Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 05, 2014 1:00 am Hi all,
So im currently building my first home in Coolbellup. I was lucky enough to secure a block in the playground ballot and have just signed with a builder. Sooooo..... I know there is a quite a few bad reviews about free life homes, but the process has been very smooth, sales guy was amazing and very approachable, and contrary to assumption, I signed and paid my deposit 5 days ago and so far have received a phone call every day with an update and just to see if I have an questions or need any other help... so in short feeling good and very attended to (yes thats the sound of me touching wood while simultaneously counting chickens). Having said all this, I chose my own mortgage broker months ago, hunted for one I felt comfortable with and went through the pre approval process with them (not key start). I also found a block on my own and refused the many builders who tried to help me find one, I just felt a lot more comfortable doing these things myself and picking a block I loved rather than what a smooth talking builder had available. From stalking this blog over the last couple of months and stories from friends, I think a lot of the problems people have had have been through miscommunication and the trap of sticking with one company and using their finance, land, settlement agent etc. If you haven't realised yet.... I'm a bit of a control freak, however sourcing, researching and spending the time doing these things myself I feel like I've got an ace team that I trust. Ok enough waffle ! below is my plan, Im working with a 10m frontage, 27.5m deep so quite restricted. after meeting with over 15 builders ( not kidding, sat and had meetings with over 15 over the course of 4 weeks) I came to this plan. I like the plan, made a ton of mods, loved that the consultant worked with many and didn't put up any barriers to me moving walls, rooms, appliances etc wherever the hell I wanted them. In my estate 31C ceilings are a minimum so those were added, I have added stone to kitchen and both bathrooms, added skirting, mirrors to wardrobes, enclosed toilets and a bunch of other stuff. I did remove flooring, air con and window treatments from the deal to save money - for the young players at home, these areas are generally not "primary business" for builders i.e. they get contractors to do it and add 50-100% mark up. Thus if you can be bothered sourcing quotes yourself and not restricted by key start (who require you sign a "turn key" product), then these are areas you can easily save a few grand. Any way, would love your suggestions, feedback, and if there are any future neighbours building in the playground, definitely get in touch Ill be updating this as I go through the process to keep you informed and no doubt review the builder through the process. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 3Jun 06, 2014 9:21 pm Hey! Love your positivity and if you have no reason to be negative about the builder then there's no point listening to the bad reviews for freelife. I have been reading the reviews for freelife on this forum too for quite awhile now before I've decided to sign up (today!). I am at the "lock up" phase with freelife and I'll admit it hasn't been the smoothest process but they still have plenty of time to redeem themselves we received a letter from the owner a couple of months back stating the company has made several internal staff changes and apologizing for the service prior ... It was quite refreshing to receive that letter! We have noticed such an improvement with the build/staff for the most part since that letter! We never received any communication early on in the contract so it's nice to know they're making the effort, with what you have said! Anyway... Sorry for hijacking your thread! I like your plan, my only suggestion is a skylight in the main bathroom! It doesn't look like there's a window in there - is it because it's a boundary wall? Our bathroom is along the boundary wall line and it's really dark, even in the middle of the day! We will put a skylight in eventually. Looking forward to following your build Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 4Jun 07, 2014 3:01 am Hi Tom, By chance I happened upon this post and am also building in The Playground. Looking at your plans, you've managed to get quite a house for one of the smaller blocks! I got the offer to buy a block late in the piece, and actually picked up the last one. Unsurprisingly (in my opinion), that meant that my choice was between nothing and Lot 49 which is the biggest, but also likely to be one of the hardest builds due to the narrowing at the front. I opted to take it knowing I could work something out on my own, then use this as a basis for negotiating with a builder. Having the narrow front and wide back meant that I could have a fairly substantial backyard, as my 0.5 plot ratio could be front-loaded if I brought the house as far forward as possible. Being on the corner doesn't phase me a great deal as the block is elevated meaning my fence will start up to a meter off the ground (on top of retaining wall). Being the biggest block means I can comfortably fit 4 double bedrooms within the 224.5m2 (0.5 plot ratio) and being on the corner gives the illusion of owning more land as there's a good 6m of land between my boundary and the primary plus secondary roads. At least that's how I try and justify it to myself! I've spoken to several builders and had them draw up plans of what they think will fit, and I've also provided them with a couple of simple 3D models I've pieced together of what I want, where the setbacks are, plus where the mandatory garage location is and have so far been pleased with the discussions. I'll admit that I've only been to the one display village so far, and the highlight was definitely the free ice cream... There are a couple of builders I'm considering at the moment and will have a sit down with one of them on Sunday, at which point he'll show me two concepts for the block (again, the narrow front means some mods to the front of the house). I'll then hopefully take those plans, consider the changes I want to make and hear what he has to say about price before assessing from there. Cameron Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 5Jun 08, 2014 7:27 pm FREE ICE CREAM !!! I've obviously been hanging around the wrong display villages! Great to hear from another Play ground'er Cameron, and also from another free lifer NII3 Thanks for the suggestion on the skylight, I am considering it, as well as in the hallway as its quite a long hallway not to have a great deal of light in, Im hoping that having the theatre room open as a second lounge room will break up the long hallway effect, also hoping the 31C ceilings will make it feel a bit less like a tube of darkness. Also glad to hear that they at least recognised your issues with the letter and hopefully the final stages of your build run a lot smoother for you. I actually raised some of the comments of others at the initial meeting with my consultant which he addressed, I really respected them addressing issues that they had had, and not sweeping them under the rug. They are a new company (3 years running) and the consultant has said they'd had 8 complaints in that time (from 550 builds) and that thy were largely to do with site supervisors which had since been replaced, as well as teething issues in the admin process that they had worked to hone and resolve. Cameron, I was pretty happy with the use of space and the amount I managed to squeeze in to my site area. I met with a lot and in the end it come down to this and another very similar design, with the main difference being the master bed at the rear. In the end I decided I liked the openness of having all windows to the rear around the living and kitchen as any attempt to make the area feel bigger on a block this small was going to be a plus. I was quite surprised at the blocks that were left when I got to my selection appointment. I was extremely lucky and got drawn number 6 so had my pick of the litter. Im a first home buyer, building all on my lonesome so price was a big factor in my decision. I went with lot 24, across from the park and with a north facing backyard for the afternoon sun which I thought were advantages. Will be good to hear about your progress Cameron along the way and meet a new neighbour. Best of luck with your choice of design and hopefully they come back with a good price. Be ruthless and make sure you try and get them to throw in as many freebie inclusions as possible. Make them work for it ! Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 7Jun 16, 2014 12:39 pm I thought I create an account to say, I too, also got myself a piece of land up in Coolbellup. I was number 13 in the pick. I too also got myself a small piece of land. But I am slowly understanding the limitations of having such a small block of land. I will also be a first home builder and judging from the plans I can see that you opted for a 3x2x2 + Theater. May I ask how much or ball park figure of your house will cost all up? I can see from your previous posts you made a ton of modifications so will be quite interested to see what your price came up all together. I haven't had much luck in finding a decent settlement agent, maybe someone you could recommend? Good luck in your building, hope it all works out for you Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 8Jun 16, 2014 1:07 pm Hi Harkonen, I just PM'd you with a bunch of contact details and answers to your questions. In regard to the build, I was looking for best value as well as best use of the small space. there was a lot of very basic 3 x2 's out there that I didnt really feel made good use of the space. In terms of the designs (in my opinion) which made best use of the space for the money are below. Note I am working with a narrow lot that is 10m x 27.5m - Free life Homes, Mars Design. This is the one I ended up going with although very modified ! original did not include a theatre and had a much smaller kitchen. In the end I felt I was best starting with the cheapest possible base house price and modifying the hell out of it. By the time I modified alot of the ones that were closer to what I wanted, costs blew out. - WA Housing Centre, Cosmo design. This one I very nearly signed up to and makes great use of a small space. They also have another design that works well for the space however it is a bit more expensive called the drysdale (on display in harrisdale) the display is worth a walk through to get an idea of space and the area you working with. - Dream start homes, the Edge design. Also on display in Harrisdale. Similarly makes good use of the space , although I would definately modify the "study" to make it more useable e.g. enclose to a theatre or second lounge. - First Home Buyers Direct. the contact I was using there was very helpful, I cant remember which design we started with, but they were very happy to work on Mod's and created a cool space. In regard to settlement agents, I picked one who was recommended through my broker and gave me a 40% discount as I was with the affiliated broker. I'm sure there will be people who will disagree but as far as settlement agent goes, they are a dime a dozen, and the actual function they perform is very minor and very simple..... If your broker has one they work with then use them as this may help speed things up in the process as your broker and settlement agent need to work closely in the process. I Hope this helps Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 9Jun 17, 2014 10:32 pm Hi guys, I've been a bit flat out at work so neglected this post for a little longer than I ought to! Looks like we're all first home buyers here but have a good idea of what we're after. I've been working with Celebration Homes predominantly and the guy there has been particularly helpful, especially considering the shape of my block. He and his draftsman are modifying their Lennox design for me and I'm really keen to see how it looks. The house is way too big for just myself, but I hope to rent a few rooms out to friends or family. I've got more conditions on my lot than probably anyone else, but together with the builder we've managed to clarify some incredibly ambiguous points on the DAP. I too went with the settlement agent recommended by my broker because, as Tom says, what's the difference? They come at a discount and your broker (if you have one) ought to have personal contacts in that business so he/she is more inclined to communicate finance status. I know my broker has been ridiculously easy to work with. The first time I met him he got me pre-approval to start looking, the next time was signing the papers following unconditional approval on my block after a quick phone call in between to say I'd scored one despite being pick 58. 58! What kind of floor area are you guys going for? Taking up the full amount or leaving space for sheds/backyards etc? Having a look at some of the designs by developers for the lots (e.g. 47 and 48), it looks like most homes will be (understandably) maximising their house size. For interest's sake I've driven out to The Playground a couple of times, with the most recent being Sunday. All the blocks look finished, with the remaining construction work appearing to be on walls around the townhouse / apartment building sites. So I guess they've probably submitted a request for titles by now, and ought to meet the July estimate (Cockburn council are apparently quick with their processing). In the same trip I drove past The Primary and there was a meet and greet going on. I didn't stop, but there seemed to be a predominant mix of younger people as I suspected. I myself am only 25 this year. Their homes looked to be coming along nicely, with one or two already having grass installed, however probably half the blocks remained completely undeveloped. Guess we'll have a gathering after settlement! Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 10Jun 18, 2014 12:24 am Hey Cameron, Good to hear from you again. Sounds like we are in a similar position, also 25, building on my own. Similarly, I'm not overly bothered by size for me personally as its already way too big, but trying to keep future purchasers/renters in mind for future value. Last weekend was probably the first weekend I haven't driven past, have also been through the primary. Its looking quite good, if not a little cheesy .... with the pencil sculpture's and 'old canteen park'. I think in the primary they released blocks in stages (as they originally intended to in the playground) and that might be why a lot of them are still completely empty. I went out to alkimos this weekend to look at a place similar to mine under construction with the same builder. It was a bit of a reality check on the size, looks a lot bigger on paper. On site area Im right on my maximum 60% site coverage with 165sqm on a 275sqm block. As far as the DAP goes, the developer left a lot of the conditions really open to interpretation and missed a lot of specific's. Originally had some questions on the 31C ceiling requirements and whether it was in fact throughout the entire house and not just the living areas (it is throughout). The latest road block was the 2m verandah/ porch requirement for "passive observation". The DAP doesn't specify whether the 2m is width or depth, after speaking with city of cockburn and getting confirmation in writing, its both width and depth and has cost me an extra $2k to put a full veranda on the front. The other issue you might come up against (if you haven't already) is building on the retaining wall if you have one on site. My plans have the garage wall built on the retaining wall on one side, for the length of the garage. the DAP states that the retaining walls are not certified by the builder to be able to be built on, although it is really common for them to be built on, I saw quite a few with the garage built on the wall at alkimos. Any way, long story short, once titles are issued and site works commence the builder can do the engineering report to figure out whether or not further structural works need to be done to the wall for it to be built on.... which could be a lot of extra cost.... Any way, I had a quick google for the lennox plans, huge house by the looks of it ! very nice use of space. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 11Jun 18, 2014 11:44 pm Hi Tom, appreciate the feedback. I didn't take too much notice of the cheesy elements as I was too busy trying to not look suspicious driving slowly past the crowd! You'd be spot on about the stages re development progression. That's one big plus about having all ours done at once - most should go up together and therefore sand shouldn't be blowing through the early homes for too long. An RP data report from today shows Coolbellup is the second fastest selling suburb in the country, and that won't include our development considering none of us have actually bought and settled on our land. I'd say part of this is due to the impending re-zoning of the suburb to R30 and perhaps the perception of the place will improve with further revitalisation as detailed here: http://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/Council_S ... efault.asp Either way, I like the prospect of buying into a suburb where every place around it is significantly more expensive! The 60% site coverage is a massive advantage, as the usual R30 code only allows 50%. It means that, as you picked up, I can have somewhat of a monster house and have those extra re-sale components like big cupboards. Perhaps I ought to own more than two sets of sheets considering I'll have two linen cupboards...? Having the biggest block basically meant I had to have the biggest home (and biggest loan to match), whereas your smaller block just needs to have a smart use of space. Considering the layout of my neighbour: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-h ... -116899383 I think you've done really well on that front. The house in that link is very awkward, despite being on a larger 303m² block. As I said before, I've got a stack of restrictions, with no less than 3 wonderful retaining walls. The shortest one (about 1 course high) will potentially have my garage on it, but I'll see how I go. I've been aware that it may be an issue, but the height of it should ensure it doesn't take much to get approval to build on it (famous last words no doubt). Do the 31c ceilings apply to the garage and alfresco? I know it does to the living and bedrooms, but am yet to confirm for these extras (I've assumed they do, but my prospective builder isn't sure). Don't fret too much about perceived size from your walk through. The smaller something is, the better you find you use the space. I've been living in an apartment for 2 and a half years and have never felt cramped, even when I have to step over my bed to reach my computer! Cameron Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 12Jun 19, 2014 12:45 am Thanks Cameron, Apparently we also subscribe to the same alerts, with a 6 month average of something like 12 days on market, it's certainly a good omen. Fiona Stanley opening up and the Murdoch redevelopment can't be bad things either. The only other wa suburb named was lynwood, with the rest all in NSW which is to be expected. As far as I'm aware the 31c doesn't apply to the garage and alfresco (at least I'm hoping). As far as your linen cupboards go I'm sure you can rent a shelf to each of your neighbours .... Put me down for at least 1. I'm looking at a very modest linen cupboard in an even smaller laundry. Btw I'm sure your doing a lot of your own costing but a bigger house doesn't necessarily mean a much greater cost. The narrower builds are usually more expensive than a squarer build due to the external brick work v internal surface area trade off I.e a squarer plan Is more efficient on external bricks for the same amount of internal surface area ( think 4 x 4 v 16 x 1). Tom Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 13Jun 19, 2014 2:50 pm I am curious, are these people allowed to sell their "land/property" on the market before the land title has been released? Sounds odd? Or is that something allowed in the contract. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 14Jun 19, 2014 3:48 pm Hi Wei, Are you referring to the developer when you say "these people" ? pre-selling is an industry standard, in most (all?) cases they have an approved local structure plan / Detailed area plan (DAP), which is the plan we have been given which sets out the block sizes, POS etc as well as the conditions which we need to adhere to. The titling of the land is really a formality once the DAP, which grant individual titles once the developed has cleared the conditions put on them as part of the DAP/ LSP. In other words you can think of the DAP as conditional approval, once the construction is complete and clearance granted by the Local council, the paperwork goes to land gate to create the individual titles. If your talking about a purchaser (such as ourselves) selling prior to title, this was recently clarified by the high court in Barker v Midstyle, whereby you are unable to on sell without owning the property ourselves (very different circumstances but by extension ...) . One thing I did spot in our contract however, is that we can sell the land 'unimproved' which is restricted in some other developments, where you need to build on the land within X period and cant on sell without building. We do have a 2 year completion clause at the playground, however this only affects our eligibility for the fencing, landscaping, solar bonuses. Sorry, for the long winded explanation. hope this helps. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 15Jun 19, 2014 4:04 pm Thanks for the info Tom. I must admit I have been meaning to read through the contract "properly" but have been so bog down with everything else. I knew that some developers/builders? had "taken" some lots of themselves to develop but I was not sure if these were the ones being advertised. Thanks for the lesson there Tom Yes I am aware of the other conditions like fencing, solar, landscaping thrown in but only last as an offer for two years. Any design updates on your home? Or still pretty much sticking to what you got there. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 16Jun 19, 2014 4:18 pm Pretty much the same as the plan I originally posted, although I have had to add a much bigger veranda to the front. My proper contract/ plan is in for drafting, so I'm playing the waiting game for the next couple of weeks as have been advised they will take 6 - 8 weeks.... In the mean time iv been getting way ahead of myself looking at tiles, wall paper designs and art work, as well as scoping out display home for design ideas. Pointless stuff at this early stage but its set in as a bit of an obsession. Hopefully its a phase and I don't drive myself crazy obsessing for the next year. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 18Jun 19, 2014 7:31 pm Hey N3II3, When I last asked a few weeks ago, they advised that they had some display homes under construction. My builder did give me the address of one similar to mine that is still under construction at alkimos that I went and visited last week. It was just a slab with walls and no roof, however it gave me an idea of room size. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 20Jul 04, 2014 1:56 am How are we all going with builder negotiations? I've signed up with Celebration Homes and have been through and added all the "major" features I wanted prior to putting pen to paper. I've gone the mandatory 31c ceilings throughout the house, with garage and alfresco to the lesser 28c. I took advantage of their current promo to have high ceilings to 30c and stone benches in the kitchen for $1,950, then put in another $1,000 to go up the extra course. Upgraded to 30mm bench tops, added a second vanity and made the bathroom benches both stone. Other things were more minor such as extra doors, moving doors, placements of windows etc. Pre-start will be the more minor details, but the costs are likely to add up pretty quickly given the number of upgrade options available... and there's always the broad spectrum that will be smart wiring to come. Something else a little unusual I've done is go with a heat pump for the hot water and an electric stove. This is so that when I chuck panels on the roof (not through the builder), I can take full advantage. I've done the calcs and the ROI ends up around 14% per annum on the panels I'm after. Any word on when titles are meant to come in? The broad indication was "early July", but perhaps someone knows a bit more. I'm in no rush - but it would be good to know! Otherwise I've had my builder talk to the developer (probably a bit more extensively than most would deem normal) and they say they're providing colour bond fencing and their landscaping contractor will provide the ball valve with back-flow preventer. Don't want to steer anyone astray, but perhaps some of you have heard the same? Developer also tells me I need to render the entire East side of my house to be more pleasing to the secondary street. It won't cost much, but I'd prefer bricks so I'm discussing options with the council. You should pressure clean your roof first and make sure the paint you buy also is anti mould. 4 18563 hi guys. Please be nice. First time home builder in Qld. I would like some feedback please on whether I should build my granny flat first before my main house at the… 0 4587 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27707 |