GRRRRR

We have been waiting for weeks to get the go ahead from the bank so that we can have a site start. We had previously been told that all we were waiting on was the final permission to start.

Today we found out that they have had everything for ages but somehow failed to ring us to let us know they were missing some forms. As far as the builder and we were concerned they had everything weeks ago. Grrr. So now we have to meet up with the builder AGAIN, go over everything and make sure there is NOTHING else that the bank could possibly need, as they have been hopeless at everything so far.

Luckily the builder has been good so far and has helped us sort through everything. As far as i can see they have gone out of their way to help so hopefully once the bank is sorted the rest of the build will go smoothly.

FINAL selections list (locked in !)

Well the ideas have changed a bit over the last few months but we have finally locked in our selections. Now we are just waiting... waiting.... waiting for the bank to give the official go ahead so that our builder can start. It is very frustrating at the moment but hopefully we will be starting soon :)

Selections:

Roof and gutter: Colourbond wilderness

Fascia: paperbark

Brick: PGH 'Bathurst'

Front Door: Hume Vaucluse XV5 either wood stained or painted a cream colour to match 'Paperbark' facia

Internal door: Hume standard oakfield

Carpet: Carpet choice nylon twist stainmaster carpet. Cream/pale brown in colour

Tiles:

Main living area floor: 333mm square light cream tile

Wet area floor: 250mm square light cream tile similar to main floor

Bathroom and kitchen wall tile: 250mm x 300mm (?) light cream gloss tile with a slightly darker 'vein' running through it.

Feature tile:

3 high horizontal strip across bath and shower
3x3 (as shown) square in diamond on kitchen wall

Bathroom:
Mixers to vanity and shower
full porcelain close-coupled toilet
standard bath.
vanity with water overflow and integrated semi-recessed bowl
Kitchen:

We added pot drawers and moved the dishwasher, includes basic mixer tap and 1 and 1/2 sink with basket waste.
Appliances are all Omega. Retractable exhaust hood, gas hotplates, elactric fanforced oven/grill and dishwasher, all in stainless.

1. Bench top diamond gloss 'Lunar Stone' with round edge, 2. Top cupboards and kick board 'Peruvian clay', 3. Bottom cupboards 'Pumice'.

 

Land Settlement & FHOG money!!

Yesterday we became the proud owners of our very own 900m2 block of land! YAY!!! We also got the FHOG cash in the bank! double yay! We had all of our deposit ready to give away but then they decided that they could use the grant $$ instead so now we have MORE cash in the bank!. We were told not to spend anything though as we will need it for later in the build?? (not that we were going to splurge it or anything) Anyway all the paperwork is finalised. I think we will use some of the grant money for a few extras such as an alarm system, upgrade taps to mixers and a little extra for the feature tiles. The rest will go straight onto the mortgage and car loan.
The builder told us once they got the ok to start it would happen very quickly as they are ready & waiting. If i understand correctly we just need to confirm all of our selections (already chosen) and then we could have a slab as early as 1 or 2 weeks from now! YAY so excited
The builder also said he will let us know when they are pouring the slab so that we can come & write our names on it :) I will be sure to start taking piccies once there is anything to see besides dirt :P
 
So tempted to go set up our tent on the block!!! (not sure if this is even legal but i am tempted none the less!)

paperwork, banks and getting close to starting

We have been filling out masses of forms from the bank. They assure us we have now finished signing our lives away. :S Apparently the land is ready to be settled as soon as the bank processes the last of the forms sent on friday. We were talking to our builder the other day and he said if all goes to plan we will have a slab down in just over 3 weeks. :) We just need bank to process forms and then make all our colour choices etc (we have chosen everything, just need to lock them in)

We were also able to go through a house of our neighbour that is very similar to our design. It's the closest we will get to seeing one before ours goes up. It looked really nice inside and was good to be able to imagine ours. I'm going to steal her tile choices as the owner of the house has same tile shop and budget to us

On another note, My hubby and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary today (sunday 7th) :) yipeee :)
(and yes it was the day of 'black saturday' or as we call it 'wedding saturday' - we had a lovely day and were oblivious to the fires til halfway through our honeymoon!)

Good luck with your building and remember to keep us updated :)

Settlement

We got a letter from the conveyancer today to let us know that estimated date of land settlement is 5th feb :) I think all the bank paperwork will be finished about that time too, so it looks like we will start the build in early feb. :)

banks, builders etc

Today we finally got unconditional approval from the bank! yay. Now it has to go to settlement (fingers crossed this doesn't take too long) and then everything's ready to roll.

I was talking to the builder today and he said he will let us know next week what our start date is. I'm guessing late jan/early feb. Originally he said we would start in mid jan. I guess it all depends on the settlement but hopefully we will get to see some action soon. Things are actually happening!!

The year of the house! :)

Well happy new year everyone, and welcome to 2010: the year of the HOUSE!! :)

It's been ages since i was last on here so i thought i better add some new pics.

the site after it was 'scraped'. Notice that we now have a neighbour! Pretty much everything between that house and the light post is our block

Where the house sits on the block

Our kitchen! It's only small but it is enough for just the two of us and eventually our young family