Inspection List Being Made for Practical Completion

One thing that still puzzles me is the question: "What is practical completion?" 

From what I had been told, 

• there will be no appliances (to minimise theft) 
• possibility that electricals will not be finalised 
• no need to bring ladder and light bulbs (how do I check electrical fittings and which switch, etc.) 
• no need for tools (e.g., spirit level, measuring tape) 
• I'm still bringing them just in case 
• paint touch ups will still need to be done (this I can understand) 

The site supervisor will be walking with us through the house on 1-Sep and hopefully find everything that needs fixing. I have also acquired help from an independent inspector to see the workmanship of the place and to help spot things that I am not trained to do (and that will be most). 

I am compiling a list of things to look out for on a per room basis. It's about 8 pages now and I have only covered 5 out of about 20 spaces. It is going to be a long list from what I can estimate so far. I hope that the inspection remains exciting for us and that it doesn't become chore-like and tedious. Like my mum said, we should go through the whole process like it is an adventure. 

It's pretty late here now and I have a packed Friday and Weekend. I hope I can squeeze some time before Monday to finish this whole list. I also hope that it actually is useful for the inspection. 

As We Approach Practical Completion

We are nearing final completion. This means we will be walking through the house with the site supervisor soon to look for things that are not quite right. After that, we will be invoiced for the final payment. 

I am charged with preparing a room by room check list as we have specified with our builder on the building contract. This should also include the variations that we have added. I am hoping that I can do a complete job so that my list is consistent with the original contract. Otherwise, there will be traceability issues that the builder might then say my listing is unreliable. 

A little bit is troubling me about how we will be forced to pay for the final invoice even before we start claiming for warranty or the maintenance repairs. Once we pay, we will have no more "dangling carrot" powers over the builder. I have to admit that the service we have received has been pretty good. The process is coming to a crunch and perhaps this is why I am feeling a little anxious. 

This is our first build and is a new experience. Like any new experience, there will be unknowns. I hope we have researched enough to discover these unknowns and manage the risks involved with them. I hope that there are no problems with the build that will surface after 5-10 years (especially after 7 when the warranty runs out). 

I have contacted most of the utilities that we have at are current house. Most of them gave a notification lead time of about 2 to 4 weeks. Sydney Water told me that their arrangements will most likely be covered by our solicitor on the contract of sale. They cannot disconnect the service so it will just be a matter of who will start paying after we've settled on the sale and when that new arrangement will start. 

I was appalled with the pricing difference of Telstra for their Broadband offering. 200 GB for $93.00. Good heavens!! That's about $1200 per year as opposed to about $72 now that I pay for both line rental and broadband that I am paying now. This offering is for NBN services which should push up the speed of the link. The only other place I am looking at is Exetel. For now we will most likely sign up for the 25 Mbps link. 

The Next Crunch

With current projections, we are within 2 months before handover. The crunch has started and it is time to get some movement on other aspects of the build. 


Blinds 

I have spoken with a couple of blind providers. We are still leaning towards plantation shutters due to the flexibility they provide in light and temperature control. I was initially skeptical as they will probably collect dust. However, I was told that they will be easier to clean depending on the fabric chosen for a comparable roller blind model. 

So far I have contacted Wynstan and Blindmotion. Please if anyone has experience with these companies let me know. 


Energy Company 

It seems nothing yet has to be done here. I have asked our build coordinator if any actions need to be done with this and awaiting reply. 


NBN/Internet 

I gave a Exetel a call regarding this and they said that it usually takes them 30 days to action this. I will also need to look at what the electrician will be providing so that I am prepared when the NBN company comes around to do some installation. I will most likely be delaying this until the middle of August. 


Water and Gas 

I haven't chased this up yet. Like the energy company, I will wait for the build coordinator for some feedback regarding this. 


Landscaping 

I have received a quote from a landscaping guy and it will cost somewhere close to $40k to get a concrete retaining wall done (as required from our plan). This quote was done via the landscape plan that was submitted to the council by our builder. 

I have emailed a few other companies but have yet to get a reply from them. I'm unsure if their online forms are working correctly. 


Fencing 

Our backyard neighbour has called us to find out if we're ok for him to find some quotes for the back fence. I said I was ok and we agreed on the actual fence type that we will install. This is the timber fence with some metal frames around each panel. As we are restricted from putting up colorbond fences, we will need to put in timber ones. 

First Appraisal

We got our first appraisal. On verbal arrangement, I got told that it can probably go for $410,000. 

There were two agents that came around and suggested that I just need to have a clean up of the outdoors and indoors to try and attract a few more offers. Nothing major was suggested which already fit what I had in mind. 

The main suggestion was to have a look outside the front and ask "what do I need to improve" and move on from there. 

I probably need to see a few more agents to see what they say. I have a feeling that they will have something similar to say. Let's just hope that they are not too late. 

No Show from the "O"

I'm supposed to be having an appraisal with a real estate agent since about 15 minutes ago. I haven't received a call to say otherwise either. This is with OProperty in Rooty Hill.

Are real estate agents like this? Are they like the ones you hear about where they are only helpful when they are about to receive their commission? 

At least that helps me in making a decision on which real estate to go with. One agency down, 5 to go and check out. 

Doorbell has just rang. That's probably the agent.

Brickwork is Complete

We have just paid the invoice for the brickwork. From what we can see, everything seems to be in order. 

Lots of work are being done inside the house now. All the plasterboards are laid in the garage and are slowly sealing up the insides as the insulation is being placed within. Also, the electrical wires have been put through many of the holes and nooks around the house. I can see where the outdoor lights will be coming out of.

I also spotted the area, near the front door, where the intercom will be placed. With that being there, we can plan for a security/screen door for the front of the pivot door that we will be provided with. 

We are getting excited. 

As we approach completion, we need to start making moves for our current home as well. A few months ago, we looked at some open homes to see how local real estate agents do their work. We could clearly tell who is doing their job right and who is so-so at their job. You'll have to PM me for opinions (e.g., I can say that one of the agents was late for their open house). 

Clean ups need to be schedules as well. I anticipate that many of our old things will be gumtree'd, ebay'ed, donated and given to friends and family members. Keep posted with this stuff. 

I still have my house photos on the phone and haven't had a chance to upload them. I hope I get some time before the double move out and sell out processes start. 

Settlement Moved Forward

After some negotiations on our solicitor's part, we have now moved forward the land settlement date to June 4. In doing so, we can start paying for the invoices that have been sent to us by our builder as they have already been building our home for the last few weeks of good weather. 

We drove by the site on Saturday to find that most of the windows and sliding doors are already up. Brickwork has begun and pretty soon we will be slapped with our third invoice. Hopefully, the settlement happens smoothly and that the financing begins. We cannot see any other issues regarding settlement so it should just go through. 

Pictures to be posted soon. 

No More Snags

We just heard some good news regarding our little snag. 

IT IS NO MORE!! 

Thanks to the team from Adenbrook Homes and Wayne from DMC, we are now back to full steam ahead. As we are waiting for the bank to go through their process, our builder will be allowing us some leeway to be able to pay the first invoice (for the slab). This means that we can just kick in our funds when the bank provides it and we do not have to fork out now. 

So now we can just concentrate on the land settlement which was due for 10% today and 90% next month. The bank can concentrate on their part and release funds for us for the slab invoice and any other invoice that hits us in the future. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the teams involved. Thank God for letting us work with great people and for our little family team as well. 

A Snag on the Slab

It seems like we've hit a little pitfall in our cash flow and the timing of the build. 

As in the previous post, we were already awaiting valuation on the property. The status now says that the valuation report has been submitted back to the bank. In this case, we should be right in terms of the land settlement on the 13th of May and henceforth on the 13th of June. 

One thing that doesn't quite fit right now, in terms of schedule, is the incoming invoice for the slab. As the slab has been finished (possibly finished curing already), we have now been invoiced for the slab. This is quite a significant value of the house and without the bank's loan, it will be difficult to pay for this. With the current timing on the bank (and we know that bank processes can take time), we may not have the cash flow for this to happen through the loan. 

We are hoping that our trusted broker can negotiate something with our trusted builder. We will await the results of their chat on Monday and hopefully something comes through. We are sure that both the builder and ourselves want this to be worked out and it will be beneficial for both sides to have this go smoothly. 

There is always a plan B and C but we do not want to dip into these quite yet. 

For now, just wait and see until Monday. 

Enjoy the weekend and have a happy Mother's Day. 

It's all with the Bank

We are at a critical point with our finances again. As we approach the settlement date on the land, we need to get a big chunk of money to pay for the land. We also need the assurance from the lender that we will be able to finance the build. 

In the words of our solicitor, pre-approval means nothing in legal terms. If the bank says you are pre-approved for $1,000,000, it doesn't mean that they will lend you the whole $1M. They will need to make sure that what you are borrowing for (in this case, the house and land that we are buying) will be worth $1M when it is finished. 

Here in Australia, most banks will often undervalue the property. This is to reduce the risk on their side. I'm guessing this is a result of the highly regulated banking industry, especially if you are borrowing from one of the big four. 

We're hoping that we get somewhere close so that the availability of funds is not restricted for the building process. We have some reserves on the side but we are hoping not to dip into these yet. These will be for things after the build (e.g., landscaping, curtains/blinds, additional furniture, utility account connections, etc.). 

The last news was that there was going to be an inspection on site to see if the land is worth what it is on paper. I can already say that it probably is not worth that on paper. Although, as the land price was locked in a few months before (already 'purchased' by the builder), if you compare the price with other pieces of land in the same estate, this one will now be lower priced. The newer land releases have increased in price since the previous releases. 

The very important thing for us to happen, is to have the valuation done and the bank assurance received before we commit to the purchase. Given the timelines, we have two more business days before this has to happen. Minus one for sending the document. It'll also go over one weekend so let's hope the process goes smoothly. 

Electrical Done (for Now)

We met the electrician that will be doing the installation for our house. We met him as his new shop in Kemps Creek where he had a showroom to give us a view of the products that they can install. Apparently, the show room is pretty new and as evident with the trade tools in one corner of their kitchen, the office is not yet finished. 

The electrician welcomed us and in all honesty mentioned that he was not there to sell things to us. We were quite honest as well in that we may need some suggestions and ideas for our install as this is our first experience of building from scratch. 

We walked through our marked up plan (with red pen on the original electrical plan). I suggest other buyers/builders to prepare this before you meet with your electrician. I have to say that we already had a plan that was proposed by the builder which helped us in what kind of things we should initially think of (e.g., number of lights in the room, fan and light in bathrooms and basic things were already in place). If anything, we just had to add new stuff and move some thing to more convenient places. 

Here are some things I would consider coming from our experience today: 

• Consider your bedroom power outlets in conjunction with your proposed bed position. This should also accommodate for proposed furniture (e.g., heater, bedside table.) 
• Consider a two way light switch near the bedside and on the normal position at the door. At least you can turn off your light without having to get out of bed when you are ready to sleep. 
• You may need sensors for areas which will be rarely inhabited and behind closed doors. This is in case people (especially children) forget to turn off the light. If it is behind a closed door, it may be even more difficult to detect the forgotten light. 
• Ensure you install a sensor with sufficient range for the area which you need to be lit. At our front, we have 4.5 metre frontage. We though a 5 metre range sensor is sufficient for this. 
• Fittings stick out. You may not want a sensor, a smoke detector and a light fitting to appear in a row. Consider moving some fittings or using a design that is more flush with the ceiling/wall. 
• Anything wired or that needs provision within the walls will be easier to install now. Being IT people, we opted to put in our data ports now rather than later. 
• You can probably bring down price by doing wiring only if needed, especially, if your loan is limiting your available funds. When it comes time to installing a few months or a year down the track, you probably have more funds available then. This is good for things like the alarm and intercom. 
• Consider separating circuits for different machines/rooms/electricals. For example, you may want your lights to be on its own circuit so that it does not trip when you are doing an electrical project in the garage. Another example is to have your computers on a separate circuit from "noisy" equipment like your washing machine and rainwater pump. 
• How about some down lights on areas where you need focussed lighting? Maybe the kitchen bench, the feature wall or a designated area for electronic projects. 
• If you have a kitchen island, consider a power outlet on the bench side. 
• With NBN, think about how and where you will put your branch out to the other areas of the house where you think hard-wired LAN will be required. Also remember that you can move the NBN box to another place inside the house. The garage climate is usually not easily controlled. 
• Having 3 in 1 (heater, light, fan) devices installed in bathrooms should be considered now than later. We initially had light and fan only. If we were to do this later, on of the holes will need to be patched as the 3 in 1 only requires 1 hole. 
• Consider an external, waterproof GPO for outdoor electrical devices. We're not big on Christmas lights but some people may be. You can always whip out a super long extension lead. If it is near a gas outlet, think about the GPO's position in relation to your barbecue grill. 
• Consider ceiling fans and check that they have speed controls and reversible motor (summer/winter mode). Usually, the season mode is controlled with a switch near the fan mechanism. Check its placement in relation to any vents (e.g., air conditioning). 
• Think about putting in a surge protector at the meter box. This should protect everything in your house including your fridge, air conditioning, laundry machines, lighting, and other electronic appliances without having to get those surge protector power boards. 

Before the meeting with the electrician, we actually underestimated the price for our proposed electrical modification. We also got some ideas and suggestions from Joe (our electrician), that we thought were pretty practical and will be difficult to install after fit-out. We wound up with a pretty big price that was even more expensive than one of our big ticket items we opted for our structural upgrades. 

In any case, given the rushed nature of our building process, we thought our meeting with our electrician was very pleasant and open. Perhaps with him not having a sales background helped a lot in that he was giving us suggestions and not pushing them. He was letting us make our own decisions and was happy to make recommendations and have them accepted or rejected. We told him that we were happy with the meeting and appreciate how it was arranged. Not to mention the chocolates for the kids. 

Contracts and Solicitor's Advice

In terms of legal issues regarding our contract with our chosen builder, we have been reminded by our solicitor to ensure that the names written on the contract of sale, our ID used for the Office of the State Revenue (NSW), and the names in which we will be obtaining our bank loan has to all be the same.

Anything out of sync will be deemed problematic and may cause delays in settlement. It is for our part a requirement to check this to make the process as smooth and quick as possible. Hopefully all the names are correct and that everything works out as we are working with a quick timeline, especially with the shortened period of build.

With our May 13 pre-deadline for the full approval of the loan, we need to get this right. (Note: We require a 10% deposit on the land by the 13th of May while we need to prepare the full amount for the land price by the 13th of June.) 

Signed Off and Officially Starting

We had our first major meeting with Adenbrook Homes. We have to say that it was a pleasant experience, for us being first time builders, the staff at Adenbrook have been very supportive and thorough. We feel that our hand was being guided through our choices and the contract explanation. As they explained to us, we want to remain friends as we go through the whole process.

As we are buying on an almost packaged arrangement, the contract process is greatly accelerated and we have to move quickly. This is with reasonable margin for settlement so we are still comfortable with the pace. They are also giving us sufficient time if delays occur (e.g., we need to keep them up to date in the event of a delay with solicitors or bank inspections if it will go over the 7 day limit). 

We have our building contract package and plans as our builder will be starting with the structure soon. As per arrangement, we cannot change much on the structure of the home so we are rushing to get most of these settled. The main issue at the moment is to do with the double-glazing of all windows (sliding doors we have chosen to do later as their supplier does not do these.) Our builder gave us a preliminary quote and it seems quite reasonable for our budget so we have opted to include this in our building. 

Everything else about the structure seems to be in order. We have also upgraded the insulation grade (roof from 3.0 to 4.0 and walls from 1.5 to 2.5 hopefully enough for Penrith weather). They have already included a physical termite barrier with the original price and we have asked them to upgrade to the termite treated wood for the beams. 

We still have some flexibility with the internals as these can be changed without much trouble with the council. So far, with ballpark figures, all our desired variations are still within budget. We hope that it stays this way so we can still afford to finish our landscaping, border fencing, other internal improvements, and additional electrical wiring and accessories. 

Deposit On, Deposit Off

This afternoon, there's good news, and there's bad news.

On one hand, we are pulling our deposit from Lot 523, After much tossing and turning with a few builders that we had liked, it seems we just cannot fulfil our spatial dreams on this "funny" lot. 

It is quite a good lot with potential for good views. There is a small, non-overwhelming park which looks brighter than the full Mulgoa Reserve on the Northwest side of the estate. There is also an opening in the form of a road to the west leading into the back of the lot, which adds a view line to the mountains. As it is onto a road, there is a big guarantee that this will remain open for a while to come. 

But the main thing for us is the internal space. From what the few builders that we liked, no one could promise us a home that will give us the space which we liked of about 24-30 squares. If we were to build a smaller house, there will be too much lawn for our liking (we are not good at keeping a garden :P) 

On the other hand, it seems we will be sticking with our longtime running favourite builder, Adenbrook homes. This will be through a package they have shown to us earlier that is also building in Mulgoa Rise. This will be on Lot 3062 from a previous release (3C) at the same estate. We've already put in a holding deposit on the property and we are hoping that our bank will catch up and get our approvals done. 

In the scheme of things, this gives us better usage of the lot in terms of the building footprint. It also gives us enough space inside the home as it includes: 

• Double garage 
• Master bedroom (big enough as far as master bedrooms go
• 3 bedrooms (big enough for sleeping as we want our kids to not be private people, nothing more) 
• a home theatre room (it may or may not be used as a home theatre 
• the usual open plan L shape or big room combination of a kitchen, dining and family area 
• a children's retreat (This is where we really want our kids to spend more time in. We were previously debating whether we required this or not in terms of price. But we decided that it easier to move furniture around a bigger area to create space than to build a small space to start with and try to renovate to get a bigger area.) 
• The usual laundry, bathroom and powder room 
• an alfresco to the corner of the house 

In terms of space, we think this is what we require for now with a bit extra for future proofing. We will most likely allow for a "guest room" to be set up in case somebody wants to sleep over. 

I have now compiled a list from another blog that I am following. We will need to go through it in more detail later on before we meet with Adenbrook, again. 

Land Price Increase

We had a look at the price per square metre as per each estate that we are interested in around the Penrith area. It seems that Lot 523 in Mulgoa Rise is the cheapest. We were advised that this could be because it is a corner lot and corners are often priced lower. This is evident in the pricing we received back in 7th of March 2014 which lists a few lots still available in release 5A in the estate 

• Lot 516 (not corner) 
• Area - 504 sqm
• Price - $365k 
• $/sqm - 724 
• Lot 517 (corner) 
• Area - 616 sqm 
• Price - $395k
• $/sqm - 641
• Lot 523 (corner - the lot we are looking at) 
• Area - 551 sqm
• Price - $373 
• $/sqm - 677 

The other thing I noticed was the price growth. Within 1 month and a week, the price has gone up by $6k. I inquired about flexibility in pricing and was given none as they had not had any negotiations for the last 18 months. The only flexibility they could offer was the time frame for our $1k deposit to keep it off the market while we search for a builder. Seeing as we are approaching the Easter break, they had let us have a couple of extra days past the Easter holiday to let them know if we are releasing the land or staying on it. 

As far as our options go, we have the following: 

• Stay on lot 523 and find a builder and take the corner lot hit (wife is ok with corner but I am not too happy about it as I have to do the mowing :( ) 
• Release lot 523 and see about the other Adenbrook package and the schedule for land settlement. If we can get our funds together before the land settles, we can save cash from stamp duty and get a house with a layout that we already like. Here's to hoping that our meeting with Adenbrook today will amount to something worthwhile. 
• Release lot 523 and wait: Obviously with the land price growth, this will also cost us as time passes by. 

Another post most likely at the end of today. 

Exciting Times: Holding Deposit on Land

These are exciting times indeed. The market is quite hot, but we still opted to put a holding deposit on the piece of land that we were shown at Mulgoa Rise. 

I did try to ask for a bit of flexibility on price but I got shot down as they mentioned that they have not had to negotiate on a piece of land for the last 18 months. So I'm guessing that these pieces of land will move whether we like it or not. 

The land we have chosen is Lot 523 and it has been priced at $379000. We were asked for a refundable $1000 to take it off the market as we look to our preferred builders if they can fit a building on the plot of land. It is an awkward shaped piece of land but with a bit of magic, they can probably fit something narrow enough, but still spacious enough to fulfil our family's need, the need for space. 

So far we have gone to meet with the following builders: 

• Clarendon homes: We were told that they can possibly fit on first glance, Killara 24-26 and Kentville 26 model homes. They were going to email us but none have arrived yet so far (it is now 9:12 AM the next day). Not much indication on price was given. 
• Ichijo homes: Initially, we were told that with our house budget (which will now be stretched because of the lot price), most of their homes will be quite out of reach. We thought this was an honest answer as they are probably telling us that there will be more costs to follow apart from the base price, obviously. The salesperson has indicated to us a few of the add-ons which we have put into an Excel sheet for comparison. The options provided were the Serenity 22 (can expand out to double alfresco to become 26) and the Escape 26. 
• McDonald Jones: No prices were given, but we were told that the Havana Renwich was an ideal fit for the lot. We were impressed with how the building and design consultant was well prepared to get the drawing done right in front of us in about 5 minutes. The impression we got was that we will be pushing the upper limit of our house budget. We had a check of the display home in Kellyville Ridge. The space looks sufficient but we didn't quite like the flow of the rooms. It was a very tiny dislike so it is still an option. 

We will be meeting with Adenbrook Homes on Tuesday to see what options are available. Given the circumstances, the old $644k package is now a more viable option if we can do the settlement on the land ourselves and just leave Adenbrook to do the building. This way, we don't need to get slogged by the good old State Government with a bigger chunk of stamp duty if we buy the whole house and land package. We will also consider any options they might have for us in terms of Lot 523. 

We've kicked into gear and will have lots of work to do this week. We hope something fruitful will come from the two other builders we are waiting on. 

Land Ho!!

We visited Caddens and Mulgoa Rise today just to see what our two favourite estates are doing. By doing so, we were able to suss out a bit about their next releases. 

From Caddens, they were planning for an April release of their next stage but this has been hampered by the recent weather (lots and lots of rain.) From what Erin indicated, it may now be possibly a May-June release. 

Their next release will mostly be smaller lots so it may not be what we ideally want as it will be more difficult to place a single story house in a smaller lot for the space that we are after. We are still open to building a two-story house so this remains an option. 

There was not a strong indication as to whether any other improvements will be done to Caddens Rd (westward past the Caddens entry.) This will be a big plus if it is planned for because we may plan for the kids to walk to and from school if possible. Without sidewalks on low visibility areas of the road (the road is quite hilly), I would think twice about letting my kids walk on that road, let alone myself. 

At Mulgoa Rise, some of the land from the two previous releases have been returned. Perhaps some of the people who reserved them did not get their finances through on time, they have got a place somewhere else, or are just not interested anymore. One of the lots pointed out to us was Lot 523 of stage 5A. 

On paper, this lot looks strange and it is difficult to see how you can fit a nice house there. The lot is a pentagon shaped corner lot and it amounts to 561 square metres. We will be looking at the house booklets that we have from the builders that we have visited so far to superimpose some of the models that we like. There seems to be enough play because of the bigger area, but there might need to be some design changes to accommodate the little cutoff at the corner of the lot. 

We also visited a couple of display homes. Obviously our well-liked Adenbrook Homes where we wanted to ask if one of their models can fit that lot. We also visited Lily homes and saw a 4 bedroom, 1 story house that seems to be the right size for our family right now. This just reinforced what we are after in terms of space of not too big and not too small. 

We are also waiting for our finances to become official. From the notifications from our broker, it should go ahead fine and that we should expect it within the next week or two. Although we expect a delay from the Easter break. 

...And it's Go Go Go!

Thanks to our mate, Wayne from Direct Mortgage Concepts, we are another step forward in our search and probably have more negotiating power when we go and see builders and land releases. It seems that our desired plan is within policy for the bank. With the way Wayne has put it forward, manipulating how the balance will be through the resale of our current house and reallocation of offset funds, we are able to be put within the bank's policy for home loans. 

I highly recommend Wayne for the work he has done for us. Follow the link above if you need a broker for your home loan. 

In any case, we will forge ahead with our plan and re-initiate contact with our desired builders and the land estates that we have found. With the current figure in our head, we can better establish the lower and upper limits of what we can afford. 

This weekend, we are planning to see the people at Mulgoa Rise. We are hoping that Jeff from the land estate office is there, as well as Brittany from one of the builders we liked, Adenbrook Homes. 

The excitement builds...

Thornton Release has Come and Gone

There was a property release at Thornton in Penrith last week and officially distributed from Saturday onwards. Let me tell you about my experience in it. 

Though I thought I was registered via email for the release information, I did NOT receive any emails regarding the release. To my knowledge, the information about the release went out last Tuesday (24th of April). We only found out about this because my wife browsed the site and found new information about the new release properties. 

From what we saw, we only liked one of the properties. It was advertised as $628k which is quite close to our maximum and possibly would not have left us much room for add-ons. It was a zero corner lot courtyard house. It had two storeys house and a detached double garage. Four bedrooms were situated at the top floor, although the sizes of the rooms were quite small while enough living spaces were allocated for the bottom floor. 

I was only able to visit the sales office on Wednesday. Obviously expecting that the main bulk of the tickets would have already been distributed on Tuesday. For those who are inexperienced with the way Landcom releases its land these days, they now give out priority tickets to would be "campers" at every stage release. In a way this reduces the hazardous nature of camping outside an office building with little to no shelter against the elements. 

This ticket is then used on the Saturday release to prioritise the customers as they select their property preferences. Obviously, the customer needs to be present on the opening time to keep their ticket valid as it will be voided if they are not present during their "turn". 

At this point, our finances still haven't been finalised so I only came to see how the uptake of tickets went to get a feel for the demand in the area. I arrived there to find two customers in line, waiting for the office to open. This was around 9.14 AM in the morning. One of the people in line told me that the office will open at 10.00. As I had two children with me, I didn't think it was a good idea to stay in line until opening time. 

The weekend came and went. I was able to call the office on Monday the 31st of March. I was surprised that the property we had "liked" was still on the market. After this call, I had a chat with my wife to discuss the possibility of reserving this property. However, we assessed our position and deemed that we are not in a hurry, so we did not proceed with reserving the property. 

The process in which the properties are built in the Thornton estate allows for little flexibility in the choice of structural elements. This is one thing we would like to have control in. After this release, Thornton probably slid down to a slightly more distant 2nd place compared with our now favourite, Mulgoa Rise. 

I still do not understand why a government run company such as Landcom creates the false market of scarcity in their land developments. If people are there who require land, shouldn't the government try to help them? Shouldn't the government allow people to help themselves instead of discouraging them and pushing them towards a welfare payment mentality? But I guess this political view is the subject of another blog. 

Second Last Land Release at Ropes Crossing

One of the land estates we looked at (and are registered with) is Ropes Crossing. This estate is situated in northern area of St. Mary's in between Werrington the Northwest part of Mount Druitt (where suburbs like Blackett, Dharruk and Shalvey are). They have released information regarding their second last land release and I have to say that we will not be interested in that area anymore. 

Looking at the release plan, there is barely a piece of land on which you can build a home with a double garage. Most of the land sizes are quite small and not fit for our family in our opinion. 

We initially thought that this could be a candidate for our next home due to it being closer to our current home. Less distance from the places that we know should mean that there are less new places to learn about and get lost in. However, the options for expansion will be limited due to the land sizes being offered. 

Waiting for the Bank

I've been standing here
Waiting for the bank on a Friday 
Laundry on my back 
Ultraviolet rays 
Like I'm posing for a shot in a blog-azine
What the heck does it mean? 

So here we are narrowed down to 3 estates (after hearing what we consider as a negative about Jordan Springs). We are now looking at Landcom's Caddens and Thornton as well as Mulgoa Rise. At the moment, there are no new releases at both of Landcom's estates. There are some available in Mulgoa Rise but not the size/shape that we want. Here are some views and opinions that we have about the three estates: 

Caddens

• very close to our kids' school (It is practically a walk via Caddens Road to get to my kids' school. But there is a section that is undeveloped, that is, there is no sidewalk, so it will be difficult to let a young kid walk to school on that road.) 
• quite hilly land (We may need extra for site costs and levelling.) 
• planning is done very well (There are enough parks, a shop area and the sidewalks, lighting look very well done.) 
• land sizes are decent, enough for needs 
• pricing is rising rapidly (what my friend said about staging the releases to give the illusion of scarcity is being proven true with any estate, so far) 
• demand is very high (The last release ran out within 1 week. We didn't think it was going to run out within the week seeing as the previous release, the larger lots took longer to get sold.) 
• proposed road access will improve if they go ahead with all their plans (With two access points already connected to Caddens Road plus additional plans to connect out to the UWS campus and out to the old suburban area of Claremont Meadows to the East, at least you have some options to get in and out of the area.) 

Thornton 

• very close to transport and the Penrith CBD 
• land is quite flat 
• land pricing is high 
• land sizing is quite small (If building on your own, the frontage is often a problem. Our only consideration here is to get a good sized Courtyard Home.) 
• planning is done very well (There are parking controls which is especially needed for a denser type of area as they seem to have zoned this estate. Perhaps this is due to its proximity to Penrith station and CBD.) 
• will need to brave the multiple traffic lights of Parker Street during school pickup hours to get the kids (We have considered this as this is one of the big reasons for moving further out West. Even back when we were still looking at Jordan Springs, we had to do a timing run from the Northern side of Parker Street and it came up quite negative because of the "luck-o-the-lights".) 

Mulgoa Rise 

• quite far from transport (There are proposed bus lines through the estate and existing bus lines from the next estate, Glenmore Park) 
• land is flatter than Caddens 
• land pricing is moderate (You can get a fair sized land for ever $ you spend.) 
• land sizing is decent (It is difficult to find anything smaller than 450 sq. m.) 
• planning looks well done 
• on the edge of the suburbs (You're either looking at reserves or farms which border on the estate. It will definitely be a quieter area, at least until the other farms choose to develop. 
• some areas are BAL rated (There was one house and land package we looked at that had a BAL 12.5 meaning it had to be protected from ember attack from a bushfire. May also need additional insurance to get covered for fire.) 
• easy M4 access (We judged that the South side of The Northern Road seems to have easier access from the M4. This is an advantage if we want to say drive to our relatives in Blacktown and Kellyville or if they want to visit us. We can probably attribute this to the smaller amount of traffic lights in this direction.) 

At the moment, we are leaning well towards Mulgoa Rise due to the balance in pricing and what we can get for every $ we spend. With a competitively priced estate, we are lowering our financial risk while still getting what is necessary for our lifestyle. Knowing how we have always prioritised our needs, we think this is the obvious choice for our family. 

For those who know, Landcom now does this ticketing system for their land releases. This helps to prevent people from camping outside the sales office in anticipation of reserving their land on a first come first served basis. We missed the last release at Caddens thinking of the slow movement of bigger land sizes based on their previous releases. 

They recently had a release of Terrace homes in Thornton. When we had a look at their open homes about a month ago, we deemed them insufficient in terms of the living spaces that we require. We did not line up for this release so we have no idea of the movement of this release. Besides, there might be a different level of demand for the Courtyard home that we are after. 

Mulgoa Rise has a different policy in terms of getting people to reserve the land that they want. However, to enter into this commitment, we probably require our finances to be complete. So again I have go back and keep...

...waiting for the bank. 

Meeting up with Adenbrook this Sunday

We're going to meet up with Adenbrook this Sunday. Before this, we will be reviewing this list from another blog that we have been following. 

http://firsthomebuildingadventure.blogspot.com.au/search?q=CHECK+LIST

Most of these suggestions are logical but often overlooked when you think about it. A lot of these are practical but some them are highly dependent on your lifestyle. We will need to sort through this to see what works for us and which ones are not necessary. Results of our review will go up tonight or sometime tomorrow. 

Potential Meeting with Designer

It's amazing how things move quickly when you get closer to certainty. In our case, the amount of funds we can obtain are becoming more established so: 

• our choice is becoming limited and a clearer picture of what we can and cannot get is starting to appear 
• potential for negotiations with builders and other contractors are more defined and both sides of the table become more confident 

We spotted a build that will be happening in one of the areas we are interested. The area is called Mulgoa Rise and it is part of Penrith city to the South of an area called Glenmore Park (also south of the M4). From what we have been told, it will appear to be a house and land package. The package is on offer from a builder, relatively new to the Sydney market, named Adenbrook Homes. 

We have always looked upon Adenbrook Homes favourably ever since we met with Heidi from Adenbrook in Jordan Springs (another area we are interested in). This was when we first started looking for places in 2011. The build is very appealing and it also has some of our preferred inclusions. 

The property we found is at the peak of our budget and we would very much like it to be reduced for us to be able to add on our own inclusions. For example, there was not provision for solar power at all on the plans provided to us so far. We have classified this as one of our needs for the new house so this needs to be included in our budget. Another example is carpet, as all my kids are allergic to dust mites, which we will always remove from any inclusion list that we will encounter. 

Our meeting with the designer will look at the current inclusions to the internals of the house. We will look into what things can be un-included which we can live without or perhaps put in later on. Hopefully, this will bring down the price to something that we are comfortable with, to be able to proceed with the purchase. 

We are restricted to non-structural inclusions only because the property has already been submitted to the local council. There is a loss of flexibility because of this, however, we are quite happy (aside from a few clarifications with the designer) with the structure of the house and external inclusions (e.g., termite protection, fence borders, BASIX, etc.) 

We need to look at all the plans again and bring these questions to the meeting. This is so we can cover as much ground as we can and bring more things into certainty. 

Financial Review Today

We,
Are going to see
The Finance man
Today

Choose
The don'ts and do's
Of our search for a home
To stay

Yes, that's right. Well actually, we just went to see our finance man, Mr. Dickerson from Direct Mortgage Concepts to try and finalise what kind of loan and how much we can also borrow to get our building dreams done. 


Current Situation 

In terms of loan amounts on paper, it will appear that we will get a big chunk of red if we do go out and ask a bank for a loan in our current financial standing. Although we have paid off most of the loan on our current dwelling, we still have a substantial amount owing on an investment property. 

In fact, we can probably just pay off the loan on our current dwelling. However, having cash ready to go is more flexible depending on your situation. In our case, we prefer to keep the cash in hand for now. 

With these in view, on paper, there will be less risk if we sell our current dwelling to release funds into our account, rent somewhere (or stay with in-laws) until the new place is built, then move to the new place. In this way, our "red" financial debt will have a better chance of not climbing to the $1M mark during the transaction. 

This is quite inconvenient as the double move will in itself incur costs as well the rental payments (or contributions to the in-laws inconveniences). So we are trying to do a single move option. 


Possible Options 

Initially, we were looking into a relocation loan. This will be what I described in the previous section. It will involve re-financing all of our loans and possibly a transfer to another bank. Again, a small inconvenience with changing of cards, account management and also automatic payments need to point to the new account(s). 

The second option, which we are leaning towards, is to stay with our current lender. DMC will be helping us to defend our position with the bank and try to get pre-approval for the amount that we are hoping for. It is a bit more than what we expected and thanks to them, we have a preferred option. This will be more convenient, much smoother and obviously has view of loyalty with the bank. 


Here is to hoping that we will get the second option. It is difficult to speak to builders and land releasers regarding what you want when you do not have a solid pre-approval to lean on. I guess it is difficult to commit from both sides in this situation. 

Reasons for Looking

We are quite secure in our current home. So the question that might come up is why are we looking to move to another place. 


School 

We love the school that our daughter is currently attending. It is a very family oriented school out in Orchard Hills (near South Penrith). She is very much at home in her classroom and has come out of her shell ever since she attended kindergarten. We've always thought of her as a quiet and introverted child. But now, it is difficult to stop her from talking about things she likes and things that have happened throughout her day. 

We've lined up both our other younger kids to the school. By this, we have concluded that we will be better off living in that local area for the next 20 years, seeing as the baby boy just turned 1 recently. 


Space

With baby number 3 already out and crawling about, we have definitely outgrown our current little duplex. Our Rooty Hill home for almost a whole decade cannot provide at least another bedroom for the new bub comfortable. It is a three bedder and with only 2 major living spaces. With the two elder sisters already sharing a room, it's a tough ask to dismantle the third bedroom, currently a home-office/music room/library and turn it into a boy's room. 

A few living re-arrangements will probably allow us to stay in this place for a bit longer. This is our fallback plan if our quest for a new home doesn't quite suit us. It places us in a comfortable position to be able to say 'no' to a potential builder if something is not quite right or wait it out for the next available opportunity in case we miss out on one we liked. 

We also have only 1 car spot. Again, although this is a workable solution for our transport needs, we would like to have 2 spots both as a better solution for our 2 car family and as an added storage area for several things that should not be inside our laundry room. 

Age of Current Property and Flexibility

Not that there is much going wrong with our current property, but we think it is time to move on to another spot. Without putting the space issue in the spotlight again, we cannot do much to our duplex in terms of extending or knockdown-rebuilds. This lack of flexibility, which we anticipated when we bought this for our first home just before we got married, has pushed us towards the decision for a new place. 


Environmentally Friendly Features 

We like a lot of features in new homes now. With the BASIX now a requirement, it adds a lot to the liveability of a new home. We can probably retro-fit a few things onto our current place but the other previous reasons given seem to make retro-fitting a bit out of our aims. This makes our quest for BASIX++ probably more suited to a new place. 


Those are the main arguments we have for moving. I have to say that besides all the media portrayals of Western Sydney and the Mount Druitt area, this has been quite a decent neighbourhood to stay in. There are great people here who are willing to make this area a top community. It is not fair to say that because of all the events that occur here that there are no good people here.

Even after we have moved (when it does happen), we will be sure to come back here a few times for both family and friends whom we have got to know. 

This Blog

So we've started this blog as a diary of our quest for a new home for our family. We hope that this diary can help others in their finance, build and move process as well. We will endeavour to 

• record details of meetings we have with companies we will deal with 
• show pictures of things we discover throughout the process 
• note things we like and don't like showing our opinions and reasons for it
• outline our decision making to show the process of how we came to our own conclusion 

For us, this will be an adventure that we hope to look back on in the future. For our kids, we hope they can read this in their later years to appreciate what we have done for them and how they have been a part of this huge undertaking.

Without making it sound any grander, please enjoy reading our adventures in this...

...Search for a New Home.