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After much consideration we have decided to build in Fernville, an estate within the estate of Vermont at Pitt Town. We love the feel of the area, and even though it is further out it holds more appeal to us than say Rouse Hill (community title and tiny blocks) or The Ponds for example.
I would be interested to hear from others who have built there and if they are enjoying the neighbourhood. Anyone else plan to build in this section like us? Just wondering about the demographic and the type of homes being built. The developer says that the majority will be single level and this is our intention also.
How do you see the area taking shape? I envision there won't be too many first home buyers, but think it will appeal to the younger retirees. The blocks have wide side access for vans and boats etc.
It would be nice to 'meet' some new neighbours and we can share this journey together.
Talk soon,
Ally
Hi Ally,
We are building in Fernville at Pitt Town too.
We have a block on Pastoral Street in stage 1.
I am really looking forward to living in Pitt Town, it has a lovely feel when you drive into the area.
Hopefully it will become a reality for us by the end of this year.
Ruth
Hi Ally & Ruth,
We're currently in the process of signing contracts for Fernville (Stage Two).
When I've asked Janet (Sales Consultant) about the demographics, she said there is a mixture. Families; Couples who are downsizing from their larger properties; Couples (DINKS).
We're planning on a single level and hopefully our neighbours are as well
Looking forward to hearing about the progress of your news homes.
I'm so pleased I got a response Ruth and 'ohmistershefield25',
Ruth, we nearly bought in Pastoral St Stage 2, but ended up settling for Fernadell Drive as the blocks were deeper.
Yes we also asked Janet about the demographic of the area...a bit about us. We are from the Hills District, a newly blended family with four kids. The eldest is 17, youngest 8.
We are building a single level definitely. We haven't settled exactly on a home yet, but have asked Beechwood to tender. What are you guys building, where you from etc?
I think Pitt Town is charming and has a nice country feel. I feel more comfortable there than in say Riverstone which we briefly considered. I think we will get better facilities as families move into the area.
However, I think we should start a petition to change the name of our part of the suburb to Vermont. Sound quite classy I think. I used to live in Beaumont Hills and originally it was part of Kellyville until it became a suburb on its own right.
Ruth I assume your block is registered?
Regards
Ally
Chatting on a forum is all new to me but I think it will be fun to share this journey with other 'neighbors' in our community!
Yes, our land registered in Oct last year, we put a deposit on it in June.
We are building a single storey house with Rawson Homes and hope to start on site within the next month.
About us: we have 3 young children, the eldest is nearly 10.
We have lived in Riverstone for 14 years, in an 80 year old house, which we have loved and totally renovated so building a new house is a different experience for us.
Re the name - I actually like the name Pitt Town as I love the history of the area and the fact that it is one of the 5 Macquarie towns. However, the address, Pastoral Street, Vermont Estate, Pitt Town sounds very distinguished to me!
Hi again Ruth,
I have chatted briefly on a cruise forum, so I know a little bit about it. We can keep each other up to date and possibly vent our frustrations re building with someone who will understand the journey. Having never built before either I don't know what to expect either.
I will have to check out your Rawson design. I was always under the impression Rawson were quite expensive but maybe you have a bigger budget than us
Have you sold your home in Riverstone, or are you keeping it for investment? I am currently renting in Kellyville, so the sooner this project gets off the ground the better.
Regards
Ally
Ally, we are selling our house in Riverstone, actually right now we are trying to finish up all the little jobs to get it ready for sale.
Our building contract with Rawson's is for 30 weeks, so we are hoping to be in the new house by November, December at the latest.
When we be an this journey last June, we definitely didn't expect it to take 18months but we have to just accept what it is and be grateful for the chance to build a new house.
Did it take you long to decide to move to Pitt Town? Had you been looking at land for a while? What has your journey been so far?
Hi again Ruth,
We made the decision rather quickly. We looked at the blocks and basically fell in love with the area. The blocks are beautifully flat. The existing houses in the estate are all lovely and the feel of the place appeals. Plus we thought the price attractive compared to North Kellyville or The New Rouse Hill.
We both work locally and we can get to our office without encountering any traffic or traffic lights if you go the back way through Box Hill.
We are just starting on the journey. We haven't exchanged in the block yet and it is still unregistered in stage 2. We are waiting on our tender back from Beechwood.
Why did you folks settle on Pitt Town? We also thought the demographic would appeal to us, and we made that assumption looking at the existing homes. Lots of boats and vans so I'm thinking quite a few young retirees.
I looked up your Rawson Home...very nice. We are looking at a five bedroom single level also with a kids activity area.
Ally
Why Pitt Town for us?
May as well start at the beginning...
We bought our house in Riverstone just after we got married, it was old in original condition and had been rented out for many years, we intended to fix it up a bit and stay there for about 5 years.
About 6 years ago just after the birth of our second child we felt the house was just getting too small so we bought a block of land in Stanhope Gardens and started planning a huge double storey house with Mirvac.
Halfway through the admin phase with Mirvac we started to feel uncomfortable about the new house, the costs keep escalating, was it too big, what's the point in having a big house if you can't afford to furnish it etc.. So we pulled the pin and sold the block.
We decided to be content with our little house that we loved and rearranged a couple of rooms to make it more suitable for our growing family.
At the beginning of last year we started to think about the future needs of our family especially when our now 3 children are teens and we began to look at options to put a top storey on our house, however, we soon discovered that this was an expensive option!
Then we started casually researching houses for sale between Windsor & Castle Hill but it was hard to find something we liked for the right price.
We were keen to buy a block of land in Riverstone or a knock down rebuild but there was nothing available at the time.
One day we decided to have another look at Pitt Town, an area I had always loved and realized that they we now selling smaller (but still good sized) blocks at a more reasonable price. From there it was quite a quick decision for us and we were sold on Pitt Town!
Pitt Town works well for us as it is 15mins away from our friends & commitments in Riverstone, it is a comfortable drive to our office in Castle Hill and it is still close to our families
Hi Ruth
How big is your block and which side of Pastoral St is it on? We went out there yesterday and there are a couple of new homes started in Stage One since we were last there. I was wondering which one was yours? Our block won't be registered for another six weeks we have been told.
We were comfortable with the size of 552m2. Neither of us are mad gardeners and we work long hours. We don't want to be a slave to a big yard. We do have a dog so a bit of grass is important.
We looked at the Eden Brae estate in Riverstone, but I just felt uncertain and didn't get the same vibe I got from Pitt Town. Plus I love the fact the land is FLAT.
I hope we can find some more new Pitt Town residents to be
Regards
Ally
Hi Ally,
That's good that you won't have to wait too long for the land to be registered, it took about 4 months after we paid the deposit for our land to become registered.
Our block is on the left hand side of Pastoral Street.
There are two houses started on the other side of the street, but none on our side yet.
I had a look last Saturday.
It is 653m2, which is a good size, our block in Riverstone is almost 700m2 so we didn't want much smaller than that esp when the house is alot larger.
We would have loved a 1500m2, my husband is very good at gardening/landscaping and I would have loved to see what he could do with a big block!
Our thoughts were that we wanted to get into the area and then we could always consider a bigger block in the future if we wanted. But I'm not sure whether I could go through all this again - we might have to buy an existing house.
Anyway, I'm sure we will love the house we are building and won't want to move.
The blocks in that new estate is Riverstone are quite small and they seem to be trying to squish so many houses in.
Hi Ruth,
Off to home world today. I figured we would check out other builders while we wait for our Berchwood tender. I've told my partner I'm interested to see the Rawson Homes....you have inspired me!
I want to satisfy myself I have done the best I could within the budget. At least I can pick up design tips I figure.
I find this waiting game frustrating and we haven't even started yet. I'm very impatient and excited. I find myself wanting to visit the site every weekend. We went to the Lynwood Country Club on Sunday and it was very pleasant overlooking the beautiful golf course. It is a 5 min drive from the block. Next weekend will check out the Sports Club. I just stumbled upon that, didn't know it existed. Have you been to either or eaten at the pub? What about you Renee?
Regards
Ally
Afternoon,
I wish we had looked into the blocks sooner when the larger sizes were available, like yours Ruth.
Are you in a chance of winning the cost of your block back?
I could have written a similar post as yours. I thought this house would be our ‘forever’ home, but I’m hoping in a few years time we can get a larger block. I’m really struggling being on a 600sqm block.
Which Rawson home are you building Ruth?
How did you go at Home World today Ally?
Did you like the Rawson Home?
I haven’t really got excited over it all yet. The reality of a mortgage, building stress to come and knowing I would most likely be moving into the house in 12 months I’m pacing myself until the home stretch.
We went to the Estate last night and saw we now have neighbours on either side of us, where the potential Childcare Centre will be built and a few other blocks that have sold.
Ally, I haven’t been to either of the establishments (Country Club or Sports Club).
Ally - how did you go today at Homeworld? I found it exhausting, frustrating and confusing visiting the different display homes but exciting at the same time - a funny mix of emotions.
In the end we decided what were the essentials we needed in a house and what was the best layout of house for our block and then had a look at the major builders plans online to find ones that suited our brief with the least amount of modifications.
In the end we narrowed our decision down to a Rawson Home or MacDonald Jones. Rawson's won pretty much because of the fixed price tender.
We haven't tried out the Country Club or the Sports Club out yet - we are waiting until we become locals! My husband has played golf at Lynwood.
Ohmistershefield - which street are you buying on?
We are building the Eden 29 with Rawson. Have you decided on a builder?
I didn't know there was a childcare centre planned, but it is a while since we visited the sales office. Where is that to be?
When I visited the block last week, I noticed that quite a lot of Fernville stage 2 is sold, it is good to see that the blocks are selling quickly, hopefully it means that they can start moving on some if the facilities for the area like the heritage park and basketball courts.
Probably wise not to get too excited too quickly, there is such a long process to work through before the building even starts!
Yes, we are in with a chance to win back the cost of our block - wouldn't that be amazing!!!
Hi Ruth
I had completely got about the promotion about winning back the cost of your block. Is this for stage 1 and 2 do you know? Janet from Vermont Living told me two blocks on the corner of Quarry St have been sold to someone planning a preschool.
Homeworld is like a minefield. Some builders quote a low base price and then it's all add, add add such as Allworth, Beechwood, Eden Brae etc etc. Others start at the top such as Wisdom Homes (which I really liked) and Rawson Homes (nice home, way too pricey) and say they have included everything in that price. It is hard to compare apples for apples. We looked at a Masterton Display home and the sales consultant said it was $300,000 as displayed! We have a budget to stick to. I still like the McDonald Jones homes too, so safe to say we are really confused. Guess I just want the best of both worlds, a nice big house, with fancy finishes, lol. I think we have to decide if we want a large plain Jane and maybe upgrade further down the line, or take it not fully finished, or a smaller, specked up home. The obvious solution would be a bigger budget, or to win back the cost of our block
Hi Ally,
I'm pretty sure that the promotion to win back your block is for stage one Fernville only.
Sorry!!
Totally agree about Homeworld and decisions - so confusing.
Even when you think you have covered everything the price keeps going up!
The biggest challenge I think is to decide between needs and wants!
It is also hard because this is not our first home, we didn't want to go back to basics and compromise on few luxuries that we already enjoy.
Many times, I have thought that I would have been much easier to buy an existing house, then you would know exactly what you were getting for the price.
Good luck with your decisions!!!
Latest update... We visited McDonald Jones today and asked them to tender. The reckon it can be done in one week with site inspection included and the tender is no charge.
Think I will stop visiting display homes now, I am confused enough
When do you think they will break ground on your home Ruth?
Hi Guys,
Welcome to Pitt Town you wont regret building here! My wife our two kids and I have been here for just on one year now and we love it. Were are in stage 2B of Vermont and have seen so much change just in the short time we have been here. I was amazed at how close everything is to here with the furthest you will have to travel for most things being either Rouse Hill or Windsor/ Richmond. The Pub down the road does a good $10 pasta night on Tuesdays as well. Look forward to watching your builds progress.
Goodluck
Scott
Hi Scott,
Thanks for dropping in to let us know how much you are enjoying Pitt Town - that is so great to hear.
Ally - I hope we will start construction within the next month, everything is ready to go we just need the final paperwork from the bank.
Latest update... We visited McDonald Jones today and asked them to tender. The reckon it can be done in one week with site inspection included and the tender is no charge.
Think I will stop visiting display homes now, I am confused enough
When do you think they will break ground on your home Ruth?
Hi Ally,
It's been a super long day.. just going over posts now.
Quick question, does your block have an allocated builder on it, i.e Eden Brae or McDonald Jones?
If I understood the information correctly if building with MJ, you have to use their lender to mortgage the house.
Also, the developer will give you $5K towards EB or MJ upgrades.
Hope everything goes well with the tenders.