SLIGHTLY WARPED Southport HGWA Madora Bay WA

Hello all

This first post will be rather long, but hopefully entertaining, so grab a cuppa, and let this story begin.....now.

After 10 years in our first built house, we both screamed at each other "we need a bigger home". No storage space, non-existent luxuries and three kids growing up fast have lead us on the path of moving house.

So the brief was;
-A decent WIR to cater for the Wifey's growing clothing collection
-A bigger ensuite so you could have two people in the room at one time
-More pantry space. Current kitchen is a good size
-ALL HOUSE. With blocks getting smaller, plus the fact that we are not Gardeners, or really the outdoors type, this was an essential one.
-Just a nice layout

Not necessarily in that order....well, except for the first one.

With all that in mind, plus more, we started looking around at display homes. Now the main problem with that is the Builders put their best on show, with ALL the bells and whistles installed, so you look at and think gee, we could have this, have that.

101 Residential homes were standing out to us, even though they were double storey, something we had never entertained before. So another brief- master bedroom had to be downstairs ready for when the kids leave we can close off the top rooms, and we are not using stairs as we get old. The only off putting thing, the price!!! What I was (yes I said I, because the wifey was quite happy to fork out a fortune for a mansion) looking to pay for house AND land, they were charging for house only. Hmmmm time to keep looking.

There were not too many that stood out that we really liked. The wifey saying 'well we could have one of the 101's, just the real cheap version'. Yes we could have, but then the nagging would of began when as soon as we moved in, 'oh we should of paid the extra money for this and that....'

With hope fading, I thought I'd check out a display home 5 minutes walking distance from our current home. Now this display is the only one there, and has been there for a couple of years....
WOW... It ticked a majority of the boxes, and you could see the potential to tick the others.

I dragged the Wifey along, and she was very impressed....YES...Winner. It also helped that the Sales Consultant knew my Wifey, which made it easier to talk her into it.

So where the heck were we going to build this??
We have lived together for nearly 20 years, 19 of those years in Mandurah (6 months in Port Hedland, and 6 months on Rottnest Island...yes, on the island).
We are currently in Meadow Springs, a nice suburb of Mandurah, but felt this home, and us, deserved more. Madora Bay was calling us.

At the land sales office, there were a couple of blocks that fitted the house nicely. One in particular, had ocean views, flat as, and limestone retaining walls All around. Perfect.
So we asked the land sales guy...oops, sorry... That one is already sold....bugger.
'Quick, find the next best one.' We secured a block that is bigger than my expectations, has good ocean glimpses (beautiful oceans views if we were building a double story), and two limestone retaining walls. It's not quite square, I'm talking like half a degree in each corner. A bit like the family that is going to live on it....slightly warped.

As soon as we had the idea of building a new home, I had been sorting out our finances, changing banks, making everything tidy. Our new bank was very happy to refinance the current home (had the intention of keeping it as an investment,but at the moment we just want it gone once we move) and lend us money for the block.

So, loan for block all sorted, now time to play with the design ready for finance approval for the build. Pretty easy, we just made the house as big as possible on the block, added a dressing room, and proceeded to add things inside. Adding cupboards, floor to ceiling tiling in the bathroom/ ensuite etc..
'WOW..how much is the cost? That much?.... Oh.'
Luckily it still fitted within our budget. Righto, gave it to the bank and they say sweet, you've got pre-approval. YES.

Couple of days later, my bank calls to say that it fell through. They won't lend above a certain percentage. CRAP... We've signed the building contracts already, the wifey has picked the colour scheme, there was no turning back. Quick find a broker.......





The story so far......

So we have chatted to the in house brokers for HomeGroupWA (HGWA) and they are getting it sorted...hopefully.

We have been persuaded into having our pre-start this Thursday, even though I wanted finance sorted beforehand. As we are building a home that has been displayed, and the fact we absolutely loved the colour scheme used, we have managed to grab the agenda for that home with everything on it. WOOHOO cut and paste.

I've gone through the lights, powerpoints, and conduit drawings, and added as much as I can. Yes I know $$$, but I don't want to be kicking myself, or hear nagging, that 'we should of done it this when we built it'.

There are other things too that we are going to do at pre-start. Change a couple of cupboards, look at stone bench tops through out, splash backs etc.

 Like  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅  Share

Hi Spuddles76
We are also building the Southport or a version of it. We fell in love with the Madora Bay display. Ours is changed around a fair bit as we've added a granny flat to the front. Love your dressing room it's amazing.
We also added a store to the garage and one to the back where your dressing room is.
I don't know how to start my own forum. Not very technological. But will be following your build.
Robina

WOOHOO

Just had a call from the broker (while I was on the toilet. Who doesn't take their phones there these days?) looks like he has sorted out our finances so we can build. Yay

awesome WIR, huge scullary overall loving the design. It;s going to look amazing if your following what the display home looks like. Can't believe your going straight into pre start straight away.

Following your build Love your house design - especially that dressing room!!

Thanks Jasmineandjason, and MesmaccaPacca. Can't wait to start the build process.

We have pre start tomorrow. I already know it's going to cost us a bit.
Plus we want to get rid of three walls that weren't supposed to be there (two in the kitchen, and one in the scullery/pantry)


viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80963&start=10#p1475600

All the best with your build. I think the usb charger is a fab idea! I wish we thought of that

Good luck with all your choices. Don't know how you did it all in one day.

Thank you all. Did a cram session last night, and still didn't finish the book.
Oh well, pre start in a couple of minutes. Hoping I win lotto to pay for it all.


viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80963&start=10#p1475600