Plans Approved & Authority to Commence Build

After a painful two weeks, our lovely plans finally have CDC. We lost another week with changes we had to make to the plans which ended up making the WIR and main bedroom bigger. Here are the updated plans.

The next step was to get the Commence Building Authority from the bank which I thought might have been another painful process, but it had already been issued back on the 3/6 and happened to arrive via snail mail today. Scanned that and send it back to the builder. All they need to do is initiate trades so it will be very interesting how quickly it all happens (or doesn't happen) but Meridian have been nothing but fantastic so far.

Watch this space....

Land Settled

The land settled! Thankfully we avoided any penalties with the developer being a day late to settle.

The plans are being stamped by the Mine Subsidence Board which has added another few days but we are still expecting plans to be approved next week. 

We also had to alter the plans today. Our certifier has raised and issue need resolution on the secondary facade, to be compliant we need a 600mm step along this elevation, this is a new rule which for CDC which came out a couple of months ago. We ended up fixing this issue by adding space to the ensuite and master bed, but this time with an added cost of $1945. The only other option was to reduce the space in the living areas as the house isn't big enough.

Delay on Land Settlement

Unfortunately we are STILL waiting for land settlement - all issues with the bank.

The first delay was that the settlements department were looking for the lot in WA not NSW (idiots). The second delay was that the bank hadn't applied for the FHOG that they needed to release funds for the land settlement so we only applied for that on Tuesday. The third delay is now that it has to be re-certified by settlements before our conveyancer can book settlement. We NEED to settle on Tuesday otherwise we could incur penalties and the bank is nonchalant about the delays (which they have caused).

 In more positive news, we have our 147 certificate and it was the last piece of the puzzle needed to get approved by the certifer so I'm expecting our plans should be approved next week. It has been 2 weeks since the builder said he wanted to be onsite in 3-4 and with the exception of the land settlement we are all on track so its getting close!

The master bed ended up being extended without cost as it needed to meet with a compliance requirement. We ended up changing the secondary frontage windows to 2 vertical windows to match the front of the house as we needed to met the requirements of the corner block rebate. We also upgraded to a metallic ultra clear glass splashback which was a bit of a hit to the bank account but I think it will be well worth it.

Our updated plans:

Land Registration & Colours

I can't believe I forgot to update here.

Our little block of land finally registered on Tuesday 6/5/2014 which is super exciting. Still waiting on a date for settlement but hoping for next week :)

We had our colour selections appointment yesterday afternoon. All going well the builder anticipates to be on site in 3-4 weeks and the build to take 3-4 months so very exciting times ahead.

Here are our colour selections:

Bricks
Boral Horizon: Emerald

Roof Tiles
Boral Contour Gunmetal 

 Guttering & Fascia
Colourbond Woodland Grey

Windows Trims
Clean White

Garage Door
Colourbond Shale Grey

Driveway
Charcoal

Front Door
Oiled/Stained - dark yet to be confirmed on colour

INTERNAL

Walls
Dulux Silkwort 1/4 strength

Skirtings, Doors etc
Dulux White on White in a semi gloss

Floors (including bedrooms)
- its a really bad photo but you get the idea.


Kitchen Benchtop
Quantum Quartz Turino


Kitchen Cupboards - Poly
Dulux White on White in high gloss

Bathroom Tiles
Feature tile is the bottom right. Floor tile charcoal. Light grey gloss is wall tile.

Draft Working Drawings

Two days earlier than expected our builder sent us through the draft working drawings through on Tuesday. Overall I am pretty happy with them - there is things missing/wrong but all in all minor things. The list is up to about 25 things but most of them are queries or small changes like

There is 2 issues that need to be sorted

1. The side second frontage fence is installed by the developed which we have known. Its a timber 1.8m fence that the real estate told us would come up to basically in line with the ensuite/garage. The contract actually states that it can only cover 50% of the second frontage unless its dropped to 1.2m in height. Our conveyancer is putting a request into the developer to see if we can get it extended to 2/3 or 3/4 of the house. The bold line is the proposed fence just so you know what I'm talking about.

Conveyancer has put a request into Walker to get the fence line extended to the 3/4 or 2/3 mark up the side of the house.

2. The ensuite/WIR/BIR of the main bedroom.
This was the original design:

We changed it to maximise the BIR space but caused an issue with the door of the bedroom and ensuite. This is what we changed it to:

But are having issue with the doors and I don't really think we are gaining all that much except a big ensuite? Thoughts ideas? Which do you prefer/which one is the most practical?

April 30 Registration

We had a call from our conveyancer this week advising of a April 30 registration due to some delays with Wollondilly Council (no surprise there) but the estate is open and our builder is organising the soil testing and contours so hopefully that keeps the ball rolling and we can be organied for when it does settle around to 21st of May.

Stage 1 Registered

We are another small step closer as stage 1 registered this week. 2 weeks behind schedule due to paperwork issues but is registered in the right month in the end.

This means that Stage 2 (which is us) is next! They are predicting registration to be the 18 April however that is Good Friday. I don't like our chances of registering early or on a Public Holiday so I would say sometime in the following week would be more realistic and looking at a May settlement - just in time for my 21st birthday :)

Builder is saying they will get access next month to do soil testing so that they can get final construction drawings finalised and we can pick colours! YAY. I'm so looking forward to this part of the process.

Hopefully this time next month we should be registered and waiting for settlement :)

We also now have grass on the verge - a neighbour just sent us this photo!

A few other photos of the playground - looks fantastic!

We have roads!

We got notification on Tuesday that the roads in Stage 2 had (finally) been done! So excited because that seemed to be the last thing major that needed to be completed for registration. We drove past and it looks amazing - even the street lights were on.

Our block in the one of the left hand side - basically from the green power box forward. Its so excited to see it so close to being finished :) They are saying registration is due for mid April but we will just have to wait and see!

The Waiting Phase

I guess this is what they called the waiting phase? We have exchanged with Walker on the land, signed all the necessary loan documents, paid our 5% to the builder and signed the building contract and now all we can do is wait.

We had a peak at our block last Sunday - it looks almost done with the except of the storm water drain curbing that looks like it just needs to be connected with the rest of the guttering. Light posts are in as well.

The roads look like the next thing to go in and then we should be set for registration. At the moment Stage 1 is due to be released on the 3 March and Stage 2 (thats us) to following in April - conveyancer thinks we should settle in May which means I won't get my slab for my 21st birthday but oh well!

Waiting Waiting Waiting....

Quick Update

Not a lot has changed since our last update. We are exchanging contracts with our conveyancer tomorrow - 5% has already been paid so it should be a simple process.

We don't have a date for registration. Some people in Stage 2 are saying by the 31st March and others are saying mid to late April. I'm not really fussed as if we aren't in by the 5th October than it will at least give us time to have the wedding, pay everything off etc before our full mortgage repayments start.

No roads down yet on our street which is a little disappointing. Hoping to go out there tomorrow with the other half to see if much has changed.

I'm assuming the next stage with the builder is colour selections etc? This excites me and scares me but I have a pretty solid idea on what we want so hopefully its not too stressful. I have only got a few weeks till uni goes back and then life is going to get crazy for the next few months :)

Contracts Signed.

On Wednesday we met with our builder and signed the building contract as well as the nomination form for the land! Officially secured.

We have heard from our fellow neighbours that our land has been pegged to register/settle on or BEFORE the 31st March 2014. Just over two months to go!

Builder is going to try and set out there and have the soil tests done. We have a H class slab accounted for as well as piering so I don't think we will have too many problems there.

I'm hoping we should exchange on the land in the next week or so - 5% was paid initially by the builder and we have now reimbursed them so there shouldn't be any issues.

Now I'm just hoping for a dry winter atleast until lock up anyway!

Loan is APPROVED!

I got the wonderful email from our lender today to say that we have FORMAL BANK APPROVAL! It was an amazing feeling after a long wait but its done now so we get to move onto the move exciting things.

We have called the builder to organise a meeting to sign contracts and exchange on the land... then I think its colour selections :)

We want our first night as a married couple to be in our brand new home so we have EVERYTHING crossed that it will be done by the 5/10/14 but who knows. I'm just happy we have the bank approval :)

Still waiting...

We haven't really progressed from Monday unfortunately. Its starting to get me a little overly stressed and frustrated but I know there will be many parts of this process like that.

Apart from two emails this week - one asking for updated payslips and the other asking to clarify something about the finance plan we have on our wedding rings (no interest great repayments) as one of our payments bounced over the Christmas holidays due to all the dates of our loan repayments and incomes changing around.

As of 5pm today we haven't heard anything - not even an email to say that she is still working on finalising everything. I know she said on Monday she is getting snowed under doing 4 peoples work so I'm really hoping that is all it is.

Builder should be back on the scene on Monday so I'm really hoping we hear something Monday/Tuesday - I want to get all our selections etc sorted because I start back at Uni end of Feb because once I'm back at Uni life is going to get really hectic again.

Waiting for formal approval

We are currently waiting for the bank to give us the final approval (with EVERYTHING crossed of course!).
I spoke to the lender yesterday and she said that the valuation has come back and she should have everything finalised by the end of the week - now I'm trying really hard not to jump the gun and assume that this means everything is okay and that they are going to approve us?
She emailed me for pay slips this morning as well.

I have got every part of my body crossed that we will get the approval and can work on getting everything finalised with Meridian.

I have never been a patient person but this whole process is certainly forcing me to learn.