Coral Homes Avoca 20 - Ripley QLD

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for quite a while reading everyone's build journeys and now that mine is about to get to the real action it's time I put it all up. Here's the timeline so far:

January 2016: Bought block of 372m2 at Providence estate in Ripley, awaiting registration and no access to the block yet.

May 2016: Land registered - now holding onto the block for a time to pay down extra on the loan and build an equity deposit for later construction.

August 2017: Sign contracts with Coral - below will be all the modifications I added but in this time it has gone to a home just for me to a home for my now partner and future step daughter (now 4).

December 2017: Bank contract finally sorted and builder starts plan approvals. After 4 ridiculous months of back and forth which includes 2 months of being fed bull about delays when my loan manager had let the contract sit in base approval stage without a simple copy of the contract which both I and the builder had sent her - with a new loan manager it still took 2 of the 4 months to finally seal the deal. This included me sending complaints to the consumer advocate due to lack of action, and also debating why my land was now valued 20k less than when I bought it (matching my rates quoted value) when land in the same estate is selling for 20k MORE despite my block having views of the valley on an elevated position. Very frustrating time and the bank wouldn't budge so although we know the final valuation will be much more, it didn't help us avoid mortgage insurance.

January 2018: Appointments for tiling and colours, builder has all approvals.

February 2018: Electrical completed yesterday, now just waiting for a start date!


We've gone past our contract start date and now owe Coral $750 per 28 days until construction start date, due at final payment. I will definitely be onto the bank to cover this as it was a delay of 4 months entirely due to their own internal problems. The sad thing is the first loan manager was great up until August, she was the only one who worked with me back in 2016 to get me my land and work out a plan to build myself a deposit. But onwards to the fun stuff!

Here is the floorplan:
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I flipped this to suit my block as the zero boundary is on the right hand side, but otherwise left the plan alone. I love the layout and positioning of the master bedroom at the back of the house, and the ensuite with 2 sinks, enclosed toilet and massive bath and shower (I'm just over 6ft tall) were what sealed the deal for me. The double garage was initally a bonus for resale value but is now necessary with 2 cars! Here it is positioned on the block:



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The block isn't super huge but there is a retaining wall along the back with a 2.26m drop and south/ southwest views of the Ripley valley. There is also a stormwater easement in the back corner (top left) where I plan to make a rainforest garden around it for cover.