Builder Decided

Well its been along time since Riss has updated our blog and its the first time that I have written anything on here. But what I can say is we spent a lot of time last year looking at display villages, speaking to the sellers in the display homes and doing alot of reading to decide which builders to meet.

With all this research we had done and the ideas we had picked up with what we liked and didn't like, we decided that we would draw up rough plans ourselves and see who could help us. The plans that Riss and I drew up changed many many times. With who we decided to speak to we sent emails with our plans attached to Strata Summit Homes, Blueprint Homes, Switch, Dale Alcock and Redink Homes.

Switch unfortunately never responded :( I really loved their display homes their attention to detail and finishes were outstanding and some of their plans were a little quirky which I liked. I hate when everyone does the same boring thing. I guess with them not getting back to us with our budget was a good thing or I could have easily have blown it. (I wouldn't have let you Kris - Riss)

Strata Summit Homes phoned me but I wasn't very keen to meet them as the seller on the phone was far to pushy for my tastes. So we never made a time.

Dale Alcock phoned and it did sound very positive when speaking to the consultant there and we made a time to meet him. Unfortunately when we met him he advised we could only use their plans and the house plans he showed didn't meet our requirements and would have cost a fortune to change, as it was the house he showed was at the top of our budget. The only thing we did like was the prestart setup, the bathroom, kitchen and all the other finishes were very nice.

Our next meeting was Blueprint homes, the guy we met was very nice and he did draw up a house plan nearly the same as what we had. We also met him at Blueprints headquarters and we looked at there pre start finshes which were OK. The price he quoted as well wasn't too bad. I guess the reason why we didn't choose them was that they weren't as flexible as who we ended up choosing with if we wanted to supply our of bathroom and kitchen supplies and the site works were way expensive on the quote.

As you can guess in the end we decided to go with Redink Homes. The guy we met was fantastic and he was also a draftman. He went through and explained every single step from beginning to end with us. He also suggested what we could do to improve on our plans to make them work for us. The quote he set out was reasonable and he also said what the worst case scenario for site works was going to cost us as well.

Plans sorted (more or less)

The block in front of us might be sold! I've been tipped off by a friend who works as a display home salesman that one of his clients is looking at our block. He'll be building straight away though so we're going to have to pay extra on site works for a difficult build. We also found out how much our site works are going to be as the prospective buyer has organised the builder to get a quote. They're a bit higher than I was hoping but still below our maximum so alls good so far.

We've also drawn up a rough plan that we're pretty much settled on. We may have to downsize it, but we figured we'd rather go all out and have to cut things then start at the minimum and work up.

I can't wait to start building and get out of our rental!

Our Block

First post

After paying $450 a week in rent for a couple of years, my sister and I decided to get out of renting and buy a house. At only $350k, our budget was low for Perth. We looked at established houses but couldn't find a decent 3x2 in an area we could live in. So we decided to look at building.

We first went to estates but were coming up with the same problem. A few years ago, I'd looked at building with my now ex partner. We didn't end up moving but I did remember finding blocks of land in established areas that were substantially cheaper than housing estates. So we went onto Reiwa's website and did a search. We immediately found 2 blocks of land within our budget and a reasonable size. The first one we looked at (in Maddington) was a good size but completely uneven and was going to cost an arm and leg in site works. Thankfully the second one (in Kenwick with an option of two) was practically perfect. We settled a month and a half later.

Due to finances, we can't build for another 6 months or so, but I think it's going to take us that long to find a builder and decide on what we want! Our block is a battleaxe of 442m2 plus 280 of common area which is just a driveway shared with the block in front which is still on the market. It's 14m deep and 31m wide so we can put a decent 3x2 on it.

We went out today and had our first look at the block in a couple of months and tried to picture our house on it. I can't wait!!! We've spoken to a few builders and are going to talk to Strata Living (a Scott Park group company), Redink (also Scott Park), Switch, Plunkett/Domain Homes, Collier (we love their bathrooms) and Summit Projects. We're limited in our options as many builders won't build on rear strata's but the ones left have pretty good reputations.