Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 9Mar 20, 2016 5:17 pm Thanks mate. After living here for 5 yrs and making good use of the kitchen, we pretty much knew that a butlers pantry would be a good idea for the next house. As for price, not too sure yet. I'd say we have the option of a stone bench with storage underneath or a simple laminate bench with no storage. It all depends on what they can offer and the price. At the end of the day, it is basically a round sink with hot / cold mixer, a bench and most probably a power point for kettle / toaster. Shouldn't cost a lot! I really like the bi fold doors! We had the stacking (sliding) doors & sliding fly screens here in The Ponds. Take a good look around at the bi fold doors at the display homes before going ahead (Stegbar is a good brand). They are pretty expensive but well worth it when you want to open up an area like the wide alfresco. I guess just keep in mind that if you want to enjoy a cool breeze, you have to open either the 1 access door or sections of the bi fold doors. It doesn't sound like a bad thing, but if you aren't a fan of flys, mosquitoes and other bugs like cockroaches, moths, beetles etc, then you might think twice. You can't put fly screens on bi fold doors - that's the only downside (unless they have changed over the years since I last looked) lol. Hey is that the house you are looking at building possibly? It's a really nice design! Flows really well and the alfresco would be used a lot. It's so cool the way they can design a house to fit blocks these days. Houses we are thinking of building: First preference, same facade, but we would change the colours quite a bit: http://www.allcastlehomes.com.au/wp-con ... Grand1.pdf Second preference, same facade but we would also change the colours quite a bit: http://www.allcastlehomes.com.au/wp-con ... mpire1.pdf Yep I agree with you. No doubt we will see some single homes being built out there, but they will have no yard the poor buggers. 10m x 10m is a really good sized yard too. It's those kinds of things that are worth looking into for the future. Hey that's good your partner is studying law. She can look over everything with a fine tooth comb. As for a pool, well they aren't that expensive really. Lots of good builders out there. We are thinking of a fiberglass pool this time because concrete pools require more maintenance and take longer to warm up. My profile picture is the pool we had in The Ponds. Here is a link to our house we sold. I'm going to miss the pool =(. http://www.au.open2view.com/properties/392476 I was going to say that on the FB group haha. You are just a few houses away - within waving distance lol. It's pretty funny though considering how many people are buying land and you are one of the only people I have talked to, yet you are in the same street =). Warning - I love a party! Won't go into too much detail, but for New Years Eve I used to heat the pool to 38deg and have our pool cinema running (3m wide screen) with music videos, food, booze etc and have the neighbors around. Nothing more fun than pulling an all-nighter, partying and watching the sun come up =). That's why I think it's funny your name is Michael. The bloke next door was Michael also. "beer o clock?" was a regular text message we would send to each other and meet out the front for a chat and a drink on a fri / sat night. Mind you, I have a love of good quality beer - Japanese beer especially. I really want to brew my own craft beer and build a fridge with a tap on the front =) Anyway that was a bit off track haha. Talk soon mate. Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 10Mar 21, 2016 2:38 pm Thanks for starting this thread. Does anyone know if contracts can be exchanged for 5% deposit at Akora? I am looking to buy a block from an investment point of view but dont want to block too much cash for almost a year. Cheers Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 11Mar 21, 2016 4:32 pm will81 Thanks mate. After living here for 5 yrs and making good use of the kitchen, we pretty much knew that a butlers pantry would be a good idea for the next house. As for price, not too sure yet. I'd say we have the option of a stone bench with storage underneath or a simple laminate bench with no storage. It all depends on what they can offer and the price. At the end of the day, it is basically a round sink with hot / cold mixer, a bench and most probably a power point for kettle / toaster. Shouldn't cost a lot! I really like the bi fold doors! We had the stacking (sliding) doors & sliding fly screens here in The Ponds. Take a good look around at the bi fold doors at the display homes before going ahead (Stegbar is a good brand). They are pretty expensive but well worth it when you want to open up an area like the wide alfresco. I guess just keep in mind that if you want to enjoy a cool breeze, you have to open either the 1 access door or sections of the bi fold doors. It doesn't sound like a bad thing, but if you aren't a fan of flys, mosquitoes and other bugs like cockroaches, moths, beetles etc, then you might think twice. You can't put fly screens on bi fold doors - that's the only downside (unless they have changed over the years since I last looked) lol. Hey is that the house you are looking at building possibly? It's a really nice design! Flows really well and the alfresco would be used a lot. It's so cool the way they can design a house to fit blocks these days. Houses we are thinking of building: First preference, same facade, but we would change the colours quite a bit: http://www.allcastlehomes.com.au/wp-con ... Grand1.pdf Second preference, same facade but we would also change the colours quite a bit: http://www.allcastlehomes.com.au/wp-con ... mpire1.pdf Yep I agree with you. No doubt we will see some single homes being built out there, but they will have no yard the poor buggers. 10m x 10m is a really good sized yard too. It's those kinds of things that are worth looking into for the future. Hey that's good your partner is studying law. She can look over everything with a fine tooth comb. As for a pool, well they aren't that expensive really. Lots of good builders out there. We are thinking of a fiberglass pool this time because concrete pools require more maintenance and take longer to warm up. My profile picture is the pool we had in The Ponds. Here is a link to our house we sold. I'm going to miss the pool =(. http://www.au.open2view.com/properties/392476 I was going to say that on the FB group haha. You are just a few houses away - within waving distance lol. It's pretty funny though considering how many people are buying land and you are one of the only people I have talked to, yet you are in the same street =). Warning - I love a party! Won't go into too much detail, but for New Years Eve I used to heat the pool to 38deg and have our pool cinema running (3m wide screen) with music videos, food, booze etc and have the neighbors around. Nothing more fun than pulling an all-nighter, partying and watching the sun come up =). That's why I think it's funny your name is Michael. The bloke next door was Michael also. "beer o clock?" was a regular text message we would send to each other and meet out the front for a chat and a drink on a fri / sat night. Mind you, I have a love of good quality beer - Japanese beer especially. I really want to brew my own craft beer and build a fridge with a tap on the front =) Anyway that was a bit off track haha. Talk soon mate. We like the idea of the butler pantry too, thanks for the tip! I think depending on price of course. I really like the designs you selected too, both are really nice. If you want my opinion, I like the second facade version. Both look really modern though. Your house looks lovely Will! The Ponds house. And WOW at the price! That is an amazing win for you, I bet that price when you bought it you would have bitten someone's leg if it was 100k less than that And all good regarding the parties, I think you have just called yourself into being the resident host for the NYE parties lol. Let's try to get more people, surely there are many others who just don't know where to discuss their recent Akora purchase. Facebook would be a great start so let's really get that going. Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 12Mar 21, 2016 4:38 pm standtall Thanks for starting this thread. Does anyone know if contracts can be exchanged for 5% deposit at Akora? I am looking to buy a block from an investment point of view but dont want to block too much cash for almost a year. Cheers Hey standtall, we negotiated with Christian at Raine and Horne, and they happily accepted 5%. We were in the same boat too, we had the 10% but would have preferred to improve our cash flow by paying the remaining half in 6 months time. Just tell them that you will sign the contract at 5% now, and 5% in 6 months. Of course once you and your solicitors are happy with the contract. I think both Will and I are all good with our land regarding no easements. I can't say for certain how flat our land is (stage 2), but we have been told that they will design the whole estate to be a little hilly, "less flat, boring" if that makes sense? Check out the new unofficial Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/263519677312561/ Will also uploaded the blocks and their size. Cheers Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 13Mar 22, 2016 5:20 pm Quote: We like the idea of the butler pantry too, thanks for the tip! I think depending on price of course. I really like the designs you selected too, both are really nice. If you want my opinion, I like the second facade version. Both look really modern though. Your house looks lovely Will! The Ponds house. And WOW at the price! That is an amazing win for you, I bet that price when you bought it you would have bitten someone's leg if it was 100k less than that And all good regarding the parties, I think you have just called yourself into being the resident host for the NYE parties lol. Let's try to get more people, surely there are many others who just don't know where to discuss their recent Akora purchase. Facebook would be a great start so let's really get that going. Hey Michael. No worries at all. Will keep you posted when we sit down with Allcastle and discuss prices. It will all come down to budget with the facade in the end. I know the 2nd facade is cheaper to build, but the large balcony appeals to me on the first design. Decisions decisions! lol. I do like the second facade as well. Cheers mate. Lots of love and hard work when into the house. We love it as it was out first house that we built and will miss it a lot. We only paid $300k for the 500sqm land and $220k for the house including site costs etc. Pool and landscaping weren't cheap or easy to do - but all worth it. I think if we had sold last year, we would have made more, but we ended up with a good price in the end. Now the clock is ticking as we have to be out on 14th April. I have been applying for rentals and we saw one in McGraths Hill that we liked. Best part is it is just down the road from Akora =) Hahaha yes my neighbor pretty much relied on me to set things up for our little street parties. It's a great way to have a good friendship with people in the street and I'm sure it will be an interesting mix of people too. I have made you an admin on the FB page too. Always easier to have 2 admins. I agree, we need more people. It's going to be slow for a while as many people have bought land, but aren't searching for groups yet. Let's face it, it's just farm land now haha. Still, our numbers will grow over time. The Ponds group only had 2 members and now has about 3,000. I started it from scratch and it's crazy busy now. Talk soon =) Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 14Jul 13, 2016 9:28 pm Hi will81 & micdeez I just came across your forum now My husband and I have secured a lot in Akora estate also and we're building with Rawson Homes Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 15Nov 29, 2016 1:16 pm Huntley In The Hills Hi will81 & micdeez I just came across your forum now My husband and I have secured a lot in Akora estate also and we're building with Rawson Homes Hey Huntley in the Hills. Congrats! What design did you choose from Rawson if you don't mind me asking? We are still looking! Have you driven past it too? They've started the civil works, albeit not a huge amount done. I guess there is progress.. Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 16Jan 10, 2017 7:57 am Hi guys, For all prospective or have purchased land at the Akora estate, please hop over to our Facebook community page, we'd love to have you there! https://www.facebook.com/groups/263519677312561/ Re: Who's Bought Land - Akora Box Hill 17Jun 21, 2017 10:43 am Hi Everyone, I've bough lot 80 in Akora last month and requested to join fbgroup. I am building with MDJ homes Hamilton 5 with extended design. Would love to know if other people have decided to build house with them or any other builder. Any may be we can all get together and buy fencing or landscaping from one place to make it cheaper and better. just an idea. micdeez if you can please add me to group? thanks I brought terry road box hill in June 2022 House was meant to be completed Nov 2023 That did not happen I had to chase them so much to the land Registration and… 0 2855 Howdy all. 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