We're on the market!

The unit is on the market and had its first showing on Saturday before it was even on the internet! Professional photos are being taken and a floor-plan drawn up on Monday and I look forward to seeing how it comes up and the response we get from buyers. Here's hoping for a good price and quick sale!

Final Plans off for Approval

Ok, we have submitted for developer approval this morning! That should take two weeks then, if it is all approved, we submit to Council who can take up to six weeks. We’re not in a hurry as building can’t start until we sell Mick’s unit anyway, but we just hope it is all approved without too much fuss…

Here are our final plans (note: they are copyrighted to Fairmont Homes NSW):

Here is the landscaping plan which has been a long-time in the making, but I am proud of what I achieved:

We’ll be installing more downlights in the Alfresco Area, upstairs hallway and Family/Media Room after hand-over. We’ll also be having cabinetry made for the formal living areas, the wardrobes fitted-out, the Alfresco Area decked and landscaping done after hand-over. We’re also contemplating having the painting done ourselves depending on how much Fairmont charge for feature walls, an extra coat (we want three rather than two) and to have all the coats rolled not sprayed. Having the painting done properly is especially important for new builds. If you spray the paint on (project home builders normally have at least the undercoat sprayed to save time and costs), it doesn’t adhere as well and no paint job ever done subsequently will ever be as “strong” as if it were rolled.

Final colour selection is as before:

Roof: Monier Tiles Elebana ‘Barramundi’

Gutter, Fascia and Downpipes: Colourbond ‘Dune’

Cladding: Wattyl ‘Maltshake’

Render: Wattyl ‘Romeo Romeo’

Brick: Boral ‘Rose Cove’

Windows: Aluminium ‘Pearl White’

Entry Door: Hume Savoy Range XS24 1200 Entry door in a dark-wooden stain and translucent glass

Garage Door: Panelmasta Caprice ‘White’

Balcony Railing: Colourbond ‘Surfmist’

Eaves: Colourbond ‘Paperbark’

Driveway: Coloured Concrete Colour-Thru 'French Grey'

See link below for post with full details:

http://mashbuild.blogspot.com/2011/10/external-colour-selections-and-kitchen.html

On the “home-front” Mick and I moved out of the unit (let me just say that moving is one of the most awful things!) but we still have some things to sort and either store or tip. That is waiting for Mick to get back from Papua New Guinea. In the meantime, the painting is done and vanity in. The bathroom mirror nearly fell off the wall (thank you Dad who managed to rescue it in the nick of time) and it appears that the handymen didn’t put it up as instructed so that’s another great job for Mick to sort when he gets back. A big thanks to Mick’s brother who put blinds up in the second bedroom, his sister-in-law who let the Salvos in to collect stuff, and also to my Dad who nearly wrecked himself cleaning the windows inside and out, which hadn’t seen a squeegee in a million years! And lastly, thanks to all of the friends and family who have helped us out with the unit and moving. Hopefully we can list the unit to sell this week and the financial, emotional and physical stress of it all can be over with. Moving, building and selling are hard enough but we both have chronic conditions which makes it especially taxing.

So, now we cross our fingers and wait…

Musings and Moving

So, we’re still deliberating on the raked ceiling in the kitchen/meals area. We’ve asked for an exact quote from the framers so we will see what they say. In the meantime, here is the sketch our builder did for us as to how it would look:

It won’t be a large rake, but enough I think to add architectural interest and even a slight angle makes sky-lights look more beautiful like in the pic below:

I also managed to find a light we like at Domayne which looks like a cloud of glass bubbles. It’s very long however and we’ve been unsure about where we would put it. It finally dawned on me…the stairs! That way we can feel as though we’re in the bubbles when we’re on the upstairs landing and below it it will look beautiful too…anyway, just a thought. We haven’t actually purchased the light yet, and thinking about these things may sound like I’m jumping the gun, but it helps us think about light placement (something we need to decide on now).

Photo of Fairmont's Display Dominico

Things are really moving on the home-front…literally! This Sat we move into my family’s home and it has meant that Mick has powered through sorting his stuff (he has years of it accumulated and, thankfully, a lot of it has gone!) and we are very tired as we spend our evenings packing. The tiling is finally done (no thanks to Strata’s tiler having to tile the shower three times!) and the painting will be done while Mick is overseas. Then there are two doors to fix, a blind to put up in the kitchen and vanity to install and we’re done and on the market!

Phew!

*Fingers crossed* If we can manage to submit for Developer/Council approval before Christmas, we can finally be under way!

Thank goodness for small mercies

Sorry it has been a while between posts. We have been extremely busy with work, looking after baby birds, packing up the unit, battling tilers (who finished their third attempt at the shower today!), Mick having to trek to Orange for two days and his Dad and brother kindly helping out with the unit renovation. Plus we hope to move out of the unit this weekend, before Mick has to go to PNG for two weeks....then there's Christmas... Phew!

I still haven't completed the landscaping plan (having not had the free time at the unit to sit and do it, and because the software we bought has virtually no Australian plants in the library! So I have done what I can with that software and now need to do the hard part of exporting the image to SnagIT and making amendments there...almost wish I had paid a landscape architect $1k!). With regards to the house, we have been asking a million more questions of our long-suffering builder mostly about lights (downlights cost a fortune!) and raked ceilings. Thankfully my mother has managed to find a good electrician who can wire up our media room and do any electrical work we'd prefer to do ourselves after hand-over. Here's the thing though, we've fallen in love with the idea of raked ceilings which we're considering doing to the back-half of the downstairs (i.e. anywhere without a floor above it excluding the Alfresco area). To afford it though, I'm considering trading-off the spa bath and timber floorboards...with the idea that these can always be installed later, whereas a roof is nearly impossible to rake after hand-over. It would also, I believe, give a "wow-factor" and make the two skylights "pop." Hmmmmm....decisions, decisions....

In the meantime, I have managed to purchase a Lulu Drinks Urn from Domayne (as seen in Donna Hay Magazine), which was no mean feat! Taren Point Domayne had sold out and explained that our only hope lay online where there were only a few left. I managed to order one and have it delivered to Taren Point so I avoided shipping costs and we picked it up today! They are now completely sold out and the worst part is, their catalogue featuring the urn only came out this week! And their supplier can't get that particular urn in for quite a while (it's from Spain). They will be getting another type of urn in over the coming weeks, but I prefer the Lulu.

http://www.domayneonline.com.au/christmas-drinks-by-louise-stewart.html

At this point I'm very proud of my (small) triumph :)

External Colour Selections and the Kitchen Sink

Ok, we have made our final external colour choices and they are as follows:

Roof: Monier Tiles Elebana ‘Barramundi’

Gutter, Fascia and Downpipes: Colourbond ‘Dune’
Water Tank: Colourbond ‘Dune’

Cladding: Wattyl ‘Maltshake’

Render: Wattyl ‘Romeo Romeo’

Brick: Boral ‘Rose Cove’
Mortar: Raked finish, off-white

Windows: Aluminium ‘Pearl White’

Entry Door: Hume Savoy Range XS24 1200 Entry door in a dark-wooden stain and translucent glass

Garage Door: Panelmasta Caprice ‘White’

Balcony Railing: Colourbond ‘Surfmist’

Eaves: Colourbond ‘Paperbark’

Driveway: Coloured Concrete Colour-Thru 'French Grey'

Roof tile:

Brick:

Wattyl Colours:

 

Here are some pics of the bricks with ‘Dune,’ ‘Maltshake’ and ‘Romeo Romeo’ colour chips. We think they work well together. The hardest part really was choosing the render colour, especially as we can no longer get Wattyl sample pots (the reason, we’ve been told for this, is that the company has been sold and in this transition time they’re re-negotiating with suppliers…or something to that effect, no one really knows for sure). 

Overcast light:

Full sunlight:

We actually like that the render colour chosen looks different in different lights. It looks more red in direct sunlight and more purple in indirect or overcast light. They both look nice against the brick and I think/hope it will make the facade even more interesting. Especially as the bricks are two-toned.

The final draw-up of our external colours thanks to New Home Visuals:

We’ve also managed to order a Kitchen sink, which has been no mean feat. The sink we found discounted at Bunnings was the last one in the store and had already been reserved for someone months ago. It took several weeks though for Bunnings to convey this to us (Note: they’re helpful when you’re physically in the store, but don’t rely on them calling you back).  Anyway, turns out there is one left in the entire chain, and it’s at Taree. So, our local Bunnings called Taree, asked them to confirm that they had the sink, that it had all of its accessories and asked them to ship it to us. It’ll take several weeks, but we’re not in a hurry. So, assuming it turns up ok, we'll get a $2,000 sink for less than a quarter of the price!!!! The reason it was $2k is because of all the accessories it comes with. It has a cutting board, plate tray, colander, grater and soap dispenser! We love this sink, and I hope it survives its journey.

Our Sink:

http://www.teka.net/html/cat/prod.php?producto=PR-1000019&categoria=&idioma=us&categoria=CA-0000008&nameProd=088-281&nameCat=Sinks&backto=Search%20results

Lastly, I’m a bit behind in doing up a landscape plan.  I know roughly what I want to do, but it’s made complicated by the Estate Guidelines which dictate the types of plants we can have, how many and which size! It’s not easy, especially as there is money riding on this (we had to give over a bond to “promise” we’d build a house in-keeping with the Guidelines). So, tonight and tomorrow I will be brainstorming with my mother who is a gardening almanac. Hopefully we can still submit to Council and Stocklands this week. We’ll keep you posted.

On the home-front, tiling is underway in the unit, painting starts soon and Mick and I are slowly preparing to store things so we can get the unit on the market. Unfortunately Dec/Jan is the worst time to sell, but the area is very sought after so *fingers crossed* it’ll be ok.

Plans Finalised

Just a quick update to let you know that we have the most gorgeous house ever!!!!

Tom, Michael and especially Daniel at Fairmont Homes have just been wonderful to deal with. Very knowledgeable, helpful and fast. Their pricing also seems fair.

We are currently due to sign the tender on 3^rd September and pay for full plans to be drawn up as well as the required documentation for Developer, BASIX and Council submission. It will then also be time to approach a landscaper.

Below is the final draft of our plans:

Note: there will be a tall, fixed feature window above the bath, but exact dimensions can’t be finalised until the elevations are drafted. And we were so glad to find out that we can have the balcony extension after all. This was due to a clause in the fine print saying that the Developer Guidelines “trump” council’s.

How exciting! It’s nice to have the passion back after such a rough beginning, especially as we are about to enter a financial vacuum waiting for Mick’s unit to sell.

On the home-front, the tiling quote should be finalised this week (thank you Strata for lengthening that process) and work begin next week or the one after. Once complete, we will be putting the unit on the market (finally).

We’ve also been in contact with our future side neighbours regarding fencing. Between council regs, estate guidelines and personal budgets/taste, this should be interesting. We’ll also need to begin talks with our rear neighbours soon…Let the fun and games begin!

(I should note that it turns out that who we thought were building next door appear to have on-sold…for those who know what I’m talking about).

Another week in paradise

So Rawson answered our ‘hurry-up’ email with a new Variation asking for, you guessed it, more money! It now turns out that we need a very specific hot water service (gas-boosted solar…or something along those lines) and, of course, Rawson missed it and want to charge us $4.6k extra for it! They also want more money for the changes we’ve asked. Surprise, surprise.

Again, we find ourselves bitterly disappointed with Rawson Homes. As far as I am concerned, they are at fault for not realising the hot water issue. They either purposefully withheld this (and the roof issue) to get more money from us, or they are incompetent and I have little faith that they can deliver a product that will be approved by the Developer. Either alternative is not a good one.
 
As for the rest of the charges, it seems that builder’s mark-up is a one-way cost. Anything we cut-back on to save money is so inexpensive to do and yet, if we were to add it, it costs a fortune! I especially like the part where removing an internal window from downstairs doesn’t save us any money but adding one (exactly the same specs) upstairs costs money! The price of the house now is ridiculous and it would take a very long time to recoup the value in re-sale and that doesn’t include electrical changes or any unforseen upgrades (we haven’t even had the colour-selection appointment!).

Mick wants to wire the house up for data (and can do so really inexpensively with the help of one of his friends who is a licenced electrician) but Rawson won’t let him (apparently due to OH&S reasons, though our friend is a licenced tradesman) but when we asked earlier if they could then instead offer the service themselves, they said no. Now, all of a sudden they do offer the service (so, was our CSO lying earlier or just incompetent?) and you do not even want to know how much they want to charge us.

 They even added a change to this variation that wasn’t asked for (extending the feature rake to the entire house), but that’s ok cos they’re not going to charge us for that…probably another thing they left out of the original tender!

Lastly, they sent us another email about changing the façade because the one we’ve chosen doesn’t have a roof that conforms to guidelines. They say that changing the roof to conform actually costs money but that we can save money by choosing the cheaper façade and we’ll save $10k…too bad it cost us $16k to upgrade! Now, if the roof and finish don’t equate to the extra cost in changing the façade, it must be the balconies (and we would like to retain at least one because of the view) but Rawson said themselves, neither are substantial in size and basically implied that neither are worth it! What a lovely company that belittles its own design and, therefore, our choice of it.

So where does this all leave us? With either a house that we can’t afford or don’t want.

In short, we would be better off switching to a company with realistic designs and costs, better understanding of the guidelines and who are nicer/easier to deal with. Rawson have been nothing but difficult since we signed on the bottom line and have not apologised nor offered any assurance of change. We gave them a chance, but we’re out. Good luck to them in this economic climate.

So, this Saturday we’re heading to Kellyville to meet with Cosmopolitan (to keep our options open) and on Sunday we’re meeting with Fairmont.

Cosmo are the cheapest option, but their reviews are terrible and I suspect that they will be just as painful to deal with as Rawson. However, if they can give us a home we like for less money (and we can get it all in the tender up-front), they are already ahead.

Our hopes though lie with Fairmont. The meeting with them is actually booked in with their CEO and Builder and they seem keen for the business. They’re relatively new to the project home scene (prior to that they built mostly commercial and luxury custom homes and renovations) and seem to be working hard to make a name for themselves. They’ve won several MBA Awards this year and last, are building a home for charity, built the Sales and Information Office at Gregory Hills and have lots of ‘house and land’ packages about the place, including the other unbuilt block in our estate (ingenious design they’ve come up with for it too). They seem to have a good rep amongst the few that have built project homes with them so far, and the developer that owns the Sales and Info office at Gregory Hills gave them a great reference (you can see all of these details on their website). I also hope that the fact that they’re building in our estate separately to our block, means that they have a good handle on the guidelines. At the end of the day, as Mick has said, even if Fairmont are comparable in cost to Rawson, if they are nicer to deal with, we’ll be happy. But I also think that the biggest issue we’ve had with Rawson is that they were great until we signed on the dotted line. I plan on not giving any money or signatures to the next builder until I have a Tender that includes everything we can think of.

And on the home-front, Mick and I have to finish cleaning up tonight in prep for the carpet getting laid tomorrow. We’ve thrown a lot out and put most stuff away in the laundry and kitchen (not being carpeted) and tonight, one of Mick’s mates, Dave, is helping him move furniture we’re not keeping to the garage (to get tipped) and the BBQ (cos as Dave wisely suggested, we should move it before the new carpet is laid). After the carpet is down, I will box up what we’re keeping and organise a storage bin so we can slowly start the moving process. Re-tiling the kitchen, laundry, W/C and bathroom will be next and then we’ll put the place on the market….

Hmmm, we should probably also look at tiles this weekend…

I’ll keep you posted!

Ash.

The slow-march forward

We’re now fighting a war on three-fronts. Fairmont Homes have been lovely and very fast to deal with, but we’re not enthused by their design or inclusions. We’re currently debating whether or not to pursue changing the plans and tender. I know they are up for it, but the propect of starting at square one is a bit too much to bear right now. I’ve included their design below:

Cosmopolitan got back to us (a little slowly) and their prices are competitive (all-in we’re looking at $30k less than Rawson), their inclusions are good and we like their design (with some modifications). Here’s what we propose to change their Ecco 35 to:

Now to Rawson: We were less than impressed with our last meeting with them, and we haven’t heard back from them yet. Below are the changes we want to make to the design. There are some compromises and some upgrades:

 (If you think the amount of red is bad, you should see the electrical plan changes!!!)

The dilemma: The Illoura (with our modifications) is a wonderful house and we love it…but we’re not sure we can afford it (comfortably). The Cosmo home is also a great design (with changes) and we like it very much. Not as much as the Rawson home but it’s cheaper and probably a more suitable design for a young couple. Do we really need a formal dining room (Illoura)? Can we live without a study (Ecco)? What about having a separate W/C? We don’t need a walk-in pantry, but it’d be nice and beats having a really small corner pantry…Hmmmm. I think it will come down to how much Rawson will do our design for. If it’s reasonable, it’d be next to impossible for us to say no to…but I’m not holding my breath and the bottom-line can be very persuasive. 

And on the home-front, new carpet is getting laid next Friday and I have asked for a quote for epoxy-resin flooring for the wet-areas (not all the tiles have to get ripped up then) and Mick is organising a second quote on tiling. This Sunday will be packing day to try and make it easier for the carpet guys.

So where to now..? I think we need to wait and see what Rawson say then have a visit with Cosmopolitan and weigh it all up for good.

EDIT: I'm having trouble posting a comment back to you drewrenee so here it is:

Thanks so much. Not long after this post Fairmont got in touch with us and seem really keen to build us what we want. Their builder went past our block and apparently has some good ideas. It's nice to hear that they are good to deal with before and during the build. We are meeting wth them next Sunday to discuss exactly what we want and, as Mick put it just a few moments ago, "We like the Rawson plans but I don't know how much longer we can deal with them" (language slightly cleaned up). Rawson got back to us at about 4:30 Friday arvo after a 'hurry up' email from us, and it was a half-baked email that told us nothing new and would have taken 5mins to do. I also contacted Cosmopolitan (who seem to have a worse rep on the forums than Rawson) about arranging a meeting and have, so far, heard nothing. So, we're heartened by your words and hope Fairmont can be the go!

We'll have to continue sharing our progress :)

Quick Update

Rawson have sent through the Site Analysis Report and Detailed Site Contour Survey, which we have forwarded on to GJ Gardner.

We also have official approval from the Developer to use GJ Gardner for the build.

So…all systems are go for organising plans and a tender through GJ Gardner *fingers crossed* we have a better experience through them…though, no signing of a tender to take place until we are happy with the inclusions and cost.

On the home-front, Mick and I plan to spend our weekend cleaning and packing up the unit in prep for the renovations (new paint and carpet and re-tile the wet areas). Fun!

...just realised that I cross my fingers a lot...

Where to from here?

So, the million dollar question…where to from here?

Rawson have been nothing short of difficult and rude, which wouldn’t even be too bad if they would design a house we love for the price it’s worth. So, we will be giving them the chop, we’re just a little hesitant to send the email we currently have drafted. I think we may be pondering on that one for a while yet.

Whilst we are still reeling from the unpleasantness of it all and would like nothing more than to wash our hands of it and start again, I know from a logical point of view that building a house on this block is better for the bottom line. It will be easier and net a little profit (depending on the cost and what we build) to sell the land with a house on it. It is also no hardship to live in it for a few years to net a nice profit and look at building a single story home somewhere else down the track.

In the meantime, I believe I mentioned that we have fallen in love with a particular single story home..? That building company actually offers a “made-to-measure” service and has (so far) been quite keen for the business, even offering for the CEO himself to meet us out of area. So we are exploring the possibility of building with them. We just need to double-check that we are allowed though *rolls eyes* as they are not one of the four “prescribed” builders for the estate. We are not interested in using one of those builders however as one is Rawson, another is building the house next door and has been difficult to deal with, the third never got back to an enquiry I made, and we can’t remember the fourth one..!

So, I’ve sent through an idea of what we want to build to the new builder at their request, and am waiting for them to get back to me about a time to meet up and discuss the options.

On the home-front, Mick’s unit needs all the carpet and shower replaced. At the same time we will re-vamp the bathroom (it is quite old) and kitchen tiles then be ready (and happy) to sell it.

*Fingers crossed* we might be on a winner, though the end is not in sight yet…and no promises Mick doesn’t torch the land given the stress it has caused added to the stress of the unit flooding and his stressful job. I guess we can’t say it’s been uneventful!

Settlement Looming

As of 5pm tomorrow Mick will officially own the land!!!!!!!!!

We'll be driving past this evening just to make sure nothing untoward has happened to the land since the last time we went past (i.e. that no one has dumped rubbish or a big pile of dirt etc on it).

Also, the colour selection folder from Rawson turned up (can't wait to have a squiz!) and Mick has nearly finalised the fiddly details mentioned before like extra ceiling height (which Mick is getting). Rawson thankfully have been very helpful today and it looks as though everything will be right to go to the draftsmen. Then when we get the first set of drawings, we will select the external colours (subject to where there is brick and render etc) and Mick will need to pay another large amount of money for council submission.

The last set of plans I mocked-up and had Mick email through are below:

We have a few windows to play with (this plan has three less than the original), and Mick is contemplating putting one in the back-left corner of the garage and I'm considering one extra in the study and formal lounge...those decisions can happen later when we ask for extra power points etc. At the moment we are considering the following little add-ins:

- 4 extra external light points
- 2 extra TV points
- Translucent windows for bathrooms (and garage if we have a window there)
- (knowing Mick) extra power points

Then of course, kitchen details are the most important of all!

In the meantime, Mick's living room is full of removalist boxes as we contemplate packing, and tomorrow I will start uploading things for sale on EBay.

Another big thanks to Mick's Dad who has helped with some last-minute fixes to Mick's unit as we continue the slow process of getting it ready for sale (and of course I need to mention Mick's mum and I who kept the men-folk fed and watered!). With a bit more handy-work and excess stuff moved out, Mick can put his unit on the market!

Out with the old and in with the new!