My partner and I have known each other for almost 10 years now and have been dating just under 2 years. We've finally decided to take that next step and make a home of our own.
Now I must explain that I am very thorough when it comes to making decisions and researching, I had the whole spreadsheet drawn out- ready to compare EVERYTHING when it came to which land and which builder to go with.
After months of research, July of this year, we made the decision to secure our home with 8homes.
WHERE WE ARE AT:
Land Deposit and Contracts Signed- June/July 2013
This process was surprisingly easy for us after the months of research.
Lucky for us or Unlucky (depends on what way you look at it), our land doesn't actually title until March next year, so we have plenty of time to save for things like landscaping, fencing and furniture.
House Deposit Finalised- July/August 2013
We decided to go with 8homes, not only because we had built an incredible rapport with our lovely Sales Consultant, but also because their prices were extremely competitive compared to the big builders and the bonus is that they are partnered with Urban Edge so you get the same quality home and same builders except cheaper pricing because they are building their reputation up. We selected the Seven.2 Plan and decided to make some minor variations to it.
- We have added a Double Vanity in the Ensuite
- Bigger Shower in the Ensuite
- We have added a Walk in Pantry in our kitchen which in turn has moved the (REF) in the WIP and allows the main bench to be extended and extra bench space next to the oven.
- We extended our floorboards into the family area instead of carpet
- Moved the garage door into the laundry and flipped the laundry to the other side.
This is the facade we chose
Colour Appointment- 2nd September 2013
Last week was our colour appointment and I walked in thinking this is going to be a very stressful day (especially because I can be so indecisive and I love to do my research). I had been on the internet for hours each night leading up to our appointment, saving loads of photos of designs, flooring, carpet etc that I liked. My partner and I had no idea at all about what external colours we wanted, we had spent our weekends with boral and austral looking at different bricks and with the list of houses they gave us- travelled the northern suburbs to look at them on different homes.
All we had established was that the only standard brick we liked with 8homes had way too many variations and because our settlement for the house is so far away- we weren't willing to take the risk. So we walked in the Colour Appointment with an open mind (keeping budget also close in mind).
We asked our consultant if we start with the External (thinking this would be the hardest for us) and it ended up being the easiest.
EXTERNAL selections:
- BRICKS: Boral Horizon Range Brown Terrain with Rolled Natural Mortar
- GUTTERS/DOWNPIPES/FASCIA: Monument
- ROOF TILES: Elabana Sambuca
- WINDOWS: Jasper
- RENDER:Carriage Colour
- ENTRY DOOR: Sikkens Stain Rosewood 048 (same colour as Garage Door)
- GARAGE DOOR: Timber Look Slimline Caoba
INTERNAL Selections:
Now, this is the part we thought would be a breeze, that was until we realised we had to choose grout colours and carpet underlays etc. We pretty quickly changed our minds about which was harder, but surprisingly we had no major difficulties selecting and came out with all decisions made in 3 hours.- FLOORBOARDS: Unique Timber Flooring- Manhattan Coffee Oak (to the left)
- TILES: Hynes Tiles- Outback Charcoal (to the right)
- CARPETS: Major Carpets- Newport Teasal
- KITCHEN BENCH TOPS: Reconstituted Stone with 40mm edge- Litestone Snow White
- KITCHEN CABINETRY:
- SPLASH BACK: Crystal Interiors- Clear Glass Mocha Magic
- MAIN WALL PAINT COLOUR: Dulux- Beige Royal Half
- CEILING PAINT COLOUR: Dulux- Lexicon Half
- BATHROOM CABINETRY: Parbury- Exotic Wood
- BATHROOM BENCHTOP: Parbury- Bottocino Matt
This was the hardest decision for me because at 8homes they do have thick bench tops like the below picture.
House Contract Appointment- 16th September 2013
Ok- so the contract appointment was a little daunting, so much to run through and check. We did find a minor error on the plans with the doorway we moved from the garage to the hallway instead going into the laundry, hadnt been changed but was an easy fix. I am finding that I've had to set alot of reminders for myself closer to the settlement to cover my butt like making sure that the electricity has been connected and the pegs are still in tact on the land and the banks pay the installments on time to avoid unnecessary interest charges.
I must say though that I also had to get in contact with Villawood about the promotion and it was a different guy I spoke to this time who said the land was titling in June, now when we signed the contracts with the main manager he had told us it would be settling in March- thats a 3 month difference and were no where near the title date to begin with!! Very disappointing- now to rethink the rent situation.....
