Still Searching for the right house???

Thought I'd update since the wife and I have started going through homes again... We want to keep our options open in case we can't go with J.G King's - The Memphis.

We've found a number of other homes we really like too.  Inspired Home have some lovely designs and being a smaller builder, we actually dealt with the owner. Very Nice. Very Helpful.  you'd expect that from the owner.  We got a quote and am surprised as it's bigger then the Memphis but has a better deal...

Also loved a home from Fairhaven, got a quote there too. Great price! I have to admit though, through the now hundreds of display homes we've been visiting, everything has been compared to J.G. King Homes - The Memphis... only a handful have stood their ground against it.

We decided to get another quote from J.G King.  We saw a different version of the Memphis on the other side of Melbourne.  This one was more of a low spec home while the one in Cranbourne is fully decked out.  Can really see and feel the difference what upgrades do to a home.  I needed to make sure the things I want stay in the quote and I that I can afford it.

Will keep you posted as things go on.  still some time before we really go for it.  I'm thinking it will be March or April next year before we really get serious.

We are now Officialy Land Owners

I know it's been some time but we finally had settlement go through and we are now the owners of a lovely block of land in Botanic Ridge!  **Insert Cheering Here**

There were a few hassles with the bank going back and forth, and of course soo many delays in actually getting full approval. The land has been Titled and the Banks have Settled... albeit a few days late due to delays.

Apparently Botanic Ridge, being a relatively new estate, isn't registered on all computer systems so they had to manually input the details and this delayed the payments and what not, but it's now all passed and we have our land.

On the downside, we also have a loan too!  We don't want to start building straight away so we have a little bit of time to save up more cash (Put it on the loan).  Botanic Ridge Stipulates we need to start building within 18 months so we at least have some breathing space.

There might be a little bit of time between now and the next post but will update if we do anything important.

Botanic Ridge it is!

Well a couple of weeks have gone by and I just can't seem to shake Botanic Ridge from my mind... no matter where else we look I just can't find anything and have fallen for Botanic Ridge...!!!

So anyway... we went past the land and it's still available. Sooo, we put the deposit down today! Woohoo!  This means we are 'almost' official land owners.  It's subject to approval so here's hoping we are approved.

Wow this is moving too fast for my liking. I'm a little sick feeling because it's pretty much has doubled my budget for a home... I was seriously thinking to pay this much for a house AND land, not just land! :( We discussed this and slowly increased our budget over time... each time we found something we liked or realised the pricing for new home builds. This house hunting does your head in but we have decided that we are building for not only our enjoyment now, but for our future too.

Land Land and More Land..

I'm sooo glad we found the home first.  J.G King's - The Memphis is just too nice to pass.... Apparently people tend to buy land first, and then find out they can't build the home they want on it due to size restrictions... they have to compromise to get something that will fit.

Anyway, we've discovered that the majority of land around the area we want are all 14 meters x 30 meters???!!!  what the heck?? I can't even build the home I would like with that size...  Thankfully there were a few blocks here and there that are actually 16 Meters x 32 Meters... only issue is the price... so. much. money... especially for such a small piece of land.. this would leave us with 1 meter on each side of the house and a 3 meter backyard... very small and suffocating if you ask me.

The wife has suggested Botanic Ridge but my thoughts are it's too far out from where I want to live... She went and had a look anyway and then convinced me to take a look...

Lo and behold... Big blocks!! and I actually mean Big Blocks... unlike all these other estates shouting out "HUGE BLOCKS" and them only being 420m2 ... these actually are BIG!  The estate is lovely, especially the drive in though Settlers Run Estate.  Stage 17 in Botanic Ridge is to be released in a few months and it's up for sale now... minimum 1000m2 so we took a look.

There's a block there we found that we both really like. At least it can fit the Memphis (if we choose to go with that home), and will give us a nice big backyard for my pool... and outdoor entertaining area.. and shed... and garden... and veggie patch... and... well yeah I can't really afford any of these but I can dream.  Scary Price for the land though. A good $20,000 - $60,000 more (depending on location) then other estates in the area... well I suppose it is DOUBLE the size in land so maybe not that bad after all? Only time will tell but I've seen so much land I'm starting to get sick of it.

We found the House (We Hope) - J.G King the Memphis

**Forward:  I hope to document our experience with our decision to build a new home, rather then buy an already established home. Hope you find some info in here of value.  Please leave a comment**

Well, what do you know, after a few months of searching through dozens of homes we came across J.G King Homes - The Memphis (Located in Cranburne, Victoria).

What can I say, the wife and I fell in love with it instantly.  We liked it so much that we went through the house and chose the upgrades we would want and got a quote... Came in fairly high but about the price I was expecting for such a home. We aren't going to be able to buy this right away but at least we've found something to head towards.

We will of course keep looking but we have found one home we very much like. But, now we need to find land that will suit... We require 16 meters x 32 meters minimum for this home so it's time to look around.