Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 28, 2007 12:07 am We are just about to pour our slab and I keep finding extra things that I haven't included in the cost of the build i.e.
. tiling on the terrace . dishwasher . grass (yes it is expensive) . last minute adjustment to the shower screens (frameless) . storm water . uplights at the front When does it stop? I'm bound the have the largest mortgage in Australia.  (doubtful but it is getting ominous)
Please tell me that the extra $ in the kitty will stretch far enough to accommodate these last minute costs. Re: When is enough .. enough? 2Nov 28, 2007 12:24 am For your sake i hope it does..... Hope santa will be kind to you? Re: When is enough .. enough? 3Nov 28, 2007 12:29 am  **Phoenix**For your sake i hope it does..... Hope santa will be kind to you? lol yes - our parents would probably give us cash to avoid us living with them   31 May 2007 1,041 Member Re: When is enough .. enough? 6Nov 28, 2007 9:15 am LOL - um, YES! We are hitting the $300K mark (all up, including all costs) and we can't afford to exceed that so anything not included now will have to wait (i.e garden) until the funds become available. This is about $20K more than we anticipated when we started - but you know how it goes: you see the upgrade - you want it; you look at the plans - you've missed something; you go back to the display - you notice something not included...
As we have reasoned - all that can't be changed later (or will be extremely difficult) we had to decided if we pay the extra now, or just live with the basic. Anything else can wait... We'll call it a work in progress. And by the time we are done we might have to start renovations  
Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: When is enough .. enough? 8Nov 28, 2007 9:42 am We were supposed to get a second hand house for around $250K we built new and passed $400K a while ago.
I think the idea is - you'd rather be paying $400K for a house you love than $250K for a house you tolerate. Some of the things on your list can be done afterwards as well - we left the dishwasher/deck/fencing/landscaping for later on once we have moved in. Each Xmas or Birthday present to each other will no doubt consist of topsoil and timber for the next 10 years!! Just build it the way I want and everything will be okay. 31 May 2007 1,041 Member Re: When is enough .. enough? 11Nov 28, 2007 10:29 am DeeElle there will always be something that we want or need. Interior decorating must haves, garden features, new gumboots. Just prioritise and put off what you can - if you can. There is no point overstretching yourselves. Not worth the stress. Isn't this process supposed to be enjoyable? Re: When is enough .. enough? 12Nov 29, 2007 4:46 pm  bmpWe were supposed to get a second hand house for around $250K we built new and passed $400K a while ago. I think the idea is - you'd rather be paying $400K for a house you love than $250K for a house you tolerate. Some of the things on your list can be done afterwards as well - we left the dishwasher/deck/fencing/landscaping for later on once we have moved in. Each Xmas or Birthday present to each other will no doubt consist of topsoil and timber for the next 10 years!! Yes we passed the same milestone a while ago. Our loans manager laughs maniacally when he hears my voice on the phone  .
We finally, finally agreed on a price today. Lots of backwards and forwards between us and the builder while we deleted some items and added others. There are so many last minute things that we hadn't considered and I can guarantee a few more will appear as the build progresses. I couldn't believe it when our builder charged us $65 for an extra double powerpoint and $385 for an external bbq gas point. But I'm getting very excited - they will start preparing the site next week ! BTW: I think we are buying a matched pair of boundary fences for Xmas  12 Nov 2007 177 Melbourne Bronze Member Re: When is enough .. enough? 13Jul 02, 2008 12:30 pm While search for some topics, I encountered this old one. Just thought I'd bring it back to life.
Why doesn't the upgrades/changes/cost ever end? There are so many things that we still want to add even though we've already exceeded our budget... We are currently 35k over our budget. Just want to know how much others exceeded with theirs. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: When is enough .. enough? 14Jul 02, 2008 12:38 pm 2 yrs ago we were hoping to spend $350k - now we'll spend about $100k more 
Haven't even chosen our tiles yet (where I'm sure there will be more upgrades) Luckily we don't need to borrow any more - just comes out of savings. After 4 years - we're in! 23 Apr 2008 3,615 Melbourne Gold Member Re: When is enough .. enough? 15Jul 02, 2008 12:43 pm We didn't really set a budget, we have a figure in mind that we'd like to stick to for the house completed. That will be flooring landscaping etc and I think we will be right in sticking to the budget.
I can say though that we have spent an extra $40,000 on top of the base price for the house. This includes Site Costs, Estate Covenants and a Driveway allowance which total about $20,000. So I guess we added about $20,000 worth of stuff  Blimey
I'm sure we got out of it cheaply, there was other stuff that I would have loved to include but I though the prices were a bit steep so we'll look at doing our own "version" after hand over. Happy at Home Re: When is enough .. enough? 16Jul 02, 2008 2:08 pm We went over budget by about 50k (and that's without land as we removed old house and started again), and I still haven't bought a big rug for our lounge, most of decorating items, kitchen table and chairs, TV, side gates, front garden, so still looking at over 10k. 12 Nov 2007 177 Melbourne Bronze Member Re: When is enough .. enough? 17Jul 02, 2008 5:12 pm Hmm... ours doesn't even include furniture and curtains yet. Its just the house... \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: When is enough .. enough? 18Jul 02, 2008 5:15 pm I'm with dembi - I can't imagine the $$$ we'll spend on furniture and curtains After 4 years - we're in! Re: When is enough .. enough? 19Jul 02, 2008 5:33 pm I don't think its ever too late to make changes and spend more money! Plastering starts tomorrow, and even this week we've had a few minor tweaks to electrical and insulation installation. Once plastering is done, it is almost certain that we'll be specifying a second manhole. And this is on top of about 12 different post contract variations, which wer on top of a contract with over 100 changes to the base house.
We're on our 4th CSO, but luckily the same SS... I guess God didn't use subbies... |
