Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 30, 2013 10:21 pm Hi All,
Some of you may remember me from back when i built the first time in Byford 3 or so years ago. I've been stalking these forums again for the past couple of months and have seen a few familiar name's pop up! So firstly let me introduce myself. I built in the Glades at Byford approx 3.5 years ago with Blueprint homes. Had a reasonable smooth build and have loved living in Byford. However i'm on the road for work a great deal which involves travelling alot of K's each week, and have also recently leased an office in Vic Park, so i've been looking to move closer in. Anywho - so about 12 months ago i started hunting around for an established home to move to, and getting my finance all in order. My preferred areas of Hammond Park or Aubin Grove were more or less out of my price range. So despite swearing i wouldn't build again, at least until i could afford to do it with no budget constraints, i started throwing around the idea of buying some land and building a house on it. Times have certainly changed since i brought my first block 4+ years ago. Gone are the days of looking at a selection of 20-30 blocks in a number of different estates, discounted land sales, time to pick and choose. Land is in extremely short supply in most close to the freeway areas south of the river - and at a price premium. I looked in a number of areas - Hammond Park / Aubin Grove (too expensive), Wandi - Honeywood (too far a way, and pricey for its location, Harrisdale (too far from freeway), before discovering Aspiri at Piara Waters. Unfortunately i was still waiting for pre approval of finance when the next release happened, so it took a couple of months before the next release came out. Long story short - completely stupid sales process - and i wasn't able to secure a block. Given the High Voltage lines that run through the back of the estate - when the next release came out, it was a bit too close to the HV lines for comfort, and for that matter all the future releases would be closer and closer, so that ruled out Aspiri. I was first tipped off about a new estate on Armadale road by one of the display home sales guys. He had no real info, just that he had heard a new estate was being developed. I asked around, but no one else seamed to have heard anything. After some digging around online i found a council application for developing a new area next to the old brick works by Stockland. So started stalking there facebook, website and googling every few days. Finally they announced the estate, and i registered for info. Again long story short, at the start of December i finally at long last purchased a new block of land! It's a 12.5 x 30m 375sqm front loaded block located in the first public release (which is stage 3 - 1 & 2 are the display village). It was quite a bit smaller than i had intended to buy, and had alot narrower frontage. So pretty much every plan i had looked at went in the bin, and i've gone back to the drawing board. Titles aren't due until June 2014, so i have a little while to get everything nailed down. My current preferred plan is called the Viceroy by National Homes, it's the display home in Honeywood estate Wandi. Floor plan is http://www.nationalhomes.com.au/images/floorplans/viceroy_webplan.jpg. But will be making some changes. Opening the floor to suggestions from everyone as to suitable floor plans. I have a few requirements 1) Master Bedroom not at the front of the house 2) Functional Theatre - off the main living area so can be used more as a lounge area. 3) Office - I do work from home a bit 4) Garage Entry Alcove - an area between the garage and the rest of the house to come inside and dump bags, papers etc rather than them ending up on the kitchen bench I have a budget of around the $225k mark not including site works. One thing i haven't yet looked into much is the option of going two story. I had a quick look at a couple of two story displays before everyone shut for Xmas, but they were all out of my price range. I've done a bit of stalking on the forums, and of different websites and will be checking out Ben Trager & 101 Residential when the displays open in the new year. I'm not a big fan of two story, i think they're somewhat expensive and over rated (unless your building a giant mcmansion!), but i have a 45% open space clause in the DAP which somewhat limits the size of the house to approx 206sqm - which i'm actually discovering is quite limiting. Anywho.. I'll update this thread as i go along and feel free to suggest any cool floor plans or designs you've seen Time Line: 5/12/13 - Block Purchased 19/5/14 - Titles Released 20/6/14 - Land Settlement (delayed - Recheduled) 2/7/14 - Signed final plans / variation list 14/7/14 - Land Settlement 13/1/15 - Pre Start 21/1/15 - Building Permit Issued 30/1/15 - Developer Approval Issued 20/1/15 - OMG a Tap! 27/3/15 - SPAD! 12/4/15 - Slabbed 17/4/15 - Drainage installed 25/4/15 - Soakwells installed 27/4/15 - Site clean 2/5/15 - Window Frames Delivered 13/5/15 - Bricks Delivered 15/5/15 - Brick Layer started 26/6/15 - Brick Layer finished (finally.. sort of) 31/7/15 - Brick Work actually finished 3/8/15 - Roof Carpenter Started 18/8/15 - Conduit/Electrical channels cut 21/8/15 - Roof Carpenter Finished 26/8/15 - Electrical prewire started 5/9/15 - Electrical finished & Gas connected 22/9/15 - Plumbing pipework installed 29/9/15 - Roof Tiles delivered 5/10/15 - Roof Scaff Installed 8/10/15 - Roof Tiler's started 13/10/15 - Roof tiling completed 29/10/15 - Rendering started 30/10/15 - Rendering complete 3/11/15 - Ceilings & Cornices started 6/11/15 - Ceilings & Cornices completed 11/11/15 - Plastering started 16/11/15 - Plastering completed 17/11/15 - Solar Hot Water panels installed 18/11/15 - Doors hung & shelving completed Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 3Dec 30, 2013 10:51 pm For the size restrictions that's an amazing plan!
I'd suggest possibly checking out so,e of the first home buyers companies for plans. They tend to specialise in plans for small blocks, might give you some ideas. I know we built on a 10x30 block and seen a great plan buy homebuyers on a similar block to ours. Many of the low end builders also have more high end versions of themselves, Aussie has smart homes and the Ventura, though you have companies like redink with do the spectrum. I've heard good things about blueprint being able to make custom plans for a good price. We have friends who built with them in hilbert and got a great plan! If we'd known sooner we would have looked into them! I know a few people building with BT and have been very happy with the price and inclusions. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 4Dec 30, 2013 10:51 pm I like your plan. We gave 101 a very serious look when we thought we'd be building on a smaller block. Seems good value for $ and pretty good reputation. Displays are lovely. We bought in piara waters but going back and forth on jandakot rd noticed calleya. Would love to get my hands on a block there, great location! Good luck. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 5Dec 30, 2013 11:18 pm asj25 Wow I really like that plan. Fits everything in well / love the kitchen/laundry set up too Thanks asj25. That was something that attracted me to this plan. The modified plan will have the garage entry door through the back of the scullery area instead of into the entry hall. fmac For the size restrictions that's an amazing plan! I'd suggest possibly checking out some of the first home buyers companies for plans. They tend to specialise in plans for small blocks, might give you some ideas. I know we built on a 10x30 block and seen a great plan buy homebuyers on a similar block to ours. Many of the low end builders also have more high end versions of themselves, Aussie has smart homes and the Ventura, though you have companies like redink with do the spectrum. I've heard good things about blueprint being able to make custom plans for a good price. We have friends who built with them in hilbert and got a great plan! If we'd known sooner we would have looked into them! I know a few people building with BT and have been very happy with the price and inclusions. Thanks fmac - i started looking through some of the entry level plans, but i have a hard time imagining changes, and most of them are quite small. I'm also chatting with Red Ink as well modifying one of there designs, but it just doesn't have the "wow" factor that i'm looking for. I think Blueprint do a good entry level house - but not so sure about there capabilities for anything more quality. The finishes on some of there display homes leave a little to be desired. ardie514 I like your plan. We gave 101 a very serious look when we thought we'd be building on a smaller block. Seems good value for $ and pretty good reputation. Displays are lovely. We bought in piara waters but going back and forth on jandakot rd noticed calleya. Would love to get my hands on a block there, great location! Good luck. Yeah i really the like the location, thats the main reason i ended up going for a smaller block than i was originally looking at. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 6Dec 31, 2013 12:44 am Hi elemist, Congratulations securing the block, it sounds like you've done well. Some developers seem to take the p**s with the pricing of blocks and you hear stories of people camping out for day to secure a block. We've replied to your question about Ben Trager on your other thread. http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?p=1118450#p1118450. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 7Dec 31, 2013 8:22 am Hi great plan. You could add a passage way/room (with external door ) to the back of the garage to join up the garage to to laundry. Would be like a "mud room" This would mean having coverage between the two and having extra storage/dumping spot however this might be your only access to your back yard if your frontage is narrow so maybe not. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 8Feb 03, 2014 12:28 pm Hi, Congratulations on securing the block. I did secure one of the blocks in Stage 3 and have got the same size as you (12.5x30). I went with Celebration Homes (Elwood) with some mods/upgrades. http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j ... DG5oLnChmw They come with good std specs and the sales guy was good enough (we went to 3 display homes with him during xmas time and was given some discount). Please pm me if you need his info. One thing you might want to check is BAL cost cause they vary a lot depending on builders. BluePrint asked 9k but Celebration came with 5k (fixed) for BAL 12.5/19 Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 10Feb 06, 2014 12:48 am Hey there, We've got a similar size block in Ashby (13x30m), it seems to be the size many blocks are going at these days. Take a look at our plan, its the Austin from DAH. We've got the bedroom in the middle and a large open living area - but because of the long/skinny nature we were a bit limited about rooms and areas. Good luck! Done it once.. Lived in it a year.. Sold it.. Doing it again! Addicted to Building.. Building with Dale Alcock in Ashby, WA https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66684 Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 11Feb 08, 2014 5:01 am Howdy all, Thanks for the comments and plan suggestions. Has been great fun checking out all the different designs that are around, and i've incorporated a few into my floor plan. At this stage i'm still sticking with the viceroy floor plan - albeit with a few changes. Just in the process of try to sort out the finishing specs IE undermount sinks, over head cupboards etc to try and lock in pricing. Site works at the estate are moving quite quickly. It's amazing the difference a few weeks make, and the removal of a couple of massive sand dunes that were bordering Armadale road. They've actually done quite a bit of work clearing, leveling and laying the foundations - pipeworks and the likes. I went for a wander up the service road last weekend and took a few pics. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ These are both taken with Armadale road to the rear facing Jandakot road. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 12Feb 08, 2014 5:05 am cky0703 Hi, Congratulations on securing the block. I did secure one of the blocks in Stage 3 and have got the same size as you (12.5x30). I went with Celebration Homes (Elwood) with some mods/upgrades. http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j ... DG5oLnChmw They come with good std specs and the sales guy was good enough (we went to 3 display homes with him during xmas time and was given some discount). Please pm me if you need his info. One thing you might want to check is BAL cost cause they vary a lot depending on builders. BluePrint asked 9k but Celebration came with 5k (fixed) for BAL 12.5/19 Hi cky0703, Congrats to you too! Didn't end up getting my choice of block - but hey i think the area outweighs that! I had a look at Celebrations, but didn't really see any floor plans i liked. Interesting your comments about the BAL costs, these definately vary depending on the builder you speak with. With National Homes they're currently budgeting $15k, so quite a variance there. Although it is only a provisional sum, and likely to be less than that. The sales rep mentioned there's some changes coming with the BAL requirements which mean costs, hence the higher provisional amount. So if you can lock in that price fixed then definately go for it! Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 13Feb 24, 2014 11:50 pm Congrats on securing your block! We just secured a block in the 2nd public release this weekend just gone. This is our first build so it's quite scary. We have been looking at displays for about 18 months and fell in love with a Dale Alcock design which required a fairly big block. We managed to secure a 601m2 block which fits the design but it seems now the design may be out of our price range with all the finishing's etc. We are now looking for some more idea so if anyone has any floor plans that might work for us we would welcome any suggestions. Our requirements are very simple: * 4 x 2 * activity room * large living space * office (desirable but not a deal breaker) Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 14Feb 27, 2014 12:39 pm Congratulations to both of you on securing a block in Calleya, my hubby and I are desperately trying to get in there. Any tips on getting in quick? We couldn't have possibly registered any faster than what we did, I guess we should just keep trying and keep our fingers crossed We fell in love with a Summit Homes design, The Aloha, its displayed in Aspiri in Piara Waters. I love the floor plan but as displayed it is quite expensive, the sales woman suggested starting with the base model and add the extras we want rather than have all of the fruit and blow our budget. We also looked at another home in the estate by New Generation Homes which is also part of the Summit Group it was called the Pebble Beach. It was a smaller home on a smaller block, 4x2 with activity room and home theatre. Living area was probably a little smaller than what I'd prefer but still a lovely design, as displayed it was more than $100K cheaper than the Aloha. Given you have a larger block you could always increase the size of the living area? Good luck finding a design! Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 15Feb 27, 2014 7:55 pm I have no idea how we managed to secure a block. Our internet speed is really slow but somehow we managed to click first. If they do the same for the next release I would say just be prepared. Be at the computer when the email comes in and click the link asap. We were told the first public release was all over in 10 seconds!! There is supposed to be a release every month so just keep trying. We also loved the Summit Aloha but it was our of our price range too. The Pebble Beach has been our back up and the $$$ saved means we could probably push out the living a bit. The only downside is the Master being straight off the living area. We have found a Ross North design which we think might work. http://www.rossnorthhomes.com.au/our-ho ... -ashburton Good luck with the land hunt! Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 16Mar 01, 2014 5:09 pm 2tks Congratulations to both of you on securing a block in Calleya, my hubby and I are desperately trying to get in there. Any tips on getting in quick? We couldn't have possibly registered any faster than what we did, I guess we should just keep trying and keep our fingers crossed We fell in love with a Summit Homes design, The Aloha, its displayed in Aspiri in Piara Waters. I love the floor plan but as displayed it is quite expensive, the sales woman suggested starting with the base model and add the extras we want rather than have all of the fruit and blow our budget. We also looked at another home in the estate by New Generation Homes which is also part of the Summit Group it was called the Pebble Beach. It was a smaller home on a smaller block, 4x2 with activity room and home theatre. Living area was probably a little smaller than what I'd prefer but still a lovely design, as displayed it was more than $100K cheaper than the Aloha. Given you have a larger block you could always increase the size of the living area? Good luck finding a design! No tips here either unfortunately. I suspect it will have a lot to do with when you registered on the list originally - assuming that when they do the email out it will send from first registered to last - and with potentially thousands of names on that list there could be a 20 second delay between the first and last person. Best suggestion is to make sure your on a fast computer on fast internet connection and just be ready. I think i had clicked on the link and registered within about 12 seconds or so of receiving the email, yet i was still the 41st person on the list! Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 17Mar 01, 2014 5:11 pm chadtyn Congrats on securing your block! We just secured a block in the 2nd public release this weekend just gone. This is our first build so it's quite scary. We have been looking at displays for about 18 months and fell in love with a Dale Alcock design which required a fairly big block. We managed to secure a 601m2 block which fits the design but it seems now the design may be out of our price range with all the finishing's etc. We are now looking for some more idea so if anyone has any floor plans that might work for us we would welcome any suggestions. Our requirements are very simple: * 4 x 2 * activity room * large living space * office (desirable but not a deal breaker) Congrats on getting a block! Where about's exactly were the stage 2 blocks located in the estate? None of the info i have had any of those streets listed/shown! Do the stage 2 blocks title in June as well? Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 18Mar 02, 2014 1:29 pm elemist Congrats on getting a block! Where about's exactly were the stage 2 blocks located in the estate? None of the info i have had any of those streets listed/shown! Do the stage 2 blocks title in June as well? They are aiming for June titles at this stage. Our lot is 184 on Chicory Street. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 19Mar 09, 2014 11:59 am Hi, I have just joined this forum having recently purchased a block at Calleya in the first release. Our block is 375m (15 x 25m). We have been looking at house designs that will fit on these smaller blocks and have decided to go double-storey so now looking at 101 Residential and Ben Trager Homes. Interested to hear if anyone else is considering double-storey. Re: Take Two - Calleya WA - Waiting for titles 20Mar 09, 2014 4:00 pm emmsnet Hi, I have just joined this forum having recently purchased a block at Calleya in the first release. Our block is 375m (15 x 25m). We have been looking at house designs that will fit on these smaller blocks and have decided to go double-storey so now looking at 101 Residential and Ben Trager Homes. Interested to hear if anyone else is considering double-storey. Congrats on getting a block! I considered both 101 and Ben Trager (as well as the cheap APG two story homes) with the intention of going two story, but in the end decided against it. When i crunched the figures i found i was getting much the same floor space over the two stories as with a single story, but with a lower quality finish. Most of the designs in my price range were basically a smaller single story house with a single room upstairs. Plus.. stairs can be a bit of a pain in the butt in general. Joe, it depends on your certifier but we are noticing the ones we deal with are really cracking down. So i would recommend you follow your approved landscaping plans to… 4 10965 Hi Simeon, Thank you for laying it down for us. Makes sense. Appreciate it very much. Have a nice day. Cheers 2 9007 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20413 |