Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 26, 2013 6:41 pm Hi everyone, First time building but not a first home owner. I thought I would share our experience with building from start to finish, hopefully to help others who are about to start the same process and get feedback from those who have already been through this. Lender: Keystart Broker: Resolve Finance Builder: Celebration Homes We both decided on a block in Golden Bay - we wanted to be close to the beach and wanted the land to be a minimum of 700sqm for our Rottweiler and my partner wants a massive shed for his car restorations. September 2013: met with broker and builder, we had already picked a design and idea of mods. Finalised lender to be Keystart due to low deposit, no mortgage insurance and $50 week repayments whilst building. October 2013: qualify for keystart, applied for pre-approval 3rd November 2013: placed offer on our dream block (we got a letter of eligibility from our broker as he couldn't see why pre-approval would be held up... Oops) 4th Nov 2013: offer accepted, finance due in 21 days (25th Dec) 5th Nov 2013: paid land deposit 9th Nov: finalised designs with builder for our block 11th Nov: extension on finance declined (being a private sale not through a developer he is keen to move on) Owner is still willing to accept our offer if no cash offer is placed on block after the 25th. Stressed. 20th Nov: signed contract on house design with Builder 25th Nov (finance due): Pre-approval received from Keystart. Finally!! Was about 6- 7 weeks in total, but not typical. Their turn around after each new form submission or new info was approx 1-2 weeks. Photo of our design: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Only we have removed bedroom 2 to make a large cinema (we don't have and don't plan on kids) This is our block of land (if there is no cash offers... Fingers are crossed!!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We are currently awaiting Formal approval - hopefully there is no cash offers on our block between now and when it's granted. It's a stressful wait to say the least, we had very little to cover for our conditional approval so we are hoping it will be quick. It was a long wait for pre-approval but that was a saga of its eon which we now have covered. Has anyone else gone through Keystart recently - how long was your wait for Formal approval? And from there how long did you wait for settlement? I would like to officially own the block before Xmas Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 2Nov 29, 2013 8:23 pm We got a letter from Celebration Homes with our copy of the building contracts etc but also a list of things we needed to do before Pre-start. It says to fill in the 'Product Selection Pack' however there isn't anything in the envelope resembling that - do we get this closer to Pre-start? We have not got a booking yet. TIA Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 3Nov 29, 2013 9:09 pm Good luck! No advice re key start. As for the pack I would assume it is similar to our 'house file' we received it when we signed our PPA and it basically gives you a list of everything that is standard and some of the upgrades available. Also gives you info on where you can pick tiles and flooring from, that usually has to be done prior to prestart. House design looks good. Are you going to extend your island bench? Also consider making the shower a double, don't need two shower heads just make the shower itself bigger Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 4Nov 29, 2013 9:21 pm Hi Fmac! It's the most exciting part for me, I just can't wait! Unfortunately we can't as we are going stone and they are pre-cut. The. Shower we will extend out, we are trying to get a tap in the fridge recess to plumb fridge in and moving the door from garage to the entry way so that we can use that space for a large deep freeze ( I make cakes/cheesecakes/cupcakes for special occasions so I need all the storage I can get! Thankyou! Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 5Nov 29, 2013 9:49 pm How long is your island bench? I didn't think it looked 3m... Love the idea!! Have you also considered pushing the walk in pantry bit closer to entry to make it a bit bigger. Looks like your entry has enough space you could steal some of it I love to cook so my kitchen was a HUGE consideration! Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 6Nov 29, 2013 10:14 pm We did consider that but with the change of the door to the entry we can't move it. The other reason we are not extending out our bench is I have an antique chopping board on wheels which I just love! It gives me an extra 700mm so I'm happy with that! Kitchen is definitely the heart of my home We are going basic with everything else as it is our first home together, we can do up everything else. The whole side of the house will be our alfresco area and drive through for his shed. That way we added more area to the open family space without worrying about extending the alfresco they provide later. I had a look at your pre-start selections they are just gorgeous! We picked Lino too and seeing your pictures I'm so glad we did they look amazing! Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 7Nov 29, 2013 11:57 pm Hi Salsaby, We're living and building near you in Secret Harbour. you've got a great sized block and a nice big house. Can't wait to see it come along. Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 8Nov 29, 2013 11:59 pm Sounds great!! There are usually reasons why people make certain changes We kept everything simple. Didnt want to regret 'trendy' choices in a few years!! Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 9Nov 30, 2013 12:26 pm hi salsaby we to are building with celebrations just had pci on Thursday just gone. we financed through keystart and resolve finance. it took us a while to get preapproval which was the day before Christmas last year and had conditional in the new year. as for the product selection book we got that when we signed our basic building contract (just the house plan that we liked) and the deposit when we did this we were at the celebration homes office. Celebration Homes, Whiteman edge Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 10Nov 30, 2013 2:10 pm We had a wonder around Masters today... Dangerous but oh so exciting Oh wow yeah it's so frustrating waiting when we are not guaranteed the block how long before you heard back from keystart for formal approval Tezza? I'm driving my partner insane with my worry and stress over it... Everyone tells me if we do loose the block it wasn't meant to be and we will get another.... Easy to say but I really have my heart set on it Were you happy with the finish of the home too Tezza? Everyone we have looked has been great, sad that we need to paint after build but that's as far as our budget stretched. We have signed our contracts and base layout - it came with the preliminary addenda but no product selection book I will give them a ring on Monday and find out. Thankyou for your replies xx Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 11Nov 30, 2013 10:45 pm well first come pre approval which we got before Christmas then we got conditional approval on the 4th jan which lasts 90 days I think and just has conditions like don't change jobs, don't get credit cards or another loan, then we had to ask for a finance extension due to titles not yet being released then our titles were released the first week of april but we still didn't settle on the land till june cant remember why it took so long but our delays were because of titles being late. if the land has already been titled I would assume you wouldn't have any issues. hope that helps Celebration Homes, Whiteman edge Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 12Nov 30, 2013 10:53 pm yes we are happy the build happened so quickly slab july 9 and bricks started 2 weeks later roof went on sep 6 then lock up oct 10 and a lockup meeting oct 28 then pci 28th November and at pci everything was completed. just a few things to fix like chipped render, a door needs replacing due to people trying to break in. any issues we had during the build they fixed up with not to many issues. my only issue was a few times they failed to lock up my house (I blame the tradies) I was upset as I didn't want anyone to come along and still or vandalise the house as I want the keys before Christmas. Celebration Homes, Whiteman edge Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 13Dec 01, 2013 1:05 am Hey looking forward to seeing your build come together we are building close by in Lakelands got a nice 900sqm block as wanted room for a pool & a garden too. We are getting our finance through ANZ it took roughly 2 wks from pre approval to formal approval but think it would of come through quicker if our broker hadn't delayed things by not submitting our docs straight away & then our bank wanted the builder to change the payment percentages (or something like that) Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 14Dec 01, 2013 8:23 pm Thanks guys, luckily we don't have titles to be released etc everything is ready to go.... Hopefully that is in our favour and they hurry up! Hahaha! It's been a week now so I hope as our mortgage broker advised it will be 10 business days... Oh I'd love a pool - I wanted to start hydrotherapy (I have RA) might have to drop in and visit yours when you're done Torz lol jokes! I miss out because of my partners shed and because we need a septic system and nothing can be built over the soak wells Oh that's awful Tezza, bloody mongrels out there destroying your hard earned house! Did you have your own insurance or is it covered by the builders? Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 15Dec 03, 2013 12:29 am Hopefully it all works out. Their insurance covers it I'm just glad they didn't get in and do more serious damage. Finished all our paper work with keystart so just waiting for them to release the money to the builder and then we get keys yay Celebration Homes, Whiteman edge Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 16Dec 03, 2013 12:38 pm I'm glad theirs does nothing worse then forking out several hundred for insurance before Xmas. Fingers crossed the handover is quick for you be a very nice Xmas present! We are hoping to have ours by Xmas next year Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 17Dec 03, 2013 9:01 pm Got ahold of my rep yesterday, the pre-selection booklet is still to come however he is going to leave a copy at reception for us tomorrow night so we can make our selections... Bit excited!! Do you have a key handover date yet Tezza? Ow far are you along now Torz? Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 19Dec 03, 2013 11:42 pm We are waiting for site works/slab but been told that it won't happen now until next year I am always happy to have visitors Re: 1st time building - Celebration Homes, Golden Bay, Keyst 20Dec 04, 2013 11:24 pm We did a little stroll around the prestart room tonight, this is what we picked! What do you think?
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