Hi all,
My sister got me on to this forum as my partner and I are about to start building our first house, so here I am to share our story and experience.
We started in October 2012 as a bit of fun and time killing. We had signed on an established house then the new Government grants came out. Turns out it was cheaper for us to build than buy established.
We were going through the process of planning everything with the building company (not yet signed) when the Salesman started to become pushy and really rude. We then decided to have a look around at other building company's for ideas we could incorporate in our house design. We looked at the Willaston by SH and fell in love instantly, there were a few minor things we wanted to change but they were easily fixed.
We started the whole process again with SH in January 2013 and were really impressed with our salesman. He was giving us ideas and also telling us where/how we can save money! Changed the block of land we had and then signed with SH in Feburary 2013. Settlement of land in Blakeview Grove was in April 2013.
There were some hiccups with the plans and they were sent back a few times, minor issues such as door widths, bulkheads weren't the height we specified etc. When we finally got the plans right and got to book in for selections! This was my time to shine.
Selections happened 2 weeks ago which is when the real 'hiccups' came along. We wanted to have our soil left on the block for us to build a raise garden bed, SH refused to as there was not enough space - fair call. We then sought out approval to have the soil left on the block located directly behind us, SH refused again due to the way they cut/fill. We went out to see our salesman, he suggested emailing him directly and stating we will organise a truck to sit on site all day for the soil to move literally 100metres around the corner - guess what! SH said this is okay. $4,800 credit thank you very much.
Plans went to council at the end of June and they have come back, today, all approved and set to go. We have had a pretty good run so far, fingers crossed it stays this way.
When I have more time to play around I will add pictures