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This is post # 1 of what I will aim to add to from now until the day we move into our new home!
Just on 12 months ago we moved onto acreage. Getting here was half a battle - in September 2010 we first saw the block, put in a low offer subject to sale which was accepted. Over the next 9 months we saw the list price of our house for sale plummet $75 000. Due to it taking longer to secure the contract the acreage owners decided to rent out their house and as such we had to no option but to cancel the contract until we were able to sell our property.
Thankfully in June 2011 an offer was made on our house and thanks to the help of our real estate agent (who took no commission) we were able to make a much lower, but still reasonable offer on the acreage which the owners, whilst not happy, still accepted.
THE PLAN was to always buy acreage and then build a Garth Chapman (Traditional Queenslanders) home, however with a cost of over $500k before any changes, and I had a heap of those in mind, it was going to be many years before we could build.
In early 2012 I had read about the latest display village opening at Rochedale and we went on a day trip to have a look. After looking through so many houses, we commented on just how much we loved the inside of the Metricon Range. We enquired as to what would look good on acreage and were pointed to the Denver (28, 33 & 46 squares). Naturally, the 46 sq was the only one that would satisfy my requirements.
After a 'brief' conversation with the Sales Agent, we were promised an emailed quote and a phone call to discuss the next stage. Having never build before (
though not novices as we have bought several houses and dealt with Real Estate Agents plenty of times!) and not knowing what had to happen next we left very happy and excited at the prospect of building only 12 months after moving onto the block.
A few days later, I received an email with a really good price for the house $370k, so I approached our broker to look into a loan for $450k (allowing for improvements). On the weekend, after not getting a call from the Sales Agent, I phoned and emailed him. I eventually did get a return call and was told that he would get in touch with me sometime during the week (when not so busy). This, we hoped was not a sign that Metricon was not the right option.
When the next weekend came around with still no contact we phoned another display village, to see if we could talk to someone there to move ahead. This time, we were off to North Lakes, which was a bit of a drive, but the sales agent seemed keen. Also on our mind was the current promotion of free upgrades to steel frame, colourbond roof, solar panels and hot water and free ducted air con. Thankfully the new Sales Agent was good to his word and it all stated to come together. Unfortunately, the cost is a heap more than we thought - already, it is over the $450k mark, before upgrades!
Whilst the new (higher) cost isn't too much of a problem, it is making us think that the inclusion of a pool at the same time is not a possibility.
In the morning the Sales Agent will be on site to see whether or not the Denver will work (size wise) in the spot we think it should go.
