Your first home is not always your forever home.
By the completion of our first home the reality of us wanting more land and less neighbours became a little more apparent to us both. We gave it a few years, but by 2002 we had made our decision to move and build again “out of town”.
Early in 2002, we engaged my stepmother Lynne to bring her dad Keith around for a coffee, to sell our home. He was a highly respected real estate agent, so we explained we wanted to move “out of town” and have “some space”. Thank goodness he understood very clearly.
By April 2002 our first home was sold. And Keith had already located and selected our new 3.5acre block in Hazelwood North. It was going to cost us $65,000. He explained it was the best block available and put it on hold for us! Well, we loved it. And it was here that we’d build our actual Forever Home.
Paul and I rented again for around 18 months while we had plans drawn, permits approved and a builder appointed. Our Forever Home was going to be a massive five-bedroom home with a double garage, rumpus room & two living areas plus––i.e., lots of cleaning. It would be surrounded by sprawling verandas with scenic views. Just the kind of place you want to stay in forever.
As building progressed, so did the excitement. And we were wishing for it to be finished so we could move in! I’m sure many of you have felt this before.
And the day couldn’t have come sooner. Our builder, Rick Doultree, was incredible, and we loved our new home.
What you need to know about building your Home
Building a new home is a different loan type to buying an Established property.
Construction Loans Require Progress Payments in line with your Fixed Price Building Contract.
The Value of your property can be assessed “as is” (the land value) and “on completion” the Value once the new home is completed as per the specifications in your building contract.
Funds for Construction are released by the lender as the work on the property progresses and is completed in stages.
Once the work is finalised and you have a certificate of occupancy, confirming completion – the property is “handed-over” by your builder
Once the Building work is complete and you’ve moved in–– this is where the work really commences…….
In our case, once we moved into our beautiful new home in Hazelwood North, we discovered a money pit!!
Planting trees, Paving, Landscaping, building vegie gardens and chicken coops (yes)!!
Followed by 4 outdoor decks, a pergola, installing solar panels, constructing a second shed and finally a 10 metre in ground swimming pool…and more landscaping with that.