Suffolk Park - Aussie Living - We gots the keys

Hi there, I'm Ciaran

I wasn't going to do a build thread, had just been reading for a few months but thought I might do one to help any other first home owners with questions or comparisons!

Signed up with Aussie Living Homes in October going through Leon - seems like a great guy.

We were looking all around the Caversham/St Leonards area for a nice size block, my partner Toni would only settle if it were over 400sqm.

We ended up getting a 406sqm block in stage 2 of Suffolk Park, a corner block, due to title anywhere from late Jan to late Feb.
The corner was a bit of an iffy one since I know you tend to lose a bit of land because of the shape of it, and it did limit us to only a few home designs because of the rear being 10m and the front ranging from 12.7 to 17m at the very peak on the corner. But for $285,000 we couldn't turn it down.
Most blocks in this area are now upwards of $315,000 for a 380sqm block so it did seem like a good deal.

We've chosen to build the Independence Promo, and made a few changes to the base design which I think are very much for the better. Some Leon even said he had used in other peoples designs because it was a much better design (for example the ensuite and WIR in the master bedroom have been switched around, giving more vanity space).

We're financing through Keystart, so things sort of needed to be moved along quite quickly as there's the time limit on their pre-approval. We signed the land documents last week of November, and were given 45 days to get formal approval from the lender.
That's all moving along nicely, from that day AL have got the house contracts all drawn up and we've signed them and sent into our broker. Just waiting on Keystart now so we can get our formal approval and can officially say we're 100% building!

I'll keep updating with stuff or answering any questions regarding the process if any readers are interested. I sure was!

Ciaran


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Timeline:
25/10/14 Met with Leon from Aussie in a display home
29/10/14 First real meeting with Leon to go over plans and options
31/10/14 Hold deposit for land (waiting on Keystart approval)
About 2.5 months worth of back and forth with Keystart and further document signings (land/contracts etc), until finally...
13/01/15 Formal approval of finance from Keystart! Land Surveys ordered (still waiting titles though)
29/01/15 Pre-start appointment booked for Feb 25th
25/02/15 Pre-start completed
26/02/15 Settlement!
23/04/15 Building Permit & Final Variations signed
25/05/15 Site works completed, slab prep done.
26/05/15 Slab!
05/06/15 Drainage and Electrical run-in
07/06/15 Soak wells
23/06/15 Brick layers have commenced
28/06/15 Brick layers finished! (5 days!)
06/07/15 Roof frame started
08/07/15 Roof frame completed
08/07/15 Been informed of a 5 week delay for tiles!
13/07/15 Electrical cut in done
15/07/15 Gutters and downpipes done
20/07/15 Plumbing and gas done
07/08/15 Roof tiling commenced
10/08/15 Roof tiling completed
21/08/15 Grey float completed
08/09/15 Ceilings and cornices completed
10/09/15 Windows and glass doors installed
14/09/15 White set completed
15/09/15 Internal doors installed
16/09/15 Lockup!
21/09/15 Windows and front render
23/09/15 Ceiling, cornices and doors painted
01/10/15 Cabinets started
03/10/15 Wet area floors concreted and garage floor pad completed
06/10/15 Wet area tiling commenced
12/10/15 Essastone bench and overhead cabinets installed
13/10/15 Pavers delivered
14/10/15 Splashback started, sinks installed
16/10/15 Roof insulation arrived
19/10/15 Internal electrical completed, gas appliances installed, roof insulation installed, hot water unit installed, splashback completed
20/10/15 Paving completed, toilet installed in ensuite
21/10/15 Second coat of paint done, external light fittings installed
21/10/15 Final paint done, gloss coat of paint done on all downpipes/gutters/internals
27/10/15 Internal clean done in prep for flooring, windows cleaned
28/10/15 Garage doors, door handles, towel rails installed
29/10/15 Commissioning done
31/10/15 Blinds installed
02/11/15 Floorboards installed
03/11/15 PCI Date booked! - 19th November
04/11/15 Shower screens, mirrors and carpets installed
07/11/15 Broke my wrist
14/11/15 Fencing started, minor internal fixes done, met neighbor Steve.
15/11/15 NBN box installed near meter box
19/11/15 PCI Completed!
24/11/15 Fencing completed


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The Independence Promo
Aussie Living Homes
Suffolk Park - Caversham
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This is our current floor plan - mind all the numbers and what not haha



Changes we made were to the theater room - enclosed with sliding door and added a bit more into the room in the bottom left - there was basically a pillar taken out of the room, the kitchen was made larger with a corner pantry and changed island bench into an extended bench to the wall, ensuite was changed as I mentioned above by swapping the WIR and bathroom around, also moved the window to the rear of the room.

We had to make the master bedroom, alfresco and family area 200mm shorter because of the shape of the block and needing the setback from the fence, so that was a small bummer but in the end 200mm isn't a huge amount so it's not too bad.

This is the shape of the block, so you get the idea of why it had to be made smaller

Congratulations Ciaran! I'm building in Suffolk as well. Stage 1 with Ventura. It's been a pain. You can check my building thread.


Kdolls

Thanks kdolls.

Yeah I have been reading your thread, seems like it's been a hard road but at least its getting there!

I'm only around the corner from you

Just got word that the land is meant to be titled by no later than the 20th of January! Earlier than I expected!

Cannot wait, pity I'll be away on site if it does title around that time and will have to wait to get my default "SOLD block" photo

Also means we need to push pre-start back a bit but the away work is to help fund the extras we will be doing during pre-start

Formal approval, so now it's official

Congrats Kron!!!


Kdolls

Thanks kdolls

Titles weren't out on the 20th no suprises there haha. But at least now I can drive around the stage, the fences are down and moved on to the next stage.

Watercorp have been and put in their stuff, everythings in place so now just waiting on Landgate to release the titles! Should be soon, then the real fun/stress begins haha.

We have a block on Topsham way middle of the street, look forward to the build.

Ah cool nice one!

Titles still not out yet, we have now been told mid February, same as you?

This was our last update.


Stage 2

The civil construction of Stage 2 comprising 74 lots is now complete with the Council practical completion anticipated mid-December. Due to road paving supply constraints, Titles are now forecast to be issued late February 2015. The majority of the lots have now been sold, however there are still a number left being sold as house and land packages through the Ventura Home Group so tell your friends to get in quick!

Yep same update we had, but then after that we had a call from the developer and our settlement agent and also our broker who all had the same information saying 20th of January.

We called up a few days ago and they have said mid Feb so no-one really knows what's going on, best to aim for late feb :/

From the developer.


Titles for Stage 2A & 2B we anticipate will issue in about 3 weeks. Water Corporation have signed off their paperwork and it is now with the WA Planning Commission to sign off their clearances, then Landgate issue the titles, which take anywhere from a few days to a week or so

That puts us mid-late February, hopefully they keep that as the deadline.

We went to the blocks, and they now have the little tiles with the lot numbers on them so that's always a good sign!

Our settlement agent said the titles were released yesterday (6th of Feb) and we will be receiving our documents from Keystart soon this week!

We were notified today so finalising loan docs settling end of the month cant wait!

Dont know why we were told several weeks when it went through the next day

Haha yeah I know, maybe they do it just encase there are delays.. either that or they have absolutely no idea what's going on

Our settlement date is listed as 27th of Feb, our prestart is 25th so looking very much forward to that!

Prestart done today, and came in a bit under budget as we got a fair bit back going from tiles to timber laminate floorboards!

Settlement is now due for tomorrow (a day earlier than expected) so good things from here

1 month gone, still just waiting on some shire approvals then scheduling can get under way!