HIA Contract signed...

I went back to Carlisle yesterday to sign the HIA contact. They've fast tracked the process a little so I could still qualify for the larger first home buyers grant (which is handy considering I missed out on the 32K thanks to Metricon). I also have another appointment with the bank to talk about my home loan.

I'm enjoying the process so much more with Carlisle, all the staff that I've dealt with so far have been nothing short of delightful. When mistakes have been made they've been quick to admit and remedy which is all you can ask for in something as complex as a house build.

I've been working stupidly long hours in the lead up to Christmas... yesterday started at 7am and finished at 11.30pm. I'm looking very forward to taking a break and stalking my block some more. It's amazing to see how quickly houses are popping up around me. Hopefully they won't get done too fast so I can hold onto the money for the fencing just a little bit longer.

Tender Presentation

Apparently for once in my life I've managed to curb my expensive taste (slightly). My tender presentation with Carlisle wasn't half as painful as I thought it would be. I still within the budget I'd set for myself at the start of this process (although only just) and I have pretty much all the absolute "must haves" I'd decided I "must have" when I started looking for a house.

I'd still give anything for some of the tile upgrades I saw at the colour selection centre and if I had the money I'd have a ceramic bathtub instead of the plastic but these things aren't going to make me love my house any less. It's only a starting point, there is plenty of time to build houses with amazing tiles and wooden floorboards.

The only thing I really changed was the splashback - it started off as Toffee Fingers but after thinking about my colour combinations I realised I could stand to have a little less brown in this house so I changed it to Beige Royal in Pearl on Starfire glass and the combination of the pearl and the lighter colour should bring some life back into that kitchen corner.

Still settling on the right shade of turquoise to bring into the house in various ways but there is plenty of time for that.

The colour selection

Mocha Bricks	Toffee Fingers Render
Jasper Guttering	Braid - Feature Colour
Tsunami - Highlight	White Duck Half
Espresso Ligna	Metallic Silver Splashback

Missing Pegs

Went and measured my block yesterday with my Dad (who is an absolute star when it comes to helping me with this whole process).  Everything seems pretty accurate although I'm missing a peg on the back right hand corner, so I'll have to take that up with the conveyancer on Monday.

There were quite a few people out doing the same on their blocks while I was up there as well - so I've at least waved to a couple of the locals.  There was a very cute young couple taking photos of each other on their block and hugging while trying to get each other in shot.  It was very sweet.

Land Settlement

Notice finally came through today that my land paperwork had come back from the titles office and my settlement will be the 2nd of December.  I'm exceptionally excited - it seems like such a long time since I first came across this piece of land and decided I could actually build a house on my own.

My Westbury 26

The color selection was made a breeze by the lovely Jessica who was amazed at how decisive I managed to be (I actually surprised myself - as I'm rarely that decisive).

My floorplan

Facade

Bricks - Boral Mocha with Natural Rolled Mortar

Render - Toffee Fingers

Roof Tiles - Monier Traditional Tiles in Barramundi

Gutters, Fascia & Downpipes  - Colourbond Jasper

Garage - Tuscan Profule - Jasper

Kitchen

Floor Tiles - Luxe Mocha (Deep Chocolate Grey Colour with a small amount of light fleck through it)

Kitchen Cupboards - Espresso Ligna

Perspex Insert - Lucite Pearlescent Platinum

Benchtops - Ceasarstone Ice Snow

Splashback - Starfire glass in Toffee Fingers

Kickrail - Stainless

Bathrooms

Floor and Wall tiles  - Luxe Mocha

Cabinets - Seductive Limba (Horizontal)

Basins - Square inset

Splash backs - White lined tiles in main and pearl lintel tiles in a chocolate in the ensuite (thinking I might change this)

Interior Walls

Ceiling, Cornices and Doors - Lexicon 1/4

Walls - White Duck 1/2, 

I'll further add to these myself after handover with White Duck Full, Columbia (still not sure about this one - but a deep cool brown for the rumpus room would be nice) and even something like Porpoise Place.  (The idea is to have cool grey browns, silvery beiges, cool whites and small elements of deep turquoise).

Kitchen and Dining Area at Lyndhurst display village

Discovering Carlisle

Through the Homeone forums I discovered a builder I'd never heard of by the name of Carlisle homes.  I looked through their designs and loved their houses and the feedback was generally pretty good about their processes (the occasional disgruntled customer but with evidence that they'd at least tried to rectify the issues).  Unfortunately it appeared they only built in the South and in the West of Melbourne.

So I started looking at the Porter Davis Heywood 25 - which was just slightly bordering on too expensive and another builder based in Doreen who were fantastic and the price was amazing but even with references seemed like too much of an unknown quantity when I was already so bitter and on edge about the building process.

One night as I was looking through the forums there was a post about how Carlisle were planning to start building in the North, so the very next day I hit the road down to Lyndhurst to check out the Westbury 26 - The layout was fantastic and many of the features that I'd been quoted a fortune for would be included.  So I got a quote and the process got started.