Though we would start a thread to blog our new home build. This is our first time building, it's certainly much harder than buying an already established home! Even though we are building on a 2.5 acre lot we didn't want to build a big house as its only myself, my wife and our son living there. The Montrose 20mkII was a good size for us and the price meant we could spend money on lifestyle additions outdoors as that is where we prefer to spend our time / entertain.
Our journey so far:
May 2019: Contacted Coral Homes via their display home in Port Macquarie and picked a design. Mark the salesman is really good at his job. Patient, lots of practical knowledge and not pushy at all.
June 2019: Initial $1650 deposit paid for soil and contour testing.
June 2019: $2000 paid for bushfire and septic assessments (rural block - no sewer)
September 2019: Plans returned, deposit paid, load approved, land settled
October 2019: Colour, Clipsal and Tile selections completed - really easy as the staff knew their stuff
December 2019: DA approved by council in just 22 days, can start building
January 2020: Final plans due today (07/01)
February 2020: Hoping for building to start
Our modifications were:
- Moved the Bed 2 wall out in line with the other rooms (deleted rear garage door)
- Removed Laundry and repurposed as a butlers pantry minus the sink. Laundry now in garage.
- Added a large window in the family room and the garage
- Added a 5000lt rainwater tank
- Removed built ins to Bed 3 (home office)
- 2550mm ceilings
- South Hamptons facade
- Designer package
- Upgraded all tapware to black, upgraded carpets and various other finishings like rainwater shower heads etc
- Kitchen upgrade (900mm appliances) plus bin drawer, sunken sink, range hood, dishwasher and tiles to the ceiling (splash back)
- Ceiling fans throughout, upgraded exhaust fans to bathrooms and garage above dryer mount
- Added eaves to right hand side wall (none included in plan) which removed internal bulkhead
- Widened hallway walls at entrance
Our budget over-runs were:
- Selections appointment - $3500
- Tiling appointment - $500
- Electrical appointment - $6000
After handover we plan to add:
- 4m x 8m timber deck to rear patio
- Outdoor bar / gazebo to end of deck (included bbq area)
- 6 person spa (electrical points added at clipsal appointment)
- 2 bay carport next to existing garage
- Driveway and fencing
- Vege gardens and chicken pen
- Split system aircon
- Combustion fireplace
- Swimming pool & landscaping
- Solar power
- Security system / cameras / sensor light package
- Crimsafe doors
One thing though, Admin seems to be really slow. We feel like we have to be on to them just to get information which in turn makes us feel like pests. An update once every 2 weeks even by email would be fine by us. Hopefully today we will have our final plans and a build start date. From what we have read on other forums, the process from here is much faster and easier. If the end product is a beautiful house then all the issues in pre-build admin will be a distant memory.
We will come back and update this thread as things progress
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