Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 15, 2014 4:36 pm Hi All A lady at my workplace directed to this site and so far, I have found it fantastic! I thought I'd start a forum of my own to discuss my building progress. I have been thinking of building for a long time and in the past couple of months its started! I am 22 and am building on my own in Perth, WA. The whole process if extremely exciting, yet with an element of stress thrown in there. I am building with Aussie Living Homes in Brighton Estate in Butler, northern suburbs of Perth. The building plans and contract documents have all been signed. I am now just waiting for the land to be ready, estimated end of May. I am yet to have my prestart meeting. I am so nervous about this and when I am driving around I am constantly looking at other houses to try and get some ideas. Currently, I have no idea about the colours I want! I do not know if I want to pay the extra for upgrades or wait until I move in, purchase different taps, towel racks, etc and get family members/friends to install them. I also am unsure about downlights, whether I should get these or not. And if yes, do I get the builder to install them or get it down myself afterwards? Is there anything I need to remember for prestart? For example, someone told me to be careful of where the drains are situated in Bathrooms and Laundrys so they are not placed right in the middle of the room. My mind is a bit all over the place at the moment and am open to any suggestions. So please, if you have any tips for a first time builder, please throw them my way! Thank you! Re: Building a new home - any tips welcome! 2Apr 15, 2014 4:59 pm Hi renaeh, Welcome to the forum! I can definitely relate to the stress/excitement that comes from building. I'm 24 now (23 when I signed up) and also building a house on my own. It can be very daunting. The hardest part I found was discovering what my 'taste' is. I still haven't quite figured it out and I get a lump in my throat every time I think of going furniture shopping! But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it! My advice is to go to display homes and placed like home base expo in Subiaco, take lots of photos and start to identify what you like/don't like in each place. Eventually you'll end up which a patchwork of features that will eventually come together at prestart. This forum is great for ideas too. Feel free to look at mine (link is in signature below). As for upgrades, be realistic about what you can afford and what is 'good value for money'. You'll find that most upgrades through the builder are phenomenally expensive, then it becomes a matter of deciding if you want to pay the extra money for 'less fuss' and get work completed through the builder, or if you want to make potential savings that require more effort and research. Where you draw that line is up to you. I made a fair few upgrades because I don't have the time or inclination to organise a hundred tradies after the house is 'complete'. I left most taps as standard as my father is a plumber and can replace the materials after the build for a much cheaper rate. Definitely cash in on any favours you have lingering from family members - especially if they know a trade! That being said, I still have a long list of things to do after the build; painting, flooring, blinds, electrical, fencing, kitchen splashback, landscaping... Regarding prestart, I recommend throwing your plans up here for comment. You'd be surprised at the detailed feedback people give for free! It's great. I would also recommend perusing this thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823&start=620. Have fun with it. I'm sure this is your first home, as is mine. We aren't going to get everything 100% right first go. Would be nice though Happy to answer any questions you may have. I'm no expert, but I try Re: Building a new home - any tips welcome! 3Apr 15, 2014 5:07 pm hi and welcome congrats on your first home agree if you can get family members to help with trades . i was able to use some of the tradies who built my house to do some extras but 12 months on i am still getting things done. i had builders both my first and second home both times stressful but worth it in the end with downlights check how much if you supplied them and the builder installed also check cost if builder did everything. with flooring i was able to save costs by getting my own done and with the savings used the money for upgrades to the house Re: Building a new home - any tips welcome! 4Apr 15, 2014 7:12 pm Welcome to the forum Such an exciting time for you! First thing is to decide what this house is going to be for you? A small starter home to get yourself into the market that will later be leased or sold? Or something you plan on keeping for 10-20 years and living in (keep in mind this might change as it did for me!) This can help you decide how many upgrades, what colours etc because you will know if you are building with resale in mind, tenants in mind, or to keep for yourself for a long time. Our first house was very basic, no upgrades. We planned to lease it out but it has not worked out to be right for us at this time so we sold before building. Point being, there was no point in upgrading things when we planned to have tenants in and then we sold within 5 years so again no point spending heaps. Colours were all neutral (which is our taste anyway) but this helped with resale. The other thing to keep in mind, and I don't know your financial situation, but keep in mind owning a house is a big financial commitment and there is a lot to do after you move in: landscaping, curtains, blinds, furniture, homewares, letterbox, driveway, fencing, Tv antennae etc etc etc!!! It is neverending so you don't want to over commit yourself to upgrades and other things that you don't really need, and then not be able to complete other things. As for deciding on colours, obviously consider neutral for resale but this is not the be all and end all particularly if you plan on living in it for a while. Have a look at heaps of display homes and work out what you like, what you can live with, and what is a bit 'trendy' that might not translate in a couple of years. Pinterest is great for ideas, and most builders have lots of inspiration pics on their websites too. Pick a colour combination you like and go from there. I haven't ever heard that feedback about the drains, but yes this forum is a great resource as well as the many build blogs out there for information. Good luck with everything, would love to hear how your build progresses. My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70636&p=1161767#p1161767 Re: Building a new home - any tips welcome! 5Apr 15, 2014 7:53 pm Welcome! lila rose I haven't ever heard that feedback about the drains, but yes this forum is a great resource as well as the many build blogs out there for information. . yes I haven't heard of this too! I agree with Lila Rose on all the things they said! post your plans up and we can help with the things you may have missed. Plus I love looking at house plans good luck with your build enjoy the high's and the low's Thank you so much. This has been very helpful. We definitely wish to settle and get these people out of our life. They are trying to charge us interest on late… 7 14184 Tradie may sit at home but will need to get house plastered as well or will you sit it out? 6 9918 Just be careful with building stability during construction, that is when the structure may be weakened, refer to your engineering drawings for stability methodology. 1 7199 |