Update from Woodlea

We received June 2016 construction update from Woodlea and so happy to hear that our land titling is now expected to be a month earlier than the original plan, from March 2017 to February 2017. Great job Woodlea! When other developers are behind schedule, you are smashing it!

Stage 14 - Expected titles February 2017

Stage 14 is located south of stage 13 and adjacent to the Deanside Wetlands conservation area. Construction has just commenced with stripping and bulk earthworks underway.

The construction of our sports facilities are also well underway and expected to be completed even before we start building early next year.

Active Open Space 

Civil earthworks are progressing in stage 1 of the Active Open Space sports facility comprising 1 AFL Oval, adventure playground, youth space, pavilion and car parking with completion anticipated in the 1st quarter of 2017. Construction of Stage 2 of the Active Open Space, comprising a second AFL oval and 10 tennis courts will soon commence with expected completion in the 4th quarter of 2017.

Image from Woodlea Update

Woodlea is also set to release Stage 20 with 40 lots this weekend and based on the latest price list, land with similar size as our Haven has already increased by $11,300. We're anticipating more price increases as Woodlea delivers more of the planned facility next year, cheers to our investment! 

Docs from Conveyancer

I found this in our doorstep when I came back from my shopping this morning. This was the first communication from our conveyancer since I spoke with her on the phone in April when we paid the land deposit.

Looks like I'll be busy tomorrow reviewing these and collecting some requirements.

Conveyancers are required when one is buying a property. Our conveyancer costs $650, payable after the land has titled. As it says in our contract they will do the following for us:

• advise on matters that we need to investigate before signing a contract or advising about the contract once it's been signed
• arranging for searches and certificates
• preparing a caveat to protect our interest
• sending requisitions to vendor's representatives
• coordinating with lender and sending any required documents
• preparing transfer of land
• preparing an adjustment of the rates on the property
• arranging settlement with all parties
• notifying the statutory authorities of the change in ownership of property
• reporting to us   

At this stage, I'm not sure how much involvement they will really have in the process but having a conveyancer is required.  Fees can range from $650 to $1000, but all depends on their qualifications, lawyers and law firms can charge higher. 

Timber Flooring or Porcelain Tiles?

Our Carlisle Homes package includes ceramic floor tiles to the hallway, kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry, ensuite, bathroom and toilet, but we thought we will upgrade to a more durable flooring so we can minimise problems with cracked or chipped tiles.

Our first choice for flooring was porcelain tiles. We were very impressed with the shiny porcelain tiles on display homes that we visited, we thought they make the entrance hallway look very grand and impressive as they reflect the lights from the ceilings.

 Based on what we have read about porcelain tiles, they are:

• Durable
• Have variety of colours and design
• Stain Resistant
• Liquid Resistant
• Easy to clean
• Easy to replace individually when chipped or cracked

They have disadvantages also like they are more expensive than ceramic tiles, harder to install hence they attract higher labour cost, the grout in between the tiles can attract stains and be difficult to clean. They are also very rigid and hard underfoot.

Come winter time and with the cold starting to set in, we started having second thoughts about porcelain tiles as we know that they can add to cold winter environment. We are now seriously considering timber flooring. If we go for timber flooring this would be our choices:

Premium Oak Blanc in Amberley 27 in Woodlea

Premium Oak Everest in Embleton 29 in Sunbury

Palazzo Limited Grey Oak in Riva 29 in Berwick Waters 

Timber flooring are:

• Durable
• Trendy and timeless
• Easy to maintain
• Comfortable
• Warm and elegant

Timber are also known to be on the most costly range of flooring choices. Our sales consultant told us that our included ceramic tiles costs around $2.5K while these kind of timber flooring cost around $12.5K so the upgrade cost will cost around $10K.

Our build is in May 2017 so we're hoping that we'll have enough budget by then to cover this upgrade cost and with tax time coming, I'm praying that some miracle will happen and I'll get a surprisingly huge tax refund :-) 

Update from Carlisle Homes

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from our CLE that our request to correct our facade from Riviera to Ramsay has finally been approved. It took them a while to do this, more than half a month actually. We found out that there was a mistake in our document when we attended our colour browse on 28 May and since then, I have been exchanging e-mails with our CLE.

I was starting to lose my patience and wrote a biting e-mail to our sales consultant on 14 June that this slow service was not what we signed up for. I reminded him that we chose Carlisle Homes, even if they are charging us $34K for the site cost (more than 3X other builders), because of their excellent customer service based on online reviews.

He explained that this is currently going through permits to make sure that there's no problem with the new facade on the block and this could take time. He did mention to us when we signed up in April that we are the first to build Amberley with Ramsay facade and he didn't even have a prepared template then to do a siting plan using Ramsay facade.

But still, it's been more than half a month....anyway, it's been approved and they will update all our papers accordingly.

So, it's now official,  Amberley 27 with Ramsay facade.

He also wrote on his e-mail that he will give us a free telephone point because he made a mistake during our signing and told us they provide 1 telephone point just like Boutique Homes.

All is well again at this stage and hopefully, things will go more smoothly from here :-)

Home Buying in Australia for First Timers

Getting into home ownership league is a daunting idea for anyone especially for first time home buyers like us. We've been told and we've read everywhere that it's just getting harder each year to be a home owner in Australia with the property prices just hitting the roof .

No one can tell you that you're ready to get into the market but yourself. If you're really keen to get your first home you need to prepare, save money and be willing to make some sacrifices while saving for your deposit.

Here are some tips to help you prepare for your first home ownership:

• Save as much as you can for the deposit. You should try to put in as much money as you can for the deposit to
•  keep your monthly amortization fee low, 
• to avoid paying the loan mortgage insurance (LMI) if the deposit is less than 20% of the cost. I was told that one can secure a loan for as low as 5% deposit and I personally know someone who paid no deposit at all.
• there are a lot of hidden costs to home buying
• As you build your home, you'll find that there are a lot of upgrades that you would need and want for your home.

By simply setting a goal to save for your home deposit can help you be aware of your expenses and be able to identify possible sources of savings. Simple things like limiting the times you eat out or have coffee out, being savvy shopper and buying things on special and in bulk when cheaper, avoiding over stocking and wastages in the kitchen, cutting down on your clothes and fashion shopping, turning off unnecessary lights, heating or cooling system. When you focus on saving for your home, I'm sure you'll find a lot more ways to save.

• While you're saving for the deposit, look around for houses and places that you would want to buy or build on.  Drive around the community that you want to live in to check out new developments and visit display houses.
• This will inspire you keep on saving for your home goal.
• This will help you limit your search.
• This will give you the feel of the neighbourhood and the community before you make your final decision.

• Check out property websites such as domain.com.au and realestate.com.au to be updated on real property market. 

• Decide if you want to buy an established house or build a new one. There are pros and cons to buying and building a house and you need to know your personal  preference, your budget and the pros and cons of each.  If you decide to build a new house, you might entitled to some government grants depending on the state you live in. In Victoria, first home builders get $10,000 grant and we pay 50% less on stamp duty.

• Be updated and monitor which bank provides the best loan package or consult with a mortgage broker. There's nothing to lose if you will get an appointment with a bank or mortgage broker to consult about your home goals, most of them are very willing to help and give information. They can do an initial assessment of your loan application, talk to you about the charges that you should expect and also guide you on target savings depending on when you plan to buy.

• Talk to friends or your families about their experience when they bought or build their homes. You may be able to get more tips from them or they can refer to mortgage brokers, banks or even to people who can help lower the cost of your building such as carpenters, electricians, painters etc.

• Don't change job when you are close to loan application. Make sure you have a secure, stable and regular job close to your loan date. This will help with your approval process and will also save you from worrying about your amortization.

There are endless list of tips for people who are aspiring to buy their first home but at the end of the day it is your determination to achieve your goal that will help you. Good luck on your first home!

To upgrade or not to upgrade?

Most people can get over excited when building a house and want all the best and latest trends to be included in the build. We need to confess that are we one of them, Elmer is more on the durability, comfort and practical aspects while I go more on the aesthetic and trend. We are not very young anymore, we've built a house before we moved to Australia and we know how it often works. On our first build, we said that we will renovate and upgrade a lot things as we go along considering our budget and priorities at that time. After several years of staying in our yellow house, no renovation and upgrading happened as our priorities also changed with the security of roof over our heads. The only not so major work we have done was to add a gate and a covered laundry area before we left our country so we can secure the place and charge better rental fee.

We also had another house which we never lived on and had been renting out since we bought it. With this one, only repairs and maintenance were done every time we changed tenants. We sold this house recently as the cost of repair is getting more expensive and we expect that over the years more repairs will need to be done as this was not an owner maintained and loved house.

Given this background, we feel like we need to include all the upgrades that are necessary plus the ones that we love during the building process. With this in mind, our budget is now over inflated with the upgrades that we want to add and we'll need a better strategy on how to do this home building wisely without breaking the bank.

At this stage, we are just listing down all the "wants" and we will trim them down at the later stage based on budget. I'm classifying these wants based on the following: Durability and Comfort, Aesthetic and Trend, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Friendliness and Security.

Here are the major items that we have in mind, some items can be classified in others too.

Durability and Comfort

• Porcelain tiles or timber flooring
• Bigger capacity hot water system
• Ducted vacuum system
• Tower robes in master WIR
• Rubbish bin to kitchen
• Broom closet in laundry
• Door stoppers
• Soft close mechanism for drawers and cupboards
• Additional door to ensuite
• Additional powerpoints
• Additional TV point
• Capped gas point for alfresco
• TV wall wiring
• Junction boxes
• Power surge protectors

Aesthetics and Trends

• Higher ceiling
• Higher doors along the hallway and living areas
• Better external and internal doors
• Stone benches in bathroom and laundry
• Category 2 stone benches all throughout the house
• Carpet underlay
• Undermount sink
• Full render facade with feature stones
• Category 2 bricks for the rest of the external walls
• Venetian blinds and curtains for some windows
• Feature walls for bedrooms, living room and rumpus
• Silk finish to all drawers and cupboards
• Feature cabinets, desk and shelves for study nook, living room and rumpus
• Niche walls to showers
• Better tapware for showers, vanity and bath
• Better tapware for kitchen
• Decorative pendants for kitchen, study nook, bedroom and rumpus
• Wall lights to facade and entry hallway

Energy Efficiency and Environment Friendliness

• Double glazed windows and doors
• LED downlights all throughout the house
• 6 star energy rating heating system with zoning control

Security and privacy

• Privacy locks to toilets and bathroom and bedrooms
• Outdoor lights with sensors to front garage, laundry and alfresco
• Additional lights to garage
• Double lock to doors
• Touch screen alarm system in lieu of LED
• Smaller smoke detector
• Translucent glass to toilets, shower rooms

I got dizzy just listing down all these desired upgrades even without thinking of the cost yet. The list also doesn't include the basic things that we need to move in such as drive way, pathway, letter box, towel rail, tissue roll holder, door bell, curtain rods and curtains. I'm pretty sure a lot of these items will be bumped off the list. The extent of upgrade and which ones we will prioritise depend on our income and savings in the coming months so I'm keeping a tight reign on my inner shopaholic self now and in the coming months.