Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 10, 2014 4:05 pm Hi All,
This is our second home (but first build) and for the benefit of Family, Friends and all others (building or interested in building) - we have decided to document our build here. We have gathered so much information here in the past 6 months from other people's posts and now hope to share our own experiences. We have chosen to build at the Champion Lakes Estate primarily due to the Life Style it offers and its strong focus on Nature & the Environment. Due to our small block size (and the continuing trend of shrinking block sizes across Perth) we have decided to build a Two Storey house to get the living area we need (which btw is the primary reason for this venture). After doing our fair bit of research and visiting Display Homes & talking to people etc. over 4 months - the best choice for us was Ben Trager Homes. We have chosen the Alba (with a few modifications) as we love this design and get everything we are after in it. Our Timeline so far: 3/11/2013 - Offer placed on block at Champion Lakes Estate 8/11/2013 - Offer on Land accepted 30/11/2013 - Signed up with Ben Trager Homes for the 'Alba' (Preparation of Plans Agreement) 8/12/2013 - Structural Changes & Variations on the design signed off 24/12/2013 - Settlement on Land completed 31/01/2014- Contract terminated by Builder & Deposit refunded Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 4Jan 13, 2014 7:38 pm Looks nice. We are in the process of choosing both a block and house design but at this stage are leaning towards Ben Trager Homes as the builder. Their designs seem to pretty much deliver what we are after with only minor changes required. Good luck woth your build. We will follow it closely. Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 5Jan 13, 2014 9:56 pm Congratulations and welcome to the BTH club. Nice use of space there. And you've got the exciting bits still to look forward to. Selecting colours and fixtures/fittings, then starting the build phase and watching everything rise out of the dirt. It's a roller-coaster ride and we'll be watching you build with interest. We're building a pretty modified version of the Rokeby (which was one of the promo spec designs) in Secret Harbour. Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 6Jan 14, 2014 10:42 pm Thanks fursey & oncewerefurriers ![]() fursey - all the best with your decisions! The one thing we did not catch (so far) in all our prep was taking into account the allowed 'site coverage' of the Land. In a way this was a good thing for us as it forced our hand into a decision we were struggling with (i.e. to go single or double storey) oncewerefurriers - I've been stalking your posts for a few months now and you'll have done really well!! Thank you for blogging as it helps people like us! We've decided to dedicate our upper floor to the kids & squeeze a Guest Bedroom in on the lower floor (would be easier for parents or older guests to not have to climb the stairs). And yes lots of exciting parts to come ![]() Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 7Jan 19, 2014 3:47 pm Should hopefully see some Detailed Plans/Working Drawings this week and will be able to make a move on getting quotes for Window & Floor coverings, Painting etc not to mention having a first look at what the Elevation is going to look like... the suspense is killing me.... Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 8Jan 19, 2014 6:12 pm The elevations were the best part of seeing the detailed plans. We'd drawn up the changes we wanted so we knew what the floorplans would look like but it was difficult to envisage the the elevations. Fortunately, we absolutely loved ours (particularly the rear) when we saw them. Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 10Jan 19, 2014 11:36 pm Congrats. Welcome to the BTH club! You'll see our build and oncewerefurriers are neck and neck... Well we are about two weeks behind, so it's great to know what's next. Enjoy the ride! My Thread (Halls Head Beach House): viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67006 Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 11Jan 20, 2014 12:02 am Thank you mrsmith!! I just went through your build and must say am very impressed with your floor plan and what you'll have done with the design. The Views are stunning too - it's going to be magic looking out at that park and the view from the top across to the beach - very nice!! Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 12Jan 24, 2014 11:12 pm We are also building in Champion Lakes. Lovely to see that others around the neighbourhood are building such awesome homes. You have a very decent size second storey. Big "lounge" area at the front of the top storey will be a great asset. Hope your build goes well. I'll keep an eye on your thread ![]() Our Family Home Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69221 Our Investment Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69588 Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 13Jan 25, 2014 11:09 pm Hi engs - yes its great to see other Champion Lakes' folk here & all the best with your build too!! The main reason for us building a new home was to get more living space inside the house (as the kids grow up) & I think we've managed to accomplish that ![]() Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 14Jan 26, 2014 7:24 am I think we might have the same thought process there - put the kids (and mess) upstairs. We have also drawn up our plan so that the kids have the full top storey as "their" space. Great minds think alike ![]() Our Family Home Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69221 Our Investment Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69588 Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 15Jan 26, 2014 10:14 pm Hello Forum Users - in your experience how long does it take before you get some Working Drawings/Detailed Plans?? I'm trying to get a realistic time frame so that I can work out if we are just being impatient/anxious . This week will make 2 months that we have signed the PPA & PCQ and paid our deposit and so far the only sketches we have are from what we did with the SC prior to signing up. Admittedly there was Christmas/New Years in-between but although having said that we were told that most of the Drafting department were working through the break. Experiences/thoughts anyone? Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 16Jan 27, 2014 2:09 am Hi rj40. It took about 6 weeks from our signing the PPA to getting the final (almost) version of our drawings. When we last met Ben he said they had about 100 builds on the go, so I guess things are taking a little longer than when we went through. I don't know if it's any different with other builders. I'd rather wait a little longer for the plans to be done right than force them to rush and make mistakes. We've found out that patience is a virtue when building. Ps It's the law that building with BT you have to have a 1200mm wide INF6G front entry door Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 17Jan 27, 2014 7:02 am We received unconditional approval from the bank and about a week later, the final drawings rocked up (this was in November). There was a lot of work before that. A few revs of the drawings to get to that point. Our builder has done far more follow-up of us than we have of them. However, sounds like it is best to get timeframes from the people with the same builder. Yesterday evening, we walked up to your block from our block. It's interesting having a look at all the pads in Stage 4 and seeing the different styles of how they do the concreting. Fingers crossed there is a pad down on your block soon ![]() Our Family Home Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69221 Our Investment Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69588 Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 18Jan 27, 2014 1:29 pm ![]() I'd rather wait a little longer for the plans to be done right than force them to rush and make mistakes. We've found out that patience is a virtue when building. Ps It's the law that building with BT you have to have a 1200mm wide INF6G front entry door Thanks OWF very practical advice - makes us feel better ![]() Communication with our SC is good so we just need to be patient & give them time. LOL - will promise on the 1200mm but don't know if it will be INF6G ![]() Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 19Jan 27, 2014 1:40 pm ![]() We received unconditional approval from the bank and about a week later, the final drawings rocked up (this was in November). There was a lot of work before that. A few revs of the drawings to get to that point. Our builder has done far more follow-up of us than we have of them. However, sounds like it is best to get timeframes from the people with the same builder. Yesterday evening, we walked up to your block from our block. It's interesting having a look at all the pads in Stage 4 and seeing the different styles of how they do the concreting. Fingers crossed there is a pad down on your block soon ![]() We'll probably be one of the last ones in Stage 4 to get a pad. We were lining ourselves up for the stage 5 release but had also put our names on the Stage 4 stand-by list (cause we just had to get a block in Champion Lakes!!) - and then we got the call in November to say a block's become available ![]() Re: Our Build in Champion Lakes with Ben Trager Homes 20Jan 27, 2014 3:18 pm We also adore Champion Lakes. We'd been looking around the Southern River/Harrisdale area for over a year. We'd put a hold on a block in one of those "no-name" estates. We went to Champion Lakes on a whim (because it had Fibre internet connection which is on the essential list). We fell in love straight away and the feeling has only grown. Just hope we get good neighbours next door ![]() Our Family Home Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69221 Our Investment Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=69588 There are lots of hidden clauses - which you will get charged or penalized later. They will tempt you to sign the paperwork offering a cheap contract price, would delay… 10 31907 I second taking your plans elsewhere. They're yours (unless you ended up in one of those cheaper arrangements where you don't own the rights and the build will be tendered… 2 32720 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 69809 |