on our block better. I love their facades. Let us know how you go! Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 38Mar 22, 2013 6:41 am Thanks Ruth, They are quoting on the Havana One with Balinese facade. It is on display at Kellyville Ridge, the middle home. Loving the kids activity room as a bonus space. I thin my favourite was the Monte Carlo or Milano but it was that much dearer again, so I picked my favourite design under $200k. Will keep you posted Ally Deposit paid to Masterton 30/05/13 Contracts signed and 5% deposit paid 09/10/13 CDC Approval 14/11/13 Slab 22/01/14 Frame 18/02/14 Brickwork 14/03/14 Roof 22/03/14 Lock Up 11/04/14 Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 39Mar 22, 2013 8:25 am That's a lovely house Ally, I like the Balinese facade. If you can keep the costs down within your budget, I'm sure that you will have a great home. I agree the kids activity room is a nice bonus - esp helpful when you have a different ages of kids to try and cater for. We will be having a kids retreat in our house too, I like that it can be a study room, playroom, tv room plus we could even through a mattress in there for visitors I hope Beechwood come through with their tender soon so that you can have something to compare with. Re: Anyone building in the Vermont Estate at Pitt Town? 40Mar 22, 2013 10:31 pm Ok - so we were out at Pitt Town this evening for the draw of the 'Win back your block of land', unfortunately we didn't win But it was nice to see who our neighbors would be, I met the couple who will live next door to us a young family to so that is great, they are building a 2 storey home. There appeared to be lots of families with young kids and some older couples too so a good mix. How did the tender go Ally? Are you in shock? Wish you all the best. 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