Venturai's build - Ultimate St Marks HBC, Banksia Grove WA

Looks GREAT!
Fencing looks good too...we arehaving the same colour in our estate. Our dog wouldn't dig under the fence, he would just dig a hole right in the middle of the grass! Why bother getting next door?!!!

Public transport, i have been so lucky with it! I got up early one day, drove to the station, jumped on the train, got off at the city, walked up the steps and saw Muzz Buzz coffee (no longer there though) and got myself a coffee, walked to the busport a mere 20m away, looked at few screens, saw what bus to catch and it was only in a few minutes...jumped on, go along beaufort street, ring the bell when i recognise familiar settings to school and a 5 or so minute walk to work, in Inglewood.
Great, now i follow that route/time pretty much...it isn't in the city, but just obviously very lucky to have trains and buses follow so nice!!!
Due to peak hour, train/bus is just so much quicker!!! I don't even bother looking at timetables now, there is always a train/bus going that way, 10 mins apart, i don't have to stress. I am always early for work, i get there before 8, so I would never be late...unless I drove!
And i enjoy my down time on the train...must be my job! I need the time of no stress for an hour or so to calm my head!

Enjoying watching your build and seeing the good work being done!

The render around the main bedroom window is colorbond woodland grey - the same as our roof. All other rendering is cloudy sky. I like how some people have gone with coloured renders, we've seen bright blue and even bright red, but we both think that's risky because they're choosing colours that may potentially not mix and match well with others.

This sort of thing, they should have software setup for. Without a doubt. And nobody's gonna tell me they couldn't do that. You'd input all of your choices, and then you'd see almost exactly how it would look. Not just with the renders, but also with things like choosing cabinets and bench tops. That would be great.



Yeah that's a long way away. We'd like to have the sides paved, but that's really about it. The back area being all grass would be nice. We were surprised when we saw it too, we didn't think our back yard was going to be that big. We have a couple of power points out there, I'd love to get sausages on a portable gas stove, that'd be great on a not-too-hot day with a couple beers, some good music and good company



Ours wouldn't have to dig. There is literally so much space already, he could squeeze under the fence quite easily, and then he'd be in our neighbour's back yard. I'm not sure if more sand is something I could ask for at PCI, but I'm going to try anyway



I gotta admit mate, you're really selling it. I'll see when I'm up there, and I realise that nothing beats the train for getting somewhere fast. I work in Belmont though, and it's just really not well situated for it, meaning I'd either have to switch to the other train line or suffer a long bus ride (too). I might try it once or twice, and see how I feel about it. I do like the thought of being able to relax during the ride though, and I'd imagine I would save money by not having to fill my car every three days

I always miss updates! Looking good venturai need more pics! When did your built start? Friends of ours built with HBC and it started in July (slab down) and they had their inspection on tues and got keys this morning..

Our slab went down mid-to-late August, and our inspection is still slated for late January (until we've been told otherwise). We're heading up tomorrow though (Saturday), so hopefully there will have been enough change to warrant a new set of pics, despite it only having been a week.

Interesting that your friends only had about three days between their inspection and getting the keys. Most people in these parts talk about a 10 day wait after that PCI, presumably to give the builder time to fix whatever's come up. Nice to know that they can get the keys to you much quicker though if there's little left to be done.

Could you ask your friends for us if they went with an independant inspector? We're still 50/50 on getting it done or not. A workmate of mine didn't, and some would say there's not much point now with the walls having been covered and all that. Peace of mind would be nice, but being able to drop that $500-$700 we'd save on something else would be nice too.

It's actually quite amusing, but if we get it done and the inspector says that our house is actually in really good condition, I'm not sure whether I'll be happy about that, or annoyed

Hi Venturai,

Regarding the independent building inspector, I decided pretty early on that I won't be getting one.

I read on someone else's thread that getting an independent building inspector in WA is pretty pointless. I can't recall all of the reasoning, but essentially they were saying that, even if your inspector finds something wrong, they are under no obligation to do anything about it, or will just drag things out, or not give you your keys..... etc

That's not why I'm not getting one. I'm not getting one because a) If there's anything majorly wrong, I figure it should be covered by warranties and I should be able to discover it for myself. b) The building codes in Australia (and WA) are quite strict compared to other parts of the world and it wouldn't do the builders any favours to not stick to them, c) I trust my building company will do a good job (this could be my naivete speaking!) and d) I'm stingy!!! I'd much rather spend the $500-$1000 on paint or air conditioning! As I don't believe builders could get away with building structurally unsound homes in this part of the world, there may be annoying little things all over the place, but I don't believe they would be so terrifying that my house will fall down around me or put me in any danger..... The OH&S laws in this country would be enough to prevent that from happening!

So, yeah... I may be a naive little first home builder, but, that's my reasoning! Maybe if you do a forum search for "Independent building inspector" you'll find some other, more informed opinions

It's picture time!!










Really happy with the progress that's been made this time, even though it's only been a week. When they want to, they can really get stuck into it, and get many things done.

I absolutely love the front render. The contrast of that darker grey in front of the lighter render behind it really works for me. They still have a little to do, many of the remaining areas that are still awaiting their final coat (such as the front door) are to be done as cloudy sky. The garage door is woodland grey, the same as the feature panel to bedroom 1 and the roof.

Great to see the flooring was in. It looked a little darker than we remember in places, but that's just because the blinds are also in (!!), most of which have been left shut. The carpet in my theatre room is noticeably darker. Couldn't really get a good shot of the lino that we picked, so here's a pic from the sample booklet at our trip to Carpet Call many months ago:



We have that basically at the entryway and the large open area (family, dining, and kitchen). From what we could see, it all looks wonderful. The power point in the kitchen that wasn't discovered for ages has been fixed fully, which is great.

I think we're going to give the inspector a miss Caz, pretty much for the reasons you described. It's a toss-up, but as you said they're under no obligation to fix what may come up anyway, and that is money I'd very much rather be able to put elsewhere. That and, the Homebuyers Centre provides a 25 year structural guarantee on their homes anyway, and that's good enough for me.

At this stage, we are definitely just a week or two away from our inspection. We're due an update at the end of this coming week, and I wouldn't be surprised if our PCI is booked in for the following.

Yay!!! Very exciting Venturai

It looks like you're certainly on your way! With the garage and blinds and flyscreens! Paving. Painting! Etc! All very exciting!

More dancing hands

Yeah it's pretty exciting hey. I'm about ready to start drafting that letter to our landlord informing him of our intent to vacate the property in 21 days. Been looking forward to doing this for months now, I must admit.

We shopped around for air con units on Saturday also, but didn't really have as much luck as I thought we would. I'd kinda hoped, what with considering buying two split-systems, that I might be able to get a good deal like them halving the installation price for the second, something like that. But no, none of them would budge.

As it turns out then, because none of them make it worth your while buying more than one, we're just going to open with one initially, in the main bedroom. For all I know, the theatre will be one of the cooler rooms in the house anyway, and by the time we move, summer will be just about half-over as it is. This way, we can judge how it is in there, and if we want, save up over the year for any additional units we may feel are required in advance of summer next year.

Just read your thread dude and I must say your place looks awesome. Bet your hanging to get in there soon. Im a first home buyer too so Im feeling all your emotions your thread shows!

Hell yeah, that I am. It's a great, great time.

Read through your blog too. Nice trick with the helicopter mate, you suave devil you!

Haha all my mates hate me now Ive set the standard

Yeah you don't really hear about it being done like that anymore. Course, if one of my mates had done that, I'd have joked that she only said yes because she'd have felt it was either that or she had to jump!

All jokes aside, that was pretty neat, and definitely one to tell the grandkids

hehe ive heard everything joke you could think of to do with flying, marriage, you name it. I just like the fact I did it where we will be living

Yeah mate that's the kicker, anyone could've written it anywhere, that you did it on your land where it really means something just tops it off. Good on ya.

We haven't heard from Homebuyers yet this week (although we're due an update), but we're fully expecting a date and time for the inspection. Even though it's going to mean a much longer drive to work, I'm dying to get in there now.

We have a PCI date of Wednesday, 1st February! That and, I just got an email from Homebuyers to let me know our build is scheduled to hit the stage Practical Completion this Friday 27th.

We will definitely be going up again then on Saturday 28th. You can definitely expect more photos!

YAY congrats

So exciting - but stressful! Write yourself a good list of all the things you want to remember to check during that inspection, its so easy to get caught up in how nice everything looks and miss little details.

So handover should be about 2 weeks after that inspection?

Sorry to tell you but the work really starts after handover! We are almost ready to move into ours. Bamboo flooring was finished today and looks amazing. just a few little jobs and then we can move in.

Look forward to more pictures after Saturday's visit. Be sure to try the doors, ours was usually left unlocked so we were able to get in!

YAY CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Can't wait to see the photos!!! This is all very exciting!!!

Oh yeah, I found some nice PCI suggestions in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20864. Going to definitely do pretty much all of that, including taking off our shoes and socks while we walk around. Pretty much decided to pass on having an independent inspector go through, just can't justify it with our funds at present.

They do say handover typically happens after a reinspection, which is usually done two weeks after the first. We work that out with the site manager on the day. It all depends on the condition of the house - it's tempting to rush it, cause we want to move ASAP, but I'm not going to force it if things come up that need fixing. On the other hand, if very little comes up, the sooner the better is fine with me. I've read a lot of complaints from people though, that once their builders have the money, they never hear from them again. Because of that, I want to make sure ours is in A1 condition before we make that final payment. None of this we'll fix it after you move in rubbish. Yeah, like hell they will.

We always try all of the doors, but alas... they're never unlocked I'd have loved that one time, we're round the back at the laundry entrance or something, and I'm like Beth! This door's unlocked!... and in we go!

Not looking forward to all the extra work, but speaking of which, your place sounds like it's really coming along. Where are all your photos, huh?



Hehe yeah that's pretty much how we're feeling right now!! To think that this next visit will be our last before our inspection. Cannot wait!

I swear I'm gonna take a picture of the keys when we get them too!

haha yes I did that. And a photo of me turning the key in the front door the first time.


100% agree - don't hand over the final payment until you are happy with everything. If anything is outstanding, basically think about whether you'd be happy if that gets left for 6 months (until the end of the maintenance period deadline) or not done at all. We had three items outstanding after final payment, but I'm the sort of person that calls enough to hassle them that it gets done. Last items were fixed yesterday

The best tip I picked up (which most people probably know) is that the last payment is by bank cheque so you hand it over when you get the keys, I was worried the bank would make the payment before I was ready, but it's all on your terms when you are holding the cheque.

I will post some photos of the flooring

Oh don't you worry, I'll be recording that with my 4th gen Ipod Touch Every time we've gone up there I've made a 10 minute video. Kinda weird watching ones from back when we're walking around and it's just the slab - or even before. Feels like a long time ago...



I've thought about the cheque thing, but I don't know. It's just so 20th century! Must admit though I'd like to be able to dictate like that, but still be able to get the keys basically on the eve of that second inspection (if we have one) by handing it over when I'm ready.

Homebuyers are actually really pushy in this respect. They like their money, that's for damn sure. The letter we got basically said that "payment is required regardless of whether a pre-handover inspection has taken place and regardless of minor items that may require completion or rectification."

The trick, of course, is what constitutes something major and what constitues something minor. I think it's a bit of a grey area, to be honest. If something I view as relatively major comes up, I'm not about to authorise the payment before it's fixed to my satisfaction, am I? And yet, if the second inspection takes place a full two weeks after the first, that 10 working days will have come and gone, so they're going to be charging us interest?

They might build half-decent houses, but it's just as well, because if they didn't, I don't know why anyone would ever want to do business with them.