Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 101Apr 16, 2014 9:45 am Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 102Apr 16, 2014 11:32 am Thanks everyone. I do love the ensuite layout more - deluxes, I was exactly the same, I would've 'put up with it' but I love it so much more now. Plus, extra storage. Woo! I really want the second vanity/powder room. If the vanity in the bathroom was a bit bigger I would've made it a double bowl and have been happy with it, but it's just too small. If we make an entire wall of storage in the kids activity room, I think we'll be right. Thanks for all your comments, we really designed this house to suit us rather than thinking about re-sale, like the last house! Loving how it is working! I don't think we'll be able to get a skillion roof because the span will be too big, but should be an interesting roof line anyway! 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 104Apr 16, 2014 12:27 pm I really like this design I am being super picky now (I normally pick plans to pieces when I think how we would live in them), but in the future, if/when you have kids, you will likely have a laundry full of sand, grubbiness and the clothes you can't keep on top of washing. If you have friends over and want to watch a movie, you have to go into the nook bit which is open to the laundry. Could you switch the doors to the main area wall, or will it not give you enough walls in the main area for furniture? Could you stick a door on the laundry? ______________________________________________________________________ Signed up Jan 2013........Almost done! My thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65763 Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 105Apr 16, 2014 12:28 pm ..... maybe I should just keep on top of my washing pile better ______________________________________________________________________ Signed up Jan 2013........Almost done! My thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65763 Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 106Apr 29, 2014 1:09 pm Hi everyone, Sorry for no updates, I'm feeling a bit glum and haven't gone any further with the house, as we haven't been getting great feedback from the real estate for selling this house. They promised us we'd get at least what we wanted for this house, probably more, and now they are bringing us offers $40,000 under what we NEED. It's disappointing because we didn't need to sell this house right now - we only put it on the market because they were positive they'd get the price we are after. Plus we are paying thousands in marketing, which we obviously still have to pay if the house doesn't sell. So I don't want to think about the house at all, because it's not looking hopeful that this house is going to sell for what we want. Also - one of our creepy neighbours apparently went through during one of the open houses and told them we bought the house for $328k - WHAT?! First of all, it cost us nearly $25k more than that to buy the land, build the house and the pool - and secondly, we didn't buy it, we built it! So it has to be one of the neighbours who has moved in since we did...it's just weird, because none of the other houses are for sale, so it's not like we are competing to sell! I'm just so frustrated and disappointed and lots of other sad things 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...probably not going ahead :( 107Apr 29, 2014 1:30 pm Oh no how sad! I'm so sorry to hear that stellabella. The dream's not dead though, surely?? Maybe just delayed a year or two? Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Stellabella's second build! First plans! 108Apr 29, 2014 1:36 pm [quote="stellabella"]Hi everyone, Sorry for no updates, I'm feeling a bit glum and haven't gone any further with the house, as we haven't been getting great feedback from the real estate for selling this house. They promised us we'd get at least what we wanted for this house, probably more, and now they are bringing us offers $40,000 under what we NEED. It's disappointing because we didn't need to sell this house right now - we only put it on the market because they were positive they'd get the price we are after. Plus we are paying thousands in marketing, which we obviously still have to pay if the house doesn't sell. So I don't want to think about the house at all, because it's not looking hopeful that this house is going to sell for what we want. Also - one of our creepy neighbours apparently went through during one of the open houses and told them we bought the house for $328k - WHAT?! First of all, it cost us nearly $25k more than that to buy the land, build the house and the pool - and secondly, we didn't buy it, we built it! So it has to be one of the neighbours who has moved in since we did...it's just weird, because none of the other houses are for sale, so it's not like we are competing to sell! I'm just so frustrated and disappointed and lots of other sad things /quote] Selling a house can be frustrating with lots of highs and lows. We went to auction last year after spending considerable $$$ on a marketing campaign, only to have no bids. A few weeks after the auction, we had opportunists making low offers, well below our reserve. Then, shortly after Christmas someone offered the right amount and we sold. If you don’t have any time pressure, it pays to hold for the right offer. Newspaper advertising is a very expensive form of media and I am not sure if it is successful. Have you considered just sticking with web advertising for the rest of the campaign? Sounds like you have a Mrs Mangel in your neighbourhood!! BLOG: http://www.ourphoenix38.blogspot.com.au H1 THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70454 Re: Stellabella's second build...probably not going ahead :( 109Apr 29, 2014 2:13 pm Thanks guys. You make me feel a bit better It's just a bit devastating that we'll probably miss out on this block, because we love it so much. We still have 35 days left on that land contract to sell, but I think I've just lost all hope! I think after this ridiculously expensive marketing plan (6 weeks) is finished, we'll keep it on the market but with only the free advertising. Not loving the idea of having open houses every weekend for an unpredictable amount of time though! I always figured we would get a bit less than what we were after, but when the real estate thinks we should be considering offers $25k less, it seems like they just told us they'd get us our price to reel us in, which I really hope isn't the case 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...probably not going ahead :( 110Apr 29, 2014 3:06 pm We had the same situation, we had to sell our existing house within 90 days otherwise we would have lost our land that we were in love with. By the time we got the house on the market we probably had 80 days..... it finally sold in the LAST week. Also hubby was away and I had a toddler and a newborn, having the house immaculate all the time did me in. Literally the most stressful three months of our lives. I feel your pain, but don't give up. And even if the worst should happen there WILL be other beautiful pieces of land, honest. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Stellabella's second build...probably not going ahead :( 111Jan 17, 2015 4:22 pm Hi everyone...I'm back! Selfishly (I should have stuck around to follow everyone's threads), I stopped reading the forum when our house didn't sell. But guess what - IT'S SOLD! And for the price we wanted (well, after revising what we originally wanted). It went unconditional just over a week ago, so we are in the middle of moving back to my parents' place. We obviously didn't get the block we originally had the contract on, but we are looking at a few others that I think are much nicer. We've decided (probably) not to buy land straight away, we are going to New York at for Christmas/New Year this year and don't want to really start building til after that, so thought unless we find the perfect block, we're not going to pay rates and interest on something that's going to sit there for a year! Trying to decide whether to start another threat or stick with this one? I think I'll stick with this one for now - we are re-evaluating the house plans, we've decided we don't want to spend as much as we originally planned (I took a $250 a week pay cut do go back to a job I loved instead of a job that paid well). I'll slowly update with ideas and things like that. So, forgive me for not sticking around earlier...and time for me to see what everyone is up to! 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 112Jan 17, 2015 4:43 pm Just thought i'd throw it out there for thinking about when you get back around to it all. If this house is the house you (if you are having kids) are having kids in, having the bedrooms so very far away…well, i wouldn't recommend it all. Just a thought & each to their own. Imagine every 2hrs every night lol Anyway best of luck with it all Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 114Jan 17, 2015 6:45 pm Hi again Stellabella, following again! Melsie68 Yay your back . will you be working with the same plan though . You have got lovely taste so I can't wait to see more picks . Omg Iv been on here since your first house . Lol Same same Melsie!! Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 115Jan 17, 2015 9:40 pm YAY! Great to see you ______________________________________________________________________ Signed up Jan 2013........Almost done! My thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65763 Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 116Jan 17, 2015 11:07 pm Haha thanks everyone! We are a little sad to leave this house (DH more than me), but we have *outgrown* it - we do have two cats now, after all haha. We are just too close to the neighbours and just lots of little things we want to change. The plan we were working on is just going to cost too much. We have to reduce the cost of the house by around $40k (yikes), so if we work on $1000/sqm, that's 40sqm we'd have to reduce, and the plan is just a bit awkward so I don't think we can do it. There's still a lot of aspects from that plan I want to use, which is making it really hard for me to find something I like. I think we're going to have to just play around with the bits we like and fill in the blanks another way. Au$mar have a few plans that I like, but no matter how much I play around with them, I just can't get them quite right. My biggest issue is the WIR size for the main bedroom. I want it to be HUGE! I'm intrigued by the Manhattan by Pl@ntation...I haven't seen a plan with measurements, but I don't think the WIR or alfresco area will be big enough - keeping in mind the alfresco needs to fit an outdoor kitchen, dining area and lounge area! Also Pl@ntation don't build in our area, so we'd have to change the plans enough that we could use them through another builder...I just don't understand how the price shown on the website is so cheap! From $228k?? And when I clicked 'inclusions', there seemed to be a lot of stuff there! We think we may build with the same company again, so I might take the plan in there and the list of inclusions, make a few changes and see what they can do...but I'm not doing that til we have a really good idea of the land we want, because I don't want to waste anyone's time PS does anyone following here have a Manhattan floor plan showing measurements? I'm about to go and scour the forums.... 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 118Jan 18, 2015 9:50 am Thanks Melzie, I'm hoping for an actual plan with measurements so I can see each room exactly- e.g. I can't see how big the WIR is. DH is pretty keen one this plan too, so we just need to figure out if we can do something similar in our budget! 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...I'm back! 119Jan 20, 2015 11:39 am Ok so we have ANOTHER plan we are interested in...a member of the forum has already built this house, and I think we love it. I'm just waiting on a copy of the plan with measurements, I think the original will be too big for us, but there were a couple of changes we wanted to make anyway. I'll post an update once I've played around with it for a bit. Again, we are not going to even think about seeing a builder until we have a block of land...we don't want to start building until early/mid next year anyway, so I'm not going to waste anyone's time yet. We are going to save as much as we can in that time, but we definitely aren't going to get close to a 20% deposit for the total house/land/pool loan - we are aiming for ten, but it might be slightly under. We know we'll have to pay mortgage/lenders insurance, but there is absolutely no way we'll be able to get to 20%, so we've already accepted that fact! Our house is starting to look very empty... the three spare bedrooms are all empty, the living room is empty. Alfresco area is empty. The phone/internet is being switched to my parents' place on Friday, we are having some people over on Saturday for a swim, because it will be the last time! Eeek! Was too hot this weekend anyway, I got in Saturday after moving some stuff and the water was hotter than the air outside of it! 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Stellabella's second build...WHY AM I SO POOR? 120Jan 21, 2015 6:46 pm Went for a drive this afternoon to see another block I'd found on the internet, which was, as usual, a disappointment. I did, however, drive past a new estate that I hadn't even heard of...and it was BEAUTIFUL! Amazing views, huge blocks (starting at an acre and a half), and level! Why haven't I heard of these? A quick internet search finds they START at $60k over my budget...and go up from there even if we took the pool out, they are still too expensive... I'm going to go over the budget again tonight and see if there is ANYTHING we can do, apart from making the house smaller...here are some pics (one I took, and one from the website) - amazing, right?! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 9201 We are building a second dwelling and are currently selecting window and door frames. We want to blend into the forest and also bring out the stone work and the fake wood… 0 19991 I posted the floorplan on Houzz.com forum and got some really good ideas and advice from people there. Then we reached out to a couple of renovation companies and one… 5 11085 |