It's Valentine's Day and we've come to the point of putting down a deposit on a piece (plot?) of land 17 by 34 aka 578m2. We had initially wanted a minimum of 600 m2 but then realised we had no dough to back it up :). The plan is actually to take our time to source for a builder within the next 2-3 months and then look forward to the pain of co-ordinating the building of the house.
We have of course gone past the stage of deciding whether to build or to buy. And then after this went into a heated debate of where do we build and why? And then the never ending decision went into the type of schools we were expecting for the kids in the new area and how they compared ......(you get the picture).
Anyway, this is the first house we will be building and reading several posts about co-ordination nightmares at http://forum.homeone.com.au send shivers down my spine. Anyway, I figured at least I'd have the loads of advice from the forums plus this blog to vent whenever I need to.
After clocking hundreds of kms (true true) on my car viewing hundreds (I'm exaggerating here) of display homes we have narrowed down the search to 2 main builders, Henley and Porter Davis. Now, they are definitely 2 different builders with different home designs and layout, and therefore will be a tough choice. The feeling now seems to lead toward Henley as one of their designs appeals. Somehow, one of my main concerns about Henley is the 'can't be bothered' attitude of the sales consultant we had been dealing with; Hopefully if we do go with Henley we won't be dealing with that lady.
We are hoping to move in in December this year but based on the release date of the land title and the amount of time needed, we will looking at early 2008 (bugger). Now come with loads of decisions we have to take based on the budget we have; eg. cooling options (refigerated or evaporative) - do we do this now or put it in later yada yada yada yada.
What's really getting me excited is the thought of putting in smart wiring of course. It'd be so neat streaming video/auudio throughout the house and complementing wireless in areas needed. It's wierd how I am moving towards a wired option complemented with a wireless network now that I have been running on a total wireless network for years. Guess, nothing beats the speed of access plus the added security. I have this feeling that since I will be moving with a volume builder, I might be restircited to having someone else perform the wiring. Unless of course the builder is willing to do it and the impression I am getting of them charging a higher price for it. Guess I'll have to wait and see.
