Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 22, 2015 11:20 pm Hi all,
Matt and Erin here, long time readers, first time posters! We are building our first home, but have done months on months of research and desicion making before we even hit the stage of contacting builders and getting things down on paper. We went through a few different initial block locations and sizes, builders with different floor plans and inclusions for price and the like, however I'm not going to go on and on about the back story - the important thing is that we've finally decided on a plot of land we both like, and even better a house design without too much compromise. We chose Smart Homes For Living (part of Ventura home group) as our builder after a referral from a good friend in realestate as they had the ideal floor plan we were after - the mentor. So far, we have an estimate and a hold on the lot, but no signed contracts or deposits until we get approval of finance, just so we don't jump in the deep end if the finance falls short for whatever reason (we're hopeful with fingers crossed at the moment) Here's the modified mentor floor plan, those who have seen the mentor before may notice some of our adjustments, which is listed below: We went for the "Max upgrade with 30c ceilings and essastone kitchen benches" as the other option of reverse cycle ducted A/C was not high on our priorities, and plus.... You can add A/C after construction, extra bricks you can't Moved the WIR window from the bottom right corner to be centred extended the WIR shelving to the full length of the wall Brought the WIR nib wall back inline with the home theatre wall Converted the study into a store/workshop off of the garage Add manual roller door to rear of garage for access to yard. Extended the kitchen bench 300mm to inline with the store wall and provide a return bench. provide tiling at height of rangehood across entire kitchen wall. provide a 1020mm front door over 900mm standard inclusion provide shower doors in lieu of shower screens provide cabinetry with trough in laundry over standard steel trough. We will also be updating our blog - which can be found at http://www.mattanderin.com.au Feel free to follow this thread, and our blog - comments welcome there too. I have followed a few other people's building topics, originally reading as I went, but now popping my head in the topic and saying hello, I shall try to be an active contributer to the others topics too, I'm getting so excited for our journey, and have been living vicariously through everyone else's posts That's all for now - hopefully an update once finance is sorted and we start dotting i's and crossing t's. -Matt and Erin. Timline: 2015 Mid June: display home and estate viewings Mid June: discussions with smart homes sales rep - found suitable floor plan and lot Late June: put a hold on the lot, start arranging financing. Early July: first finance provider rejected application (key start - combined income too high by the skin of our teeth), alternative financial options currently in negotiation Late July: Second finance provider application with family guarantor submitted 2nd August: Floor Plans Finalised and PPA Signed Late August: pre approval 28th August: Land contract signed - ETA titles early October 28th September - Building contract signed. 5th November - Titles! 27th November - Settlement! 2016 22nd March - Slabbed! 3rd April - soak wells installed 16th April - Bricks delivered. 13th may - bricks and roof timbers done! 18th June - roof on. Re: Smart Homes FL, perth - The Mentor 2Aug 02, 2015 5:56 pm Well, since the last post, we had a second meeting with the sales rep for Smart Homes this morning and finalised the floor plan and changed things around a little bit more after having a look at the fittings in they’re pre-start office. The rep showed us around and explained the standard inclusions and finishes, of which we are happy with, as a first home we are not going for the super deluxe upgrade everything – we are thinking practical, what doesn't date with trends and what will add to resale value later down the track. After we had a look around, it was time to talk business – sort out final plan details. It was difficult keeping Erin on track during the meeting, she kept getting distracted by pretty-shiny things within the pre-start office – I feel sorry for whoever is assigned to our pre-start meeting – it may be a long and arduous process! Anyway, I digress…. here’s what we have achieved today. First thing first The kitchen! – Erin was absolutely adamant that the included 600mm wide wall oven is totally unacceptable after looking at it in the pre-start office – you could hardly fit a standard roast tray! we ended up changing to the 900mm wide under bench oven to go directly underneath the gas cook top and also extended the kitchen bench a further 500mm into the family area. It gave us more room between the bench and fridge, and also gave us extra drawers where the wall oven was previously located, as we still retained the microwave recess location. As we had more bench space, the window was located further away from the cook top, which allowed us to also change it from a fixed window to a operable awning window. Meals Area We removed the 18c wall and the short return wall in the meals area, to open up the area a little bit more, especially with us thinking of placing the wine rack, spirits cupboard and buffet/hutch along the garage store wall. Family Area As we extended the kitchen bench out, we felt that the two individual windows would not feel as balanced in the space, so we upgraded to a single 13×12 window centred to the family area. The standard sliding door was upgraded to a 25×15 double sliding door, as so we can open up the flow from the kitchen/family to alfresco, since the alfresco and backyard is not all that large. we also added a provision for a gas heater for the room as well. Outside We decided to go with tile roof instead of colorbond, personal preference, as it's easier to work with in general for making changes afterwards (like running cabling down double-brick walls, or adding sky-lights) We didn’t realise until our sales rep mentioned, that the left side of the house was a raking bulkhead, in terms of our preferences, and how it affects the interior spaces on that side of the house, we had the plans adjusted with eaves put in. Bathroom / En-suite We requested half-height walls be added to the Bathroom and en-suite showers as its a personal pet hate to have no-where in a shower to put your shampoo, conditioner and body wash! Other than these changes, the rest stands as per previous posts, an updated floor plan has been attached below: We will hopefully hear back from the bank during the week, our broker says we are in a strong position and doesn't see any reason why the finance wont come through, so under his advice and discussions between him and our sales rep we have signed the preparation of plans agreement to get the ball rolling, as our land is due to title in September and will hopefully head to pre-start in about four weeks, so to have all the plans and administrative side sorted so we can aim to get slab down as soon as titles and settlement have been completed. next thing we know, we will be spiralling down the rabbit hole! --edit-- Looks like we’ve got some serious homework to read up on before pre-start too! Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Signed Contract) 3Aug 04, 2015 9:52 pm Somehow Erin and I managed to get a RDO on the same day as each other - I'm going to buy a lotto, as this RARELY happens! We spent the entire day, going between the carpet supplier, tile supplier and laminex/formica show room, oh my gosh my brain is going to explode! but it must not of been that bad, we escaped without any arguments or divorce papers.... ill save you the long and boring of our day - head over to our website blog for a full write up, what i would like is your opinions on our selections thus far as below: Kitchen: Benchtop – Essastone, New Crystal Salt Cupboards: Formica, Malibu Gloss Finish Spashback: Lanka 201×403 Mattoni White Floors: National 450×450 Belga Grey Main Bathroom: Benchtop – Formica, Pure Marble – Either Velour Finish (Matt) or AR Plus Finish (Gloss) (Or a similar offering from laminex, we cant decide yet) Cupboards: Formica, Malibu Gloss Finish Spashback/Walls: 201×403 Fashion White (closeup here: http://www.mattanderin.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-08-04-10.47.13.jpg) Feature: 300×100 Bronte White Wash Floors: 200×200 Rocell 2/15M Calcite Laundry/Toilet: Benchtop – Formica, Snow Drift, Velour Finish Cupboards: Formica, Snow Drift, Gloss Finish Walls: 201×403 Lanka Gloss White Floors: 300×300 National Belga Grey Ensuite: Benchtop – Laminex, Terrasphere Natural Finish Cupboards: Formica, Snowdrift Gloss Finish Spashback/Walls: 201×403 Fashion White (closeup here: http://www.mattanderin.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-08-04-10.47.13.jpg) Feature: 300×100 Bronte Ebony Floors: 200×200 Arc Gri You can see a better colour representation of the carpet in the master / theatre in this photo. Here's a better photo of the bathroom/ensuite selection - not quite right colours because the showrooms interior lighting sucked (no natural sunlight) but it also shows carpet selection, left is bed 2,3,4, activity and corridor. right is master, WIR and theatre. (not quite that dark though.... the lighting sucked) ignore the formica swatches, as we were only playing around at that point... We did have a look at the brick and roof tile selections from brickmakers, however forgot to snap some photos. I’m going to pickup a roof tile sample hopefully during the week, so should be able to put up that palette soon! Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Preapproval Approved) 4Aug 20, 2015 10:55 pm Our bank (14 working days after submitting.... Geez they were slow) has finally come back with successful pre-approval yayyyyy! We've got a meeting with the land sales this Sunday to put down a deposit on the lot and sign the sales contract. The lot is due to title early october now, so hopefully we can get the ball rolling with the builder in getting Prestart and final contracts sorted so we can get onto formal approval. has anyone successfully included solar panel installation after handover in their mortgage? How did you go about it, as most the companies won't commit to a quote until after handover, yet we want to get the valuer to include the solar installation in our mortgage. It's gonna be like a bull out of a pen now, here we go! Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Preapproval Approved) 5Aug 28, 2015 9:53 pm We signed the land contract and put a deposit down last weekend, and received the accepted contract mid week. Builder is now progressing for contract creation, so playing the waiting game... Looks like were not going to submit for formal approval and have settlement until mid October anyway as our guarantors won't be available until shortly after the titles are due for release. Obligatory pic! For keen observers who can tell what estate we are in by the photo, please keep it private and PM us if you want to say g'day if your in the same or nearby estate. Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Contracts) 6Sep 28, 2015 8:35 pm We received the house contract late last week, went over everything also with friends and family looking over it too. Standard HIA contract, nothing too extreme. The drafted plans didn't have any mistakes so we were happy to go ahead and sign/returned them today. Prestart was arranged for first week of October, but we've asked for dates 2 weeks away due to our work rosters. I'll see how I go scanning the A3 copies of the drafted plans to get them up online if anyone wants a gander. Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Contracts) 7Sep 28, 2015 10:00 pm Ok, finally got the pages scanned and uploaded.... Slab and soakwell detail: Dimensions: Elevations: Engineering Details: Kitchen and Laundry Layout: Erin's not happy with the cupboard design, here's changes we're going to make at prestart: *) lower microwave recess by 1 pot drawer, remove said pot drawer, add cupboards above microwave recess *) rear-access for the two corner cupboards from the "Family" side of the bench Bathroom layouts: Electrical Plan: We will most definitely be changing the electrical plan. move the HW temp control into the WIL. I'm planning on conduits and set-back boxes into the brick work for all light points, as so we can make additions later on easily enough. adding blank conduits for data outlets after handover and a few changes to the layout of the lighting and power points. They also put the gas point in a silly spot - we will definitely be changing that at prestart. Titles are due early October, our broker will hopefully get the signed contracts this week and organise the rest of our finance so we can settle and build without too much delay once the titles are out. Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Contracts) 9Oct 11, 2015 11:54 pm Hi Decka, On the developers website, it was updated to "titles expected end of October".... One of the admin ladies contacted our broker to double check finance was on track for the "24th of October" - so I'm hoping that all the red-tape by the utilities and council has been approved, and they are now waiting on landgate to process and release titles, otherwise why would they have asked about finance? they already have our pre-approved certificate.... this doesn't bother us too much at the moment... if they start to go into November we will start to get a little bit Disappointed and putting more visible pressure on the developer, not much we can do... the developer has been amazing, kept in touch with every update but we want to get this ball rolling... Our bank is currently doing valuations on the land and house contracts, so hopefully should have an answer on unconditional next week.... We also have pre-start this Wednesday!!!!!!! Have our selections and colours down-pat already, been going through them for about a month and a half now in our own time, taking tile and carpet samples home.... we even picked up a roof tile from Harmony hahaha..... so we will be very well educated on what we want. I think the longest part of the prestart will be the additional electrics and conduits, I'm adding to the bare minimum to \make it easier to do all our changes after handover, plus adding extra conduits for data and AV. **EXCITING** Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Contracts) 10Oct 13, 2015 9:53 pm !!!!!!!! PRESTART TOMORROW !!!!!!!!!! Also, land developers say titles are officially lodged with land gate, so will be released within 7-10 working days.... Settlement within 14 days after, so fingers a crossed if the builder gets scheduling done in time, we can have site works started early November. Our broker has come back and said the valuation has been accepted so should hopefully have unconditional paperwork later this week. When it rains, it hails!!!! (In a good way ) Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 12Nov 28, 2015 3:09 pm Apologies for being on the quiet front - work has been chaotic, and the bank was dropping the ball a few times..... We were originally meant to settle on the 18/19th of nov. But now, some very exciting news! Our land has settled, we officially own a patch of dirt with a huge sum of finance on the side :p Let's see how quickly the builder works now, I don't think we will get site works until after Xmas now, maybe mid to late January. Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 14Jan 05, 2016 2:03 pm Hi MattandErin, Posting to follow your build. Your plan and colour selections look great so far Our Easystart Build in Annie's Landing https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=81061&p=1478674#p1478674 Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 15Jan 05, 2016 2:22 pm Thanks ChantalMaree, We're patiently waiting until the 11th of Jan, when our builder re-opens their office from Xmas break.... In the mean time, I got Erin a brand spanking new air compressor for Xmas which can handle a gravity feed spray painting gun, She has been using her days off to restore and repurpose some furniture to use in the new house - breathing new life into old style I'll see if I can get some photos of what she's done off of her, I'm quite impressed to be honest! Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 16Jan 05, 2016 2:43 pm MattandErin Thanks ChantalMaree, We're patiently waiting until the 11th of Jan, when our builder re-opens their office from Xmas break.... In the mean time, I got Erin a brand spanking new air compressor for Xmas which can handle a gravity feed spray painting gun, She has been using her days off to restore and repurpose some furniture to use in the new house - breathing new life into old style I'll see if I can get some photos of what she's done off of her, I'm quite impressed to be honest! We are also patiently waiting .... our settlement agent is on leave Besides over looking at building blogs on homeone ... I drive myself batty with pinterest! I have also started looking at revamping furniture we have too... so I am interested to see what Erin will get up to Our Easystart Build in Annie's Landing https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=81061&p=1478674#p1478674 Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 17Jan 05, 2016 3:15 pm ssshhh...... don't tell erin, but i managed to find the photos on her laptops dropbox First project was turning these old stain/varnished wood wine rack and Buffet/Hutch into more modern fittings – a sand back and coat with gloss white paint. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Next was a liquor cabinet – since she works in a furniture store, so managed to get a display cabinet at a discount price due to damage on the stained finish – working to our advantage, it was sanded back, sprayed gloss white and the door handles replace with suitable fittings to fit in with everything else. We also made, out of scrap pallet wood, two internal shelf risers to stack the liquor bottles on the bottom shelf for better display Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I then added LED lighting in the cabinet to make it “pop” when we’re entertaining… Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Next was a old matching set of a entertaining unit, coffee and side tables. Same deal, sanding back, sprayed gloss white – however we also sanded back the very tops and stained them in a dark colour to contrast. Unfortunately i don't have any photos of the entertainment unit fully done, but you can get the same idea from the lamp and coffee tables. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Last but not least, erin’s “Bike” old, unusable but still stylish, it will be repurposed as a planter feature in our new house, red to match the colour of the front door. A “bike basket” will be added to the front of the bike handles, and some sort of fitting planter goes where the bike seat was…. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 18Jan 05, 2016 3:29 pm WOW! She is super super talented! All that furniture looks fantastic! Not sure what else to say. I'm super impressed Our Easystart Build in Annie's Landing https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=81061&p=1478674#p1478674 Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 19Jan 05, 2016 3:41 pm yeah, as i said - it's a hobby of hers, but i'm super impressed by what she does, especially as she is learning as she goes.... but it also saves us heaps on purchasing new furniture once the new house is built. She's currently working on a dining table set with chairs, stripping the stain back at the moment, not sure what is in store, but when shes done ill be sure to post before and after photos Oh, she owns all the tools in the shed, i just get the benefit of using them too she finds stuff on gumtree for pennies which she has ideas on how it will look restored, so it's definitely cost effective vs buying new from retails stores for $$$ I even had to get a trade card through Bunnings for a discount because we were buying so many products so frequently from them haha (sanding pads, paint, thinners, hardware, tools etc) Re: Smart Homes - The Mentor (Settlement!) 20Jan 05, 2016 4:20 pm Wow - I love the dark wood tops and the white gloss. Such a clever job!!!! Ultimate Homes PERTH '13 Dec Council App '14 Jun Slab '15 Jun Lockup Dec PCI '16 Jan Feb PCI 9 wks ago - still NOT in viewtopic.php?f=31&t=80759 I ran into trouble finding a lock that would fit my particular door, like your situation with your pivot door. I wanted a safe lock that couldn't be messed with easily. 4 25685 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 8013 Yes, I have. But, I haven't paid yet. They know they did not do proper jobs and I sent the email re: final payment, I cannot pay. They said, we will do 2nd PCI. Since… 2 3434 |