Building Lexington Belle Q1 by Henley In Mickleham Melbourne

Hi Guys,

Saw too many threads and could not find some answers. So, thought to start my own thread.

I am building Lexington Belle Q2 with Henley - http://www.henley.com.au/content/pdfs/b ... lle-q2.pdf

Given the first deposit and about to give second deposit soon but not sure about the upgrade costs in henley's cosham COLOURS Office.

The base price of house is 207000.
Site Cost - 9400+3077(OH&S)
Reestablishment fee - 850
Bushfire - 4000
6 star energy rating - 370
Recycled water - 2984

So basically i am on about - 228000 without any upgrade. I am a first home buyer and need your help in figuring out which upgrades are really really important in regards to

1 - house must look good as we are spending that much on it.
2 - comfortable living for ourselves.
3 - giving on rent or selling after 5 to 10 years

Basically, i just dont want to spned anything which doesnot add value to the property and dont want to leave anything which is important for the resale of the house.

Thanks guys please feel free to write whatever comes to your mind. Its a brainstorming thread

So your at 230k with site works, so perhaps anothe 50-80k to finish ( just guessing I don't know the scope of your build )

But if you want it to look good, be comfortable and have value for resale put more in it. If you want to rent it out put less. I'd say you have a difficult choice , I wish you luck

I am more inclined towards renting it after 5 years than selling. Also, you scared the hell out of me man. 50 to 80 k? its a lot. Is that average henley customer spend to upgrade the house to a good look and comfortable living?

We're about one step ahead of you.
Just paid our second deposit, and have had our info session already.

Henley's got a tonne of good inclusions, you could get away without spending much more if you're not planning on staying. 5 years does go quick though - so you do still want to be comfortable in it just incase you do live there longer than planned.

To give you a rough idea.. we've only added about $12k worth of extras and are pretty happy:

- Intercom
- Alarm
- Ducted Vacuum system
- Shower Niche
- 40mm Benchtop to island
- Raised Door Entry
- Raised Master B/R entry
- Downlights under kitchen cupboards
- Fridge Tap
- Sliding door upgrade to dressers for more room
- Square Set Cornice to living
and Full front render

Majority of these might not add value, but things like raised ceiling, entry way, square set would add value, whereas the others are more of a luxury.

Bank Valuators won't consider things like fancy benches, lights, fancy doors, paint, etc.. though it may appeal more to a buyer who may want to spend a little more.

I think you're on a good wicket, especially with those site costs, they're cheap compared to ours! You can really almost get away without doing any extras if you really wanted to with Henley, and still have a really nice house with all their standard inclusions.

The options at Cosham Interiors have pretty good standard options too.

Also, don't forget to consider things after hand over too.
- Driveway
- Blinds (can add up to a few $k pretty quickly)
- Landscaping
- Clothesline
- Letterbox
- Furniture
- Appliances.. etc, etc.

If you get quotes on some things, like driveway, you may be able to submit the quote and get it part of your loan too.
And does your quote include flooring? You'll need room for that if it doesn't too.

Hi, Really good info, what i needed.

Which house you are building?
Aren't you going for full house downlights?
I actually have to get porcelain tiles in whole house, so i am thinking to get it done after handover.
After handover

1 - 50 downlights
2 - fencing
3 - driveway and path
4 - clothesline
5 - letterbox
6 - Blinds
7 - flyscreens



are u upgrading appliances or using technika or got credit for them and get your own after handover?

its a lot to think and decide.

Thanks for letting me know that i can include outside quotes as well in the loan. I didn't know that. I am going for information session soon and will see all the prices and things.

What about all the rest of the doors in the house? just plain white? what about laundry and pantry doors?

Standard doors are all plain white. Laundry door is glass door. But you can upgrade doors from as low as 30 dollars a door if you would like to

I'm building the Carmelle Lux Q2.

We'll be getting the luxury light pack, which includes:
LED 9 Watt 650 lumens (20)
Wall Light Point (Includes Batten Holder) (4)
Dimmer Switch (2)
Two-way Switch (1)
External junction boxes (BV or Solid Brick Wall) (4)
Exterior Single Flood Light with Daylight Sensor - Telbix Model: Magneto (1)
Exterior Double Flood Light with Daylight Sensor- Telbix Model: Magneto (1)
1200mm double fluorescent light in lieu of standard (1)
Delete standard ceiling batten light CREDIT (7)

and will add any extra downlights after handover.

We've deleted the dishwasher, but kept the provision and plumbing for it. Will be getting our own Bosch dishwasher after handover.. still debating what to do with the Technika ovens. We want a freestanding cooktop, but most of the upgraded ones have four little legs instead of the metal plate at the bottom.. which I can see being a nightmare with dirt getting under them. So doing a bit of research on that now still.

Also deleted the hanging rails for the dressers and will get that fitted out later. Hanging rails aren't quite enough in my opinion.

Got $495 back for the dishwasher, $220 I think for the dressing rails.

Yep, just be sure to have the quotes and bring them up with your broker. He mentioned this to us. But the only issue is they wont be paid until the house is complete and you've gotten handover (though Henley normally wont allow any external trades in during the build so shouldn't be a problem).

Yep, all plain white doors, and not going to bother raising them.. figured the entry and the master are the first you see, the rest is pretty open plan. Not too fussed about the spare bedrooms.

I am going with MILTON FACADE. I find it good enough for me. What do you guys say? anyone seen milton facade before?

Also, i am upgrading ducted heating to zoned heating and getting all the led lights from henley itself.

I haven't seen the Milton in person, but looks like a good facade online.

How much did they set you back to zone the heating? That's one of the things we're looking to find more info about at our next session.

A rough idea of $2000 for zoned heating but we use heating a lot so its better for us to go for it.

Thanks, might have to rethink my budget!

Given 2nd deposit to Henley yesterday. Now its non refundable. Still not sure which colours i should choose for my home. Thinking about cream/chocolate or coffee but its still pending. Not sure how long they take to appoint admin. Anyone have any colours idea? More interested in forever colours.

Admin called and booked appointments for colour 19th May and tender/contract same day for 18th June. Still not sure which colours though.

Sounds like they've put you on the quiktrack program. They wanted to put us on that, but told them I wasn't signing anything until land settled.. so extended the dates out.

Have you had an info session at Cosham yet?
Just do a few trips there before your colours appointment. We've been there twice already, they've got some set colourboards up you can see too.

Actually i wanted it to be fast tracked because we are getting building and land loan as 1 loan. Let me know if i am doing anything wrong or broker is playing a game with us as i have a feeling.

Land is going to settle in August.

I have been there just once for information session and was very confused in regards to colours and upgrades. specially colours.

I think for most circumstances it should be fine.
I'm just weary of signing things too far ahead.

Our main reason for waiting till settlement first is because we got our land pretty cheap compared the the estates selling price.
When it settles, we'll be then refinancing the land and house into one loan aswell, but as the land will have titled, we're hoping evaluators will value the land at what the going rate is, meaning we'll have quite a bit in equity to drop our Mortgage Insurance down. If we signed and refinanced now, they'd go off the contract price we paid as part of the valuation.

Just make a few trips. Also might be worth visiting Henleys suppliers showrooms, like their flooring suppliers, tiling suppliers etc.
We've got an appointment to see the tiling warehouse on Monday at Hynes Tiles. May be worth giving them a call and also making an appointment if you think that'd help.

I think as long as you keep neutral colours and not go with bright fancy colours for splashbacks etc, you should be pretty fine and nothing should really outdate.

Yeah, You are absolutely right according to your circumstances. I need unconditional approval as soon as possible because i think job circumstances of my wife soon change and i dont want any risk. Also the current price is already 10k higher the price we bought for. I have very less knowledge of financial things like whats good for valuation but what i know is i need unconditional approval asap to cover the risk of loosing land deposit.

I am getting my own flooring so not visiting their suppliers. regarding Colours i am thinking about cream/offwhite and chocolate/coffee. Still confused