Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 28, 2009 10:12 pm Hi everyone, I've posted a couple of times now and I guess I should probably say howdy before I go on and on and on lol I have just moved down to Melbourne from Canberra, on my own and have decided to sell my house back in Canberra to try and make a proper go of the move. I've gone from living in my own home for the past 10 years to moving here and having to rent. Its been really really difficult to settle in and I'm struggling with the change and not knowing anyone here too does not help So I thought what the hell, I'll sell up and build a nice new home for myself and my lovely pooch Any other woman out there who are doing this on their own?? I'm finding it really hard so far not having anyone to talk to about it. And I'm really worried about being 'done over' when they get wind that I'm on my own and don't know squat about building lol Any suggestions and/or advice?? I've just taken the very 1st step and put a deposit on a piece of land in Moorookyle. I almost burst into tears when I did that, imagine what I'm going to be like when I get the house I'm not 100% happy with the land, its a good size and all just not the orientation I was striving for. The front of the land is probably facing NNE The house I'm considering has the garage and master bedroom in the front and the living areas to the right hand side of the house (looking at the house from the street)...luckily I guess it will get some of the northly sun *I hope* But unfortunately there aren't a lot of lots out there to chose from, so I decided to bite the bullet with this one. I have a vague idea of the steps involved, but I guess I'm doubting myself that I can do this on my own. This is going to be a major event in my life I'm guessing! I have really enjoyed reading all the posts on here and have read soooo many blogs that I am going to start one of my own. Hope to chat with you all over the next couple of months And thanks for the advice so far Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 2Apr 28, 2009 10:17 pm Welcome Eljay - wow what a daunting position - new to the city and ur taking such a bold step. Congratulations I am lucky enought to be sharing this build with my partner (so he gets most of my ranting) however we are still reletively young (early early 20s) and often feel like we have no idea what we were doing. You should have seen the mess we nearly got ourselves into just buying the land!...anyway just wanted to say welcome and good for you. There are a many a wise people on this forum so I am sure you will be able to get plenty of useful assistance. Good luck with the build! Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 3Apr 28, 2009 10:21 pm (for a minute there I thought you were trying to pick up!) hey eljay, don't worry about going it alone, think of it as "your" time, because when you hook up, like me, nothing is "mine" anymore I've noticed!!! but hey, we are building right near you, not in your estate but pretty close by, so I'll be watching your progress! Congrats on making the move and signing the contracts, it's very nerve racking isn't it! Annie A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 4Apr 28, 2009 10:23 pm hi eljay! single mum, 21 years old, building a 22 sqare house with coral homes in fernvale qld (about an hour from brissy) very excited & so is my 2 year old! our land settles next week and we are now at tender stage and waiting for the contract to be ordered. there are quite a few bachelorettes on this forum - great girls, very determined and very strong. good luck!!! 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 5Apr 28, 2009 10:27 pm hi eljay congrats on your purchase we are owner building but ive basically done it all myself as far as the organizing,planning,scheduling ect ect hubby is purely the labourer and his very happy to stay that way if you research each step before you talk to tradies you can talk like you know what your doing ive found ive been treated fine by tradies in fact i think they explain things better as they dont think i know anything but whether your male or female you can get ripped off if you dont watch it so if something seems too high get more quotes untill your satisfied and take your time ive loved every minute so far and its only getting better every day good luck cant wait for the pics and updates cheers shelley stay safe happy building Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 6Apr 28, 2009 10:29 pm Hi Annie, I was wondering if someone might think that when I went back and re read my heading lol BTW my name is Lorree, I forgot to mention that Its VERY daunting and I just don't know what to do basically. I really hope I've made the right decision, I guess I will find out soon Arhhh thats right your building in CP aren't you? Your not to far away either. I've noticed that the north and east sides get a huge work out on here. Lots of people building that way. They even have BBQ's lol I think I've decided to go with the builder who had reasonable good inclusions and some upgrades weren't to bad, but they have a built in price for the site costs. And thats what was worrying me more. I have got the choice to take the fixed site costs of $10k or get the package where I pay $5k and get $17k worth of 'stuff'. What would you choose? Arrhhh so many things going around in my head, I'm actually not sleeping very well. I think its because I'm bottling everything up lol I hope people don't get sick of me on here to soon Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 7Apr 28, 2009 10:32 pm Annietom (for a minute there I thought you were trying to pick up!) Hahah that was my thought too when I saw the topic! I'm also building on my own in Melbourne but in Mernda, which is North. It can be quite a scary and overwhelming process, but you can do it! Especially with the help of all the awesome people on here! Seriously, I don't think I would be as well informed if it wasn't for everyone here. My land should settle on 5th May (OMG 1 week!) and building will begin before the end of May Best of luck with your build! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 8Apr 28, 2009 10:38 pm Building with Coral 2009 hi eljay! single mum, 21 years old, building a 22 sqare house with coral homes in fernvale qld (about an hour from brissy) very excited & so is my 2 year old! our land settles next week and we are now at tender stage and waiting for the contract to be ordered. there are quite a few bachelorettes on this forum - great girls, very determined and very strong. good luck!!! Awww thanks Jess, wow I'm impressed your doing this with a 2 year old??? I just have me and dog and I thought that was bad enough lol You must be reeeeally excited!! I'll keep an eye out for your updates bec_e Welcome Eljay - wow what a daunting position - new to the city and ur taking such a bold step. Congratulations I am lucky enought to be sharing this build with my partner (so he gets most of my ranting) however we are still reletively young (early early 20s) and often feel like we have no idea what we were doing. You should have seen the mess we nearly got ourselves into just buying the land!...anyway just wanted to say welcome and good for you. There are a many a wise people on this forum so I am sure you will be able to get plenty of useful assistance. Good luck with the build! So you have decided to wear the pants in the family huh?? good on you - go girl power hehe Thanks for the welcome, I hope I don't get myself into trouble, although I wouldn't put it past me!! Good luck with your build and I'll keep an eye out for your updates too lisanne Annietom (for a minute there I thought you were trying to pick up!) Hahah that was my thought too when I saw the topic! I'm also building on my own in Melbourne but in Mernda, which is North. It can be quite a scary and overwhelming process, but you can do it! Especially with the help of all the awesome people on here! Seriously, I don't think I would be as well informed if it wasn't for everyone here. My land should settle on 5th May (OMG 1 week!) and building will begin before the end of May Best of luck with your build! Thanks Lisanne, 1 week away?!?! O.k, how do you keep your nerves under control?? My biggest problem is that I can't stop my brain from working overtime while I'm trying to get to sleep. I think I've aged about 5 years already lol Thanks everyone Lorree Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 9Apr 28, 2009 10:40 pm hey eljay, don't listen to Bingo, if you start chatting to the tradies, and they find out your single - they'll try to pick YOU up!!! lol As for your purchase dilemmas, it is so important that you work out what you want in a house, and THEN seek a builder. I say this because if you want higher ceilings, then go with a builder that offers that standard (or in a current promotion), not as an upgrade. Alternatively, if you don't care if it comes with carpet, then don't worry if the builder doesn't offer that in a current promotion etc. So the $17,000 deal you are tossing up over all comes down to whether the deal offers what you want. If it offer stuff that others offer standard, then you may be getting ripped off. When buying a home (ie. choosing a builder), you must sit down and compare apples with apples. Promotions and sales people are designed for many potential buyers, but that may not be you... you have to work all that out first. DOn't get pushed into buying something without being confident it is the right choice for you. AND I say this particularly to you, because you are buying alone (ie. You are very vulnerable to a good sales person who makes you feel comfortable) - well I would be anyway!!! haha Annie Let us know what you are looking for (upgrades etc) in a floorplan and we can suggest builders, and who are you considering now? A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 10Apr 28, 2009 10:51 pm Hi Lorree, welcome to the forum. Doing it by yourself in a new city, congrats on your courage!!! . Altho i'm not building alone, it is quite daunting as we are also very new to this whole process. So I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. Stick with this forum as there are many people on here which really really know what they are talking about. And i guess you can consider this forum your partner, if that makes sense. Any issues about anything like colours, changes etc, post it on here and everyone is more than willing to give you their two cents . Dont even think you're alone because you're not!!! Where abouts are you building? Is that West side? I've never heard of it before. Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 11Apr 28, 2009 11:08 pm Annie, I'll try this again, I had just typed out the last message and then it disappeared grrrr I'm thinking of building with East West. I don't think the base price for the house is to bad, its once you start adding on the extras that it creeps up. Their base price is about $186k. Thats for 4 bedrooms, carpets, tiles, remote garage, fencing, fly screens to all windows, window locks, H slab, fix site costs of 10k, there were quite a few others. Then I needed to change a few things and then the price crept up to 205k. Which is my limit. That included upgrading to 2550 ceilings, hooking plumbing up for grey water, extending rumpus in lieu of alfresco, cavity roller doors, glass splash back, upgrading to 900mm SS oven/stove and 3 weeks to contract. The other builder I'm considering is Carlisle, but the one I liked has pushed my budget over and it doesn't include the site costs at 215k. I am really really confused!! AND I almost feel like I should go with East West the sales guy has been so very nice, and he found me this land today. I've been chatting to him off and on for over a month now and would feel horrible if I went with someone now. I know thats irrational but I'd feel guilty. Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 12Apr 28, 2009 11:10 pm wonderland Hi Lorree, welcome to the forum. Doing it by yourself in a new city, congrats on your courage!!! . Altho i'm not building alone, it is quite daunting as we are also very new to this whole process. So I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. Stick with this forum as there are many people on here which really really know what they are talking about. And i guess you can consider this forum your partner, if that makes sense. Any issues about anything like colours, changes etc, post it on here and everyone is more than willing to give you their two cents . Dont even think you're alone because you're not!!! Where abouts are you building? Is that West side? I've never heard of it before. LOL Wonderland, I don't know if you'd call it courage - how bout stupidity?? lol I'm building out in the west in Tarneit. Are you this side??? Yes I've noticed that everyone on here is so willing to help and thats great, I have learnt alot just from lurking. I'm starting to feel all warm and fussy thanks Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 13Apr 28, 2009 11:17 pm Dont be modest!! No I'm actually from South East, so pretty far from where you are. I'm in the estate which is having the bbq . Warm and fuzzy, that's a good start Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 14Apr 28, 2009 11:22 pm hahaha maybe I should build over there, just so I can go to the BBQ Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 15Apr 29, 2009 10:26 am Yup I'm doing it by myself and I know what you mean about not having anyone to talk to it about. I guess for some people it would seem to be easier to make all the decisions yourself as theres no-one else to please but the downside is that you have to make every single decision regardless of whether you care about it or not. My biggest issue at first was getting taken seriously. It seems I'm quite young looking and I guess going to meet builders wearing jeans and a hoodie didn't help but every time I took my Mum with me It was sorta assumed that I was still living at home with my parents ! Oh yeah and getting hit on - never happened enough.... Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 16Apr 29, 2009 12:43 pm Hi Eljay! I'm another single girl building on my own. So far so good thankfully! My place is at lockup and the cupboards went in yesterday (I really should start a thread for my build, I'm so lazy ). I've found the process pretty smooth, the hardest part was probably the bank stuff but I think that's expected from banks lol. Being on my own meant I was very interested in customer service reviews of the builders. It's a big reason I went with the builder I did, because I was really trying to avoid any issues as much as possible and luckily for me it worked out so far! I haven't found any problems with not being taken seriously, although I am the sort of person to always ask for discounts at stores and be generally assertive so that could help On a side note: ozkarnak - I would always go to the displays and office wear jeans and a hoodie too, they're the best! This forum was seriously the best thing for me during the process There are so many things I would never have thought of and then been disappointed later! Also I had a friend who had just finished building their 2nd house to help me out, so that was great too. I had to laugh when you said your brain won't shut off when you're trying to sleep. I had that too, mostly about the finance and then about the colours for a while but then I just got over it and accepted things and figured if I hate it it's the first go so it's ok and also I can just change it at a later stage. Let's face it, most things look alright anyway, even if you don't LOVE it, it'll look fine. All the best for your build! Keep us informed since we'll always be interested, even when your friends get tired of hearing about trying to choose the right white for the walls hehe. Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 17Apr 29, 2009 12:53 pm Well I'm going to contribute to this thread, even though I'm male! I'm a single dad, with a 3 year old daughter (shared access - I look after her each weekend).... So I wanted to post here and say I'm in the same position, just of the opposite gender! I'm building in the western side of Melbourne (West Melton actually... just waiting for land settlement which will happen late June). All my family is in Adelaide, so I'm doing this all by myself, and this is my first place.... So I was worried about being "taken for a ride". Look at it this way - I'm a guy with no clue about style, and I'm fast approaching having to do the colour selection for my house. I am soooo out of my depth here... I don't think I've ever been so stressed before! This forum has really opened my eyes though, and given me hints, tips and pricing estimates so I don't get stung too badly from the builder. Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 18Apr 29, 2009 1:11 pm Dark Angel I had to laugh when you said your brain won't shut off when you're trying to sleep. I had that too, mostly about the finance and then about the colours for a while but then I just got over it and accepted things and figured if I hate it it's the first go so it's ok and also I can just change it at a later stage. Let's face it, most things look alright anyway, even if you don't LOVE it, it'll look fine. Same here! my brain would often just not shut down and I would wake up at 3am worried about something LOL! The night before my colours and electrical appointment I got about 2 or 3 hrs sleep or something stupid! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 19Apr 29, 2009 1:39 pm Eljay I am really really confused!! AND I almost feel like I should go with East West the sales guy has been so very nice, and he found me this land today. I've been chatting to him off and on for over a month now and would feel horrible if I went with someone now. I know thats irrational but I'd feel guilty. Hi eljay - and welcome. Just wanted to encourage you to not feel guilty if you don't go with East West - they will get over it. I think it is so important to go with the house design you love the most (and can afford), as that can't be easily changed later. Of course many builders have sort of similar designs, so you then might narrow down based on inclusions and perceived value for money - and that is a hard thing to judge. Just remember every promotion is definitely factored into the base price - so it is only value if you want the things in it. We are building with Carlisle and we have had a few gripes along the way like everyone does, but nothing major and we are overall very happy. We are hoping to get a handover date soon, so very close. However, we got close to contract with two other builders first. Congrats on doing this yourself, you should have a ball. It can be lots of fun in the planning, and very exciting during the build. Just ask lots of questions and you will get lots of help as you need it. Jo Jo Settled In - Home Search and Relocation Services - http://www.settledin.com.au http://www.movingbacktotassie.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?t=9571 Re: Any single women out there doing the build on your own?? 20Apr 29, 2009 5:23 pm Hi Eljay I'm 27 and building a unit on my own. I found it very daunting doing all the selections by myself, but as some people have said at least everything is going to be exactly how I will like it... Great job on buying land and good luck on the house. I look forward to watching the house coming together... Kristy The DIY project can be broken into two major steps. Planning and Design and Construction. Both of these steps are as important as one another to ensure you give… 0 5160 Hi group, have some damage to the door frame and skirting board. It's a side door to the laundry area. Only has a security door. I had a termite inspection (note drill… 0 5051 0 2013 |