That is what the backyard looked like when we after hand over, the next step was to put the fences in so that we had some privacy. Our neighbour suggested Easy clip fencing they were a colourbond fence frame and then wood panels that you can slide in and out. They were great when we were landscaping and last much longer than the traditional lap & cap fence. It is my option that they are also tidier than the normal fence.

We completed our landscaping in accordance with our landscape plan so we were able to get our rebate YAY. We still have a lot that we would like to do to the backyard as funds become available, but at this stage we have a cute place to entertain and lots of room for our puppy Joey to run and play.

So here are some before and after photos. We are both really proud of how far it’s come as we did all the landscaping ourselves with the help of some keen family members.

Big Update

We haven’t updated for months, not because we haven’t done anything... quite the opposite. We've just been so busy. We have finally finished our landscaping, got blinds, tied the knot and been on an amazing honeymoon.

So this is our first post as Mr and Mrs Andre’ Yay well here goes.............

Meet our landscape Crew

My Dad

My Mum

The Cutest couple around Damian and Anna

My Step dad and new husband

Garry

Through Council.

We are through council. It took about a month, with some complications...

The soil we are building on is high in salinity, which means we needed to include special concrete to stop corrosion etc. McDonald Jones sent the plans back to drafting, and with a 2.7K variation later, the plans were accepted by the council.

The next step is a construction certificate. That should take about 5 days, then about 20 days to start construction!! - Our bank has given the all-clear to commence construction.

There is still a bit of paperwork to be done, but we should have all that cleared up by next week.

McDonald Jones also notified us that our contract time is over time by two months. We had approximately 6 months to start builder or fall into a price increase. Luckily they decided not to pursue the extra change, which is fair enough because we are now ready to roll.

Registered!

Our land registered today!

Now we move on to the next stage, finance and eternal debt :)

We also have our contract from McDonald Jones to sign, its massive and we are going to take our time going through it, making sure everything is correct.

Tiles, carpets and McDonald Jones

Last weekend we got a rough quote drawn up for our chosen house: The Bordeaux from McDonald Jones. All looks good, we will be receiving a more accurate quote tomorrow.

We were told that it would be wise to sign a contract in December, as there is going to be a 2% increase next year (aprox $4k) - and there is a secret special about to launch which will save us $4000 in a week or so :)

For a 100% perfect quote we need to wait until the land is ready to be surveyed (est. end of December) - but the difference should only be minor.

Given that we have $27/M2 for tiles to our 'wet' area's (bathrooms, laundry) we were at Di Lorenzo tiles today to see our selections. The basic selections were OK, but I think we will spend a little extra on getting a tile we like. We are looking for a mushroom type tile for the floors but are still relatively undecided. The tiles we liked were $35/M2, which is not too much extra.

We are still disillusioned by the carpet choice - they all look very similar, and I think we will only be able to pick once our other colours are sorted out. Anyway - its early days, and we are just wanting to get a basic idea before we sit down with McDJ to make final selections.

We have another meeting scheduled with our mortgage man on Wednesday to keep him updated on proceedings. Given that westpac have increased rates well above the reserve bank rates, I'm getting a little nervous about what lies ahead in terms of interest rates.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Lets do the time warp.

You can look at houses for hours. We loved it, but you can't have it all.
Narrowing down the floor plan without being distracted with extra bits and bobs is hard!

How often are you going to use that spa bath? is that window to the ensuite bathroom really nescessary?
Will you really use both those alfresco area's?

We fell in love with a few designs, but only very few of them actually suited what we needed. I found that houses that offered a zillion rooms, but at what benefit? Its hard to see how you could use:

A family room
A rumpas room
A dining room
A formal lounge
A play or kids room
A sun room

All in the same house - and thats what it seems a lot of builders try to cram in. I know every single house I ever lived in, that we had unused space. How many times did you really use that formal lounge?

Finding a house without 'dead' spots or no-go zones is difficult. I'm not sure why, because everyone we have spoken to acknowledges that all that extra space tends to go to waste.
For our place, we decided that an open living kitchen is the way to go. We loved the designs with the 'family room' (couch and TV) and the dining room (place to eat formally) in the same area.

I suspect everyone is different, and some prefer the more traditional home. But it was hard to find a reasonably priced builder with these sorts of layouts.

One of the first places we looked was Allworth Homes. They came recommended as Anna's parents built their house with allworth almost 20 years ago. The house has been absolutely solid, and met their needs well. They are also really well priced, but when you walk in, you know why.

We were horrified with their houses at homeworld. It looks like the kitchens and bathrooms went out of fashion just after the first testiment was written. Striking that off, we went to the next 'value' builder - masterton. But again we were struck by how dated the designs were - I mean the bathrooms were not even up to date by standards 20 years ago. Peach fitting with aqua floor tiles - what were they thinking? To their credit, they have more updated and modern designs at warickfarm, where we will visit next weekend.

Even though the homes at homeworld were built about 6 years ago, you can find some builders that have kept up to date with the times. McDonald Jones for example has some fantastic houses. We have not fully scoped out the pricing and options, but I suspect they will be a little over our budget. They also have very friendly staff and and extremely helpful architect onsite.

Still - the houses at the ponds display village were more what we were after, moden fiscades, minial formal area's and open plan living.