Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 03, 2008 3:11 pm Hello fellow homeone'ers!
I'd like to start a journey thread as I embark on this phase of my life. My partner and I are taking the plunge and will be buying and building a house. For those of you who've read my introduction, you'll know that it's VERY early days, we haven't even arranged finance yet! Nevertheless, I want to share the whole journey with the community, from the very start til the (hopefully) sweet end. I am also blogging the experience, so feel free to stop by and read (and comment if you want!) Here's the link http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Here's what we've decided so far: we love the P0rter D@vis Atrium 36 and we love Alamanda in Point Cook. We're hoping to get that as a house and land package. We have looked at many other displays and builders, but settled on PD for two main reasons. Firstly, the feedback about them on this site has been pretty outstanding, especially when compared with another builder we were considering (M). Secondly, the guaranteed site start and 20 week completion contract seems just too good to be true! First question I guess: Is it too good to be true? I'm so looking forward to this weekend. We are heading to Wizard for a chat about finance. (If they say no, this will be a very shortlived journey thread!) After that, we're visiting "our" display home again and spending the day (and night) with friends who live at Sanctuary Lakes. Thanks for reading, looking forward to your comments. Any opinions on Wizard are most definitely welcome. Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 2Jul 03, 2008 3:31 pm Welcome and Congratulation!!
Another one building in Alamanda... good choice (hehehee)... I am not building with PD, but i am sure you will get a lot of advice and feedback on this forum... Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 3Jul 03, 2008 3:36 pm claego Welcome and Congratulation!! Another one building in Alamanda... good choice (hehehee)... I am not building with PD, but i am sure you will get a lot of advice and feedback on this forum... Hey claego! Thanks for the welcome! Who are you building with? What house have you selected? Alamanda looks like a great area, very excited to be moving there (I hope!) Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 4Jul 03, 2008 4:29 pm Hey Damo - not sure if you've thought about having a chat with the Choice consultant at the PD display home? Might be worthwhile to see if they can help, as it makes the finance side of building with PD a bit easier.
Cheers Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 5Jul 03, 2008 5:00 pm perryr Hey Damo - not sure if you've thought about having a chat with the Choice consultant at the PD display home? Might be worthwhile to see if they can help, as it makes the finance side of building with PD a bit easier. Cheers Hey perryr! Thanks for the tip! I'm heading out there on Saturday afternoon, I've just called them and got the number for a consultant who should be working then. Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 6Jul 03, 2008 5:37 pm yea, when we met with our pd sales guy, even though we were getting finance with another company, we had to sit down with the choice guy anyway...just to make sure we qualify...
because ur going with pd, they will prb try to push u onto their guy anyway....cant hurt if u havent got finance with anyone else yet..... Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 7Jul 03, 2008 5:50 pm I am building with S@monds, just a small 22sqs house but good enough for 2, still don't want to sacrifice our lifestyle yet...
Hope everything is going smoothy for you and get the house and land you want, otherwise i am sure there are still a lot of other plans that suit your need Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Our Journey - The Atrium 36 8Jul 03, 2008 7:22 pm aussiedamo Here's what we've decided so far: we love the P0rter D@vis Atrium 36 Good luck with the journey - which of the Atriums' did you like better? Truganina or Point Cook? I thought the Truganina one was a bit more bold, especially with that see through pool and all that glass! You could always see where your kids are in that sort of house. Re: Our Journey - The Atrium 36 9Jul 03, 2008 8:25 pm joeygbh aussiedamo Here's what we've decided so far: we love the P0rter D@vis Atrium 36 Good luck with the journey - which of the Atriums' did you like better? Truganina or Point Cook? I thought the Truganina one was a bit more bold, especially with that see through pool and all that glass! You could always see where your kids are in that sort of house. Thanks! We haven't had a chance to visit the Truganina display centre yet, just the Point Cook one. We'll check it out this weekend. I have seen the picture of the pool, simply glorious! Does the Truganina display house have the pitched roof as well? It's hard to tell from the pictures. I'm not sure whether I would prefer that or a flat roof. Any suggestions? Is this even an option? Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - The Atrium 36 10Jul 03, 2008 8:45 pm aussiedamo Thanks! We haven't had a chance to visit the Truganina display centre yet, just the Point Cook one. We'll check it out this weekend. I have seen the picture of the pool, simply glorious! Does the Truganina display house have the pitched roof as well? It's hard to tell from the pictures. I'm not sure whether I would prefer that or a flat roof. Any suggestions? Is this even an option? Damo I didn't know you could have a flat roof? Isn't 22.5deg minimum in Melbourne?? Going to Truganina will also make you fall in love with the Marriot 48 there... Re: Our Journey - The Atrium 36 11Jul 03, 2008 8:57 pm joeygbh I didn't know you could have a flat roof? Isn't 22.5deg minimum in Melbourne?? Going to Truganina will also make you fall in love with the Marriot 48 there... Sorry, I probably wasn't clear, what I meant was the ceiling inside, not on the outside. In the Point Cook home, the kitchen / dining / family area has a sloped roof. I'm still deciding whether I like it or not, though I may be out voted, M can be very convincing I LOVE the pictures of the Marriot on the website. I'm almost afraid to go and look at it, I'll cry because I can't afford it! Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - The Atrium 36 12Jul 03, 2008 9:10 pm aussiedamo Sorry, I probably wasn't clear, what I meant was the ceiling inside, not on the outside. In the Point Cook home, the kitchen / dining / family area has a sloped roof. I'm still deciding whether I like it or not, though I may be out voted, M can be very convincing I LOVE the pictures of the Marriot on the website. I'm almost afraid to go and look at it, I'll cry because I can't afford it! Damo Now I understand, from the pictures and from memory, I believe it does. The kitchen and one of the alfresco pictures shows the sloping roof. If you think you can't afford the Marriot 48, go see the Marina 41 at Innisfail if you haven't already... just as gorgeous But the ensuite in the master bedroom in the Marriot 48 is heaven... Seeing all these new designs makes me feel jealous, and if I didn't have my Brookvale 50 already... haha Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 13Jul 03, 2008 9:31 pm Damo,
Good luck with your finance and house/land hunting.. Alamanda is nice spot... we're also moving to Point Cook.. Monterey Central area. re: finance, our mortage broker is the best. if you're still undecided, i can PM you his details and he will visit you at home. i highly recommend him! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Built the Nevada 42 Next project - landscaping! Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 14Jul 03, 2008 9:48 pm Congrats Damo!!
How exciting for you!! Hopefully all goes well with the finance this weekend. Had a look at the Alamanda website and its a beautiful estate! Lucky you. Also had a look at the PD website for the Atrium and LOVE LOVE the stove in the alfresco!!! I WANT ONE!! Great choice Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 15Jul 04, 2008 12:08 am hi damo, Arent wizard loans one of the more expensive out there? if your incomes and expenses arent exaclty straight forward and you think you might have a prob fitting into the computers pre determined criteria where it doenst take into account certain circumstances when processing your application you might want to consider a good mortgage broker.
we have found that you either meet their criteria or you dont and recently using a broker has really helped us as they can negotiate with the banks and get you a more personalised and considered reply. With me as self employed and embarking on owner builder project we require some consideration of circumstances from a lender and the broker has helped us alot in trying to convince them we are reliable borrowers and negotiating the best loan and amount for us, something a typical application where the outcome is eventually decided by a computer cant provide. not all brokers are good though the first one said our guarantor needs to be earning x amount of $ (as well as the house used as collateral) or we couldnt get the loan which seemed pointless using the house as callateral that way, this has not been an issue with the new broker. Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 16Jul 04, 2008 7:20 am piranha hi damo, Arent wizard loans one of the more expensive out there? if your incomes and expenses arent exaclty straight forward and you think you might have a prob fitting into the computers pre determined criteria where it doenst take into account certain circumstances when processing your application you might want to consider a good mortgage broker. we have found that you either meet their criteria or you dont and recently using a broker has really helped us as they can negotiate with the banks and get you a more personalised and considered reply. With me as self employed and embarking on owner builder project we require some consideration of circumstances from a lender and the broker has helped us alot in trying to convince them we are reliable borrowers and negotiating the best loan and amount for us, something a typical application where the outcome is eventually decided by a computer cant provide. not all brokers are good though the first one said our guarantor needs to be earning x amount of $ (as well as the house used as collateral) or we couldnt get the loan which seemed pointless using the house as callateral that way, this has not been an issue with the new broker. Hiya piranha! Thanks for the tip! I didn't realise that Wizard is expensive, I think I got sucked in by the advertising. More and more people on here seem to be suggesting a mortgage broker, so I think I will take that advice. Another board member was kind enough to send me the details of their broker, so I'll call him today. This board really is great for people like me who are otherwise flying totally blind! I hope this thread becomes useful for future home builders! Thanks again! Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 17Jul 04, 2008 8:30 am We built through PD and used Choice, I can't recommend them highly enough. They assess your requirements and then look at all the banks and their options to find the best one for you.
They have a good relationship with PD but even people who aren't building with PD or are buying established can use them. Good luck with your build, the Atrium is a beuatiful design Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 18Jul 04, 2008 9:17 am rellie We built through PD and used Choice, I can't recommend them highly enough. They assess your requirements and then look at all the banks and their options to find the best one for you. They have a good relationship with PD but even people who aren't building with PD or are buying established can use them. Good luck with your build, the Atrium is a beuatiful design Thanks rellie, a couple of other people have mentioned Choice as well. I called them yesterday and am hoping to chat with them on Saturday at the display centre. Now I have to think of a good excuse to give Mr Wizard Was supposed to meet with him on Saturday morning but I think that's probably a waste of both our time! The Atrium is beautiful isn't it! My partner was sold the second we walked in. Were you happy with PD overall? They seem to get a very good rap on this site. Damo Visit my blog: http://damosbitofblog.blogspot.com/ Re: Our Journey - At an end (though a new one has begun!) 20Jul 04, 2008 9:29 am Hey Damo - one of the main reasons I suggested Choice is that you will find that at TenderAppointment time you will be required to cough up a 5% deposit - you can do the maths on that.
Unless things have changed (and you will need to check) people financing through Choice only had to pay a $1500 deposit at Tender Appointment time. Worth having a chat with them I think Cheers 4 14131 Minimum overhang into gutter must be 50mm, turn down tool should not split the sheet. it seems wrong tool for the profile was used, the flashing cannot slope back. Rib… 2 2080 Electrical just got back to me and said the most they can provide is a single power point on the Bedroom 1 side of that wall. After handover, your towel rail installer… 2 3804 |