Our wishlist of House Additions

Consider this a fun posting of what we would like to install either during the build because it is easier and less costly or soon after because the budget has been blown...again :)

They range from the small upgrades, for example a larger shower head to the layout of a second patio to be located on the long side of the house facing Stream Place.

Many of the ideas and images are taken from the Home Renovation & Building site and various display home villages.

Enjoy the slideshow.

House Additions

Our decision on which Builder is now made...

and what a relief.

Still, we have a very long way to go, the least of which is addressing what we consider some minor alterations on the appearance and then making sure we stay involved throughout each phase as we head towards signing a contract prior to 30th September.

Until this is finalised, we will leave our decision, for now.....to ourselves :)

When will we decide?

Bellmarch mentioned to us yesterday that they will complete the draft of the design in approximately 7 days.

They will also try and provide the price given that this is a new design. At the end of 7 days we will discuss where things stand. They are aware of our urgency to meet the deadline for the First Home Owners Boost and have not promised anything.

Metricon have 2 more weeks before they complete a full tender and then require 2 weeks after to write the amended contract.

Pricing will vary slightly because we chose the 38sq instead of the 42sq Liberty and the low valuation.

However, we may know the outcome for the Metricon in a shorter amount of time, Once they find when drawing the site plan that the 38sq does not fit or comply with the RTA corner restrictions given the ill-placed road side tree bays, we will have no choice.

And, Jandson? Well, they are simply waiting for us to respond back to them. We have a tender and the colour pack.

So, we will build the Jandson home only if Metricon and Bellmarch are no longer in play.

So, how will we decide?

There are four possible scenarios.

(A) If Metricon is unable to fit the Liberty home on our land after conducting the site plan and Bellmarch cannot complete their documentation for us to sign before 30th September, we will build the Jandson Odyssey. This is because the Design Panel said it looked 'doable' in terms of receiving DA approval and really then is the only house we can build.

(B) If Bellmarch complete their documentation and we are satisfied, then we will build the Bellmarch house off-the plan. While risky, apparently 50% of people build houses like this and many more make changes to their choice of display homes.

(C) If the Metricon Liberty fits on our land but Bellmarch is able to complete the documentation, we will build the Bellmarch house because of the many reasons stated earlier.

We will forfeit our $1K deposit to Metricon for a tender but because the overall pricing for the Metricon is significantly higher than the Bellmarch home, even more-so when the valuation came in so low, we will still make significant savings.

(D) However, if Metricon fits on our land and Bellmarch is unable to complete the documentation, and the decision is between the Metricon and Jandson, we will build the Metricon.

The primary reason being that the Metricon design complements our land better than the Jandson design.


We will simply practice delayed gratfication and over time, build in all that we wanted initially to the Metricon Liberty.

We find ourselves in an unbelievable situation

The kind of home we are going to build will be determined by the following

1. Can Bellmarch (remember them? they were the first builder we looked at) pull one out of the hat and we buy the corner designed house we saw yesterday, off-the-plan?
2. Can Metricon fit the Liberty house on our land?
3. While the Jandson home is still an impressive house and likely to pass the DA process because the Design Panel okayed it, it does not complement the size of our land as well as the Bellmarch design or Metricon Liberty offering good outdoor/indoor flow.


What is our deciding criteria?

It is up to whether Bellmarch can draft and price up their new 42sq corner house so we can sign a contract BEFORE 30th September?


Why did we revisit Bellmarch?

Way back in June, the representative we spoke to at Bellmarch mentioned he was also buying a corner lot at The Ponds. His lot was a standard rectangle size. However, at the time he was only just starting to design a house that would comply with the Design Guidelines and Bellmarch could use as a display home.

It was only when I called him yesterday about whether it was possible to modify the Manhattan plan we saw earlier, that he mentioned he had now finished his design and had given it to his drawers to draft. I drove in yesterday and saw these plans, and liked it.

As a builder/designer he shared our frustrations in trying to find a display home that would both fit and comply with the restrictions when building on the corner at The Ponds.

Some big pluses about his Bellmarch design:

1. Their standard base price is $70K less than Metricon. Of course, still to be confirmed.

This is significant given that our valuation based on a Estimate of the Metricon tender given to our lender came in very low. This meant we would have to fund many of the features ourselves. Bellmarch seems to be offering the opportunity to install a number of upgrades and enhancements while managing our cashflow.

2. This house design was drawn from a builder who would also be a resident of one of the corner lots at The Ponds. He already had direct discussions with the Design Panel and his design was ready to proceed for DA approval.

NOTE: If you drive around The Ponds, there is only one double-storey home currently being built on a corner lot. The corner houses in the Newbury area look okay but they also look very pricey and similar in design. They seemed to be designed for standard lots and simply have a corner facade tacked on so it looks 'interesting' on both sides. The Bellmarch house design has corner balconies, patios and living areas to go round the land.

While the Bellmarch designer had the option to build a single or double-storey home, he believes a double-storey house will add greater resale value down the track.

We do not have that choice according to our land contract. Our lot is also not a standard rectangle shape. The road tree bays on both corners of our lot forces the issue that any design would have to have the garage built for access near the boundary of Stream Place. This is my concern with the Metricon Liberty. They said they could only confirm this after a contour site plan. This was only possible if we paid $1K for the tender process. So we did.

Trying to find a display home or completed house design that could be built within these limitations has been exhausting and stressful.

Another plus with the Bellmarch, is that it is a unique design. If all goes well, only this house will be built first on the designers lot and then our own. No doubt as more land is released and more corner lots registered, people will go through the same process as ourselves as to what to build on their corner.

I will add a floor plan of this Bellmarch design as well as a site plan as soon as I'm able to scan these in.

Here are a few more exciting Bellmarch features

a. The Master Bedroom while similar to Metricon in facing Levy Crescent, has a long corner balcony extending from Levy to Stream. This will suit our corner because we have nature corridors on both sides.

b. Below this balcony is a corner shaped verandah patio which can be accessed from sliding doors of the downstairs Lounge area.

b. The ensuite of the Master Bedroom is superior to Metricon. Yes, there is a Presidential Spa in it also.

c. Bedrooms 2, 3 and 4 are larger than the Metricon

d. The main bathroom in the Bellmarch is larger and more superior than the Metricon.

e. Bedroom 4 (facing Stream Place) shares another separate balcony on Level 1 with the upstairs sitting room.

f. The garage is on the far right of Stream Place so no more tree bay hassles. The Jandson design had this also, and

g. we still have a large outdoor living area for a paved alfresco look extending from the Dining Room on the back left of the Ground Floor to the Family Room in the middle and the Study on the far right. Yes, with the house located closer to the setback on Stream Place we will get our backyard again.


The main thing in all of this is that we have secured an unconditional extension loan for a certain amount to cover the build.

All 3 houses when built will exceed this extension amount but the Bellmarch one is the only one offering true value for money.

Our Third Builder

A lot has happened since settling our land. While we await a second valuation based on an initial 'ridiculous' valuation, we are looking at building the Liberty 38 from Metricon.

Click on picture to open slideshow.
















The difference to how our house will look to the picture above is that instead of the garage door entry seen here, the garage entrance is to the side. That is, from Stream Place.

A window similar to the window on the left (the Guest Bedroom/Bedroom 5) will be installed to ensure this side is still 'interesting' according to the Design Guidelines when building at The Ponds.

The problem we have is whether we can comply with the RTA requirements of building a driveway within the required distance (at least 6m) from the corner when there is both a street tree and road tree bay in the way.

Hopefully, we will know in a week when the contour plans are drawn during the tender process. If we don't overcome this hurdle, we will build the Jandson Home mentioned earlier in this blog.

The MAIN attraction of the Metricon home is that it complements our land very well. It makes great use of the shape of our land for the outdoor/indoor flow enabling us to have a sizeable front yard acting as our backyard enclosed in the privacy of the surrounding 1.8m high fence.

Enjoy the slideshow and feel free to comment.

Land Settlement Today

The scheduled settlement time is 3pm.

I'm writing this after 3pm, I guess we are officially land-owners now. My mobile rings, its our solicitor -

Ok, you're all settled now, he says. You are now in the game!

Terrific! We are now the proud owners of an area of dirt we will be spending the rest of our lives paying off :) Isn't ownership a wonderful thing?

He will be sending us a report letter later this week confirming the settlment details.

Our first mortage payment, a partial payment is due next week. I hope the Reserve Bank is kind to us for the next 30 years. As long-term renters, we paid little attention to what happened with interest rates, how things change when you have a stake in something.

So, Phase 1 is complete.

I called my lender a few minutes ago. He said he will send our application to extend along with the tender for valuation tomorrow morning. Hopefully by the end of this week, at the latest, we should hear whether we have an unconditional approval for this phase. Once we receive the documentation confirming an unconditional approval, we will arrange a meeting with our builder.

I hope Phase 2 runs a little smoother than the first phase. Wishful thinking?

The Penultimate Event?

If it's not written on your settlement documents, it's not going to happen any differently. Our solicitor acts according to the documents. The agency responsible for writing the documents (a business unit administering this on behalf of WestPac), act on the instructions of what is agreed between RAMS and the mortgagee. So, if a point such as paying the administration fees separately, is not communicated to the agency by the rep, then no matter what the rep says afterwards, what is written in the document will be exactly how it happens.

I don't know why we would think otherwise.


Actually, our solicitor shared an interesting fact with us. Mortgage lenders receive a trailing commission from the finance company based on the size and duration of the mortgage? I'm not sure whether the broking company pass this on to the actual mortgage brokers, but trailing commissions for the next 30 years on average, based on a one-time sale sounds like a good deal.


So, after stepping out of the movie theatre when I received a call from the RAMS rep this morning, I asked whether there would be any fees on the second part of our loan, when we extend it to cover the build. He said there would be setup fee for the extension. The extension process would take place after the land is settled. I told him that because of his miscommunication, I expect RAMS to waive this fee. He was quick to say that he is unable to offer this.

I told him he should at least speak to someone who can and then come back to me. He agreed and said he would...I'm not holding my breath.

There was one positive from this, we were exempt from paying the mortgage duty fees.

So, on the eve of settlement, actually, our settlement is Monday the 27th July, our solicitor told our lender it is tomorrow just in case we have any last minute problems. If there is, we could address these on Monday without incurring a late penalty fee from Landcom. Clever guy. So our solicitor after booking in a time for the title of ownership exchange a few days ago, has assured us he has all the paperwork ready. Once he receives our cheque (to cover the low valuation) tomorrow, he will complete the process.

...nice!

5 Days to Land Settlement

My phone rang. The amended repayment schedule documents were ready. Our lender drove directly to my husbands work and then mine for the required signatures.

Because our solicitor had the remaining parts of these documents, he was waiting on the amended documents to be sent to him so he could hand in the complete paperwork. It took longer than expected to receive the amended documents, so this was not possible. Our solicitor expressed concern to us and our lender that he (our lender rep) ensures the lenders solicitors were able to match up the two parts before handing it to the finance company. Our solicitor was driving to the required location this afternoon. This paperwork had to be handed in today.

I'm not sure why these documents still have it written that the upfront fees would be deducted from the total loan approved. We are adamant and have stated a number of times that we will pay these fees separately at time of settlement. We do not want to pay what would be interest accumulating on the addition of these fees. Who does? Our lender reassured us this was standard practice with all their settlement documents. We still had the option of paying for these fees separately on the settlement date.

We will watch this carefully.

Now, call it curiosity, but we decided after 'visiting' our block to have a quick look at an alternate builders display homes yesterday? We were impressed by a few of their designs, in particular, the great use of indoor and outdoor rooms to open up the house and give it an interesting appeal.


I'll let you know whether they pass the first step, can they build on our corner lot?

Jandson Homes

I wish we could say we are totally confident with our decision.

Yes, we like the home we chose. We only hope that the project to completion is run more effectively than the process taken to receive the final tender.

I'm all for the Free Site Tender offers builders use to generate interest, but this should not be at the expense of not receiving a well-prepared and accurate tender in a timely manner. It took four weeks before we were able to provide a final tender to our lender. In those last stages, I had to contact the estimator director and plead for drawings they were not going to provide because they thought the home we wanted did not fit according to the DRP guidelines. It pays to be stern and insist on the drawings so that you can contact directly the DRP to pursue your case. How many calls do you think the DRP receive from builders?

Can you imagine how I felt when after receiving a favourable response from the DRP and passing this new information to Jandson Homes, they said that because they have some key people away on leave, I would not receive my final tender for another two weeks! My original request had been received two weeks prior. As I wrote, their first tender was inaccurate, their second amended tender suggested a custom styled home which was not what we were after.

I don't know why but when someone says 'custom' to me, I shiver and always think 'how much?'

Our solicitor had told us to be wary of who we choose to build. We all remember companies like Beechwood Homes who not too long ago left many families locked out of their unfinished homes. A good question he advised to ask your builder is whether the initial payment required for the contract is held in a Trust. The comfort from this is in knowing that the deposit you pay goes towards the cost of your house and not to finance the general operations of the company. We did not get the answer we wanted when we asked Jandson, but while we haven't committed ourselves financially to our final tender, we will probably go ahead.

It comes down to trust and faith in the end. We hope they won't let us down.

So, we'll keep a close eye on our build. I know we all do, that's what's good about writing a journal, it can be read by others.