Browse Forums Building A New House Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 21Aug 24, 2015 9:18 am Looks great bubblynutter, lovely colours they all go nicely together. Re the shower fitting upgrade, we where quoted $900 for the dorf model so I left the standard one in contract and brought a methven one the same ($480) I took it up to the plumber on fit off day and he installed it, I was happy with my $420 saving . Hope your wee kiddies had a nice day out, I banned my tribe from m studio hehehhehe Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 22Aug 24, 2015 10:44 am After a rude shock with the engineering report this morning, it looks like some things are going to be getting the chop... Turns out there is no sewerage connection available to our block, so we need to find approx $16k. Ahh, the joys of building rural!!! Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 24Aug 24, 2015 11:28 am Definitely no sewerage to entire town. Called the water body. Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 25Aug 24, 2015 2:47 pm bubblynutter After a rude shock with the engineering report this morning, it looks like some things are going to be getting the chop... Turns out there is no sewerage connection available to our block, so we need to find approx $16k. Ahh, the joys of building rural!!! Check with local plumbers rather than M to do your HSTP system. I got a taylex system for $8,000 when neighbour paid$12,000 for same system through builder. Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 26Aug 24, 2015 2:51 pm MrBee, we need to capitalise costs wherever possible, especially for big ticket items. All our available cash is going to our contribution to the loan. Any spare funds we have will be scrounged together for a small 3x3 garden shed!! We may be able to get away with a traditional pit and pipe system for $10k ish, just waiting on confirmation from the council enviro department. Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 27Aug 24, 2015 3:00 pm Bugger about the sewerage issues Your lender may still allow you to add the HSTP to your loan if you get the quote in advance. It might be worth a shot. Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 28Aug 24, 2015 6:22 pm Ilaeria Bugger about the sewerage issues Your lender may still allow you to add the HSTP to your loan if you get the quote in advance. It might be worth a shot. I'd at least try if you can save like 6k plus 6k of 30 yr interest.... Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 29Aug 25, 2015 12:42 am Not great news!! I hate it when you need to you spend money on things like this unplanned puts a dent on the budget and often means you can't get something you really want. Hopefully you can get it cheaper direct and add it to your contract Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 30Aug 25, 2015 5:34 pm So after a pretty full on day with the builder and broker, we're all good with the septic. Turns out we had a bit more wriggle room with the bank than I thought. Phew!!! We do need to get the Geo back out to do a Land Capability Assessment, to determine the most suitable location and type of system, as a requirement of our council. Bugger - he was just out for our soil tests and site survey. Bet we'll be charged for that! Builder has a list of my changes to squeeze the new costs in, and I'm getting them to update the estimate with EVERYTHING outstanding that I could possibly think of, including the category upgrades to the bricks, carpet and kitchen that I came up with during our Studio M tour. The quote I get back on Thursday will be about $5k short, as I forgot to put a provisional allowance for $3k for the tiles, and bump our electricals up from $3k to $5k. But at least I'm aware of those, and can take them into account when I get our new figure back. I also sent off my custom fit out for the pantry, so when we do have our Studio M appointment, I should have accurate elevations to work off. I kept getting told "you can do that at Studio M" for a lot of things, but considering I only have 3-4 hours to get the main selections done, and will have a 4 month old in tow, I need to get as much done in advance as I can! Slowly, slowly creeping through admin. In other news, our block settled yesterday, and the concrete for our sheds is going down tomorrow! Not sure when I will be able to put sheds on it, but we got a great deal on the concrete so I just got it done!! One less thing to worry about. Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 31Aug 25, 2015 8:36 pm Good news re the septic system and bank. Tick that off your list, I hope your geotech plays nicely and does charge you a arm and a leg. Agree 100% to get as much as humanly possible into the contract for costing now, we did that and only spent a extra couple of hundred bucks at our colours appointment as everything else was ticked off. Sounds like your nearly sorted, happy days. I know what you mean with taking kids, we have 5 so there is never a dull moment Congrats on your land settlement and pending shed slab, getting very exciting now Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 32Aug 25, 2015 8:44 pm Thanks Tribe! Never a dull moment is about right... Our eldest (Master 3) is a right handful at the best of times; there is no way I'd attempt a selections appointment with him. Even my placid Master Almost 2 wouldn't cope with that long. Hubby has to take the day off work to look after the boys, but our little Miss needs regular feeds so she gets to come "shopping" for the day. The next big thing to tick off is selling our house!! We need an unconditional contract of sale to get the build started, so would be great if our buyer comes knocking this weekend. We haven't had any inspections for almost 3 weeks now, which is a bit of a worry! We're not overpriced (dropped initial asking price by $20k in hopes of a quick sale, hence the lack of kitty), and there are hardly any 4 bed 2 bath properties on the market in our area at the moment, so hopefully the flat market picks up again very soon! Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 33Aug 26, 2015 6:42 am Yay - another M build! I'm a bit late to the party, but early in your thread you were calling for other Dune or Jasper roofs. I'm building with a Dune roof and dark bricks (Freedom). I also started a thread ages ago asking people to post light coloured roof pics, to help me decide. Good luck with it all - its a nice huge place, and I love your picks from Studio M and lights. Building a Metricon Barkly 29 in North Brisbane - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=77396 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 34Aug 28, 2015 1:10 pm Thanks Chaton! I had a look at your thread. Wish more people built with Dune roofs! I'm pretty set on it now; have even just ordered our garden shed in Dune I'm that confident. We now have a shed slab, poured on Wednesday. It's a tidy 8m x 3m, and I'm pretty excited to go see it! Because we live about half an hour from the block, and it's a PITA to drag the kids anywhere on my own, I got the concreter to send me progress photos of the pour, and he came to collect the cash once the job was done, so I haven't actually seen it yet. Got a great deal on the concrete, and an even better deal on our sheds, so I've stumped up the last of our cash to get them ordered. We will be able to store some crud in the sheds while we wait for the build to finish, and they will also add to our valuation from the bank for the construction loan, so that's how I've justified the extra cash spend at the moment!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've hit a wall with the admin phase. Our file has gone to production, so the list of changes as long as my arm now have to wait until Studio M, which means I have no idea how our budget is tracking until after that appointment (still yet to be booked). I am a little disappointed at how we are being shuttled through the process, as I would have appreciated a bit more time to finalise my structural items. We were encouraged to pay our $1k deposit (with a couple of sweeteners), but then our file gets "locked" after 14 days and no further changes can be made. Doesn't help when there is a 1 week turnaround on any questions with our SC, who has just had a sales boom and struggling to keep up! The other sour taste from today is that M has "decided" that our septic system will be a choice of one system. Assuming the LCA report agrees with that type, we apparently get no say in the system installed. I am getting them to send me some more information on exactly what we are expected to pay for, and if I don't like it then I will be standing firm on what I want. I've got a quote for $11k for a worm farm type, including installation, and am pretty keen on that type for the ongoing benefits and lack of regular maintenance! Every 2 years suits me a lot better than every 6 months... Anyway, we will see what they come back with and go from there. As I pointed out to the SC, it's a big investment and not something easily changed if we don't like it, so I will be making sure we get something that WE want! Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 35Aug 28, 2015 10:13 pm Posting to follow. That's so unfair about the septic, you should be able to pick what you want (as long as council approves & your land is suitable). Is it an option for you to do the septic yourselves? We almost went with a worm farm but found out we're allowed the old fashioned septic which was a little cheaper and no cost to run so we switched to that instead. My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 36Aug 31, 2015 9:50 am What a weekend! After thinking about it more and more, we really don't agree with being forced into a system that averages $1000/pa in running and maintenance costs. In order to arm myself against the argument that I suspect will happen with M over the coming days, I started some research on what we will do if they can't keep me happy. I've also been second guessing our house design. We're spending close to a quarter?? Gee I wish, HALF of a million dollars, and I'm not confident that we're getting bang for buck. So I was up till 1am on Friday (Saturday?) night researching, and have played with a couple of GJ Gardner plans that meet my requirements. I spoke with their office yesterday, and they are obviously keen to poach us from a project builder. They are collating some costs for us and have a copy of our soil report, so hopefully it's ballpark to our current plan. If we were to change to a design such as this, I expect it would cost more from a base point of view, so I would scale back our luxuries and just get the house built. Fancy upgrades can give me something to do for the next 15 years... Anyway, here are the two plans. Preference is probably for the second one... thoughts? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Feels a bit weird to be looking at other plans when I have come so far with the Denver, but I really want to make sure we are building the RIGHT house. If we end up having one more baby, and have regular family staying over (we live 4hrs or so from immediate family), then I want a comfortable space that everyone fits in. After all, we want to get this one right so we don't have to move again. Future proofing... Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 37Aug 31, 2015 10:03 am I like the second one. But I must say only $250k for a 350m2+ house is incredibly cheap? Are you sure you have final pricing as $250 just sounds like the base price and if so I would be looking closer to $350k for a fully finished home that size? Or am I reading wrong? Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 38Aug 31, 2015 10:30 am Yeah that was a typo... Half a mill! Lol Fixed it. Building the Denver by Metricon on acreage Land settlement: 24/8/15 Contracts: 8/7/16 Finance approved: 5/8/16 Council approval.....? viewtopic.php?f=31&t=79213 Re: Denver 36+ by the big M in rural Vic 40Aug 31, 2015 12:18 pm I’m very interested to hear if you stay with Metricon or change to someone else. We are also looking at a 35+ square acreage house but haven’t started comparing prices or anything yet. What was the base price of the Denver and with what inclusions? Wow I hadn't realised things had gotten that pricey in just a couple of years since I built, that is crazy with how much land is now costing if you aren't lucky enough to… 3 7133 Hi, First of all, thank you to this community for sharing your thoughts and opinions. We are in early days of our pre-contract stage for Metricon Doulton and we are… 0 10753 Hello All 🙂 We are planning to start our journey of construction our first home. We zeroed down on Metricon and henley homes based on design suitable for our lot and… 0 8204 |