Well it has been one week since we signed out preliminary contract and things have been well and truly moving. And when I say moving, that is exactly the reason why it has taken a whole week to write this post.
We have signed a lease to rent a townhouse for 12 months and are moving out of our home next Tuesday. Packing up the house in short burst whilst the kids are sleeping is proving to be a long and arduous process although we are getting there in the end.
We attended our preliminary contract meeting last Tuesday with Linda at Metricon HQ. The meeting went well although it we got off to a bad start. You never want to hear “so… do you want the good news or the bad news first?”. In our case it was mostly bad news. Initial soil and site tests on our block have revealed that the extra 1.1m we were hoping to add to our garage at a cost of around $3,000 is now going to cost in excess of $15,000 because we will need to prop up the neighbour’s garage footings on one side… Needless to say that threw a spanner in the works and we are contemplating what to do. At this point in time we have decided to go leave the extended garage in the plans and get a more in depth footings probe done under the neighbour’s garage to see what the exact figures will be. Watch this space.
Apart from this item and a few others blowing out our site cost budget by an additional $20k the meeting was reasonably effective. We saved a bit of money here and there (only to spend it again at Studio M and probably electrics too). The only other bone of contention in our plans that we can see (well I am particularly p*#*ed off about) is the need to put obscure glass in one upstairs bedroom and on the landing to protect the neighbours privacy. I am all for respecting the new neighbours right to get around their own house starkers, but this obscure glass also means that the windows have to be awning (rather than sliding) and can only open 125mm. I have a thing with awning windows… I really hate how they don’t allow air flow, now I have them all through my new house and there isn’t anything I can do about it!!!!!
After a few variations and a nice cuppa tea so we could discuss aforementioned garage disaster (as it shall now be known), we signed the prelim contact, handed over the dosh and away we went.
Today we went to Studio M to complete colour selections but as I am now a stay at home Mum again, my brain is too tired from thinking about ADULT stuff all day and I cant be bothered writing the blog entry about that. I want to do it justice as we all know it is the most exciting part of the process before any dirt gets moved… So perhaps tomorrow if I get some time away from packing I’ll get that entry done…
Au revoir!
Kirsten
Hi Kirsten
ReplyDeleteThe obscure glass requirement and awning style windows to second floor rooms seems pretty much a standard requirement now days. Interestingly, it only applies to habitable rooms; ie bedrooms, living areas, etc. Bathrooms are not considered habitable rooms so the glass in the upstairs bathrooms and ensuites is clear. Yes, you could be in the bath or shower and enjoy the view! In addition, the very large window to our stairs is clear glass because this is not a habitable room. So we could set up chairs and watch the neighbours from this vantage point if we chose to!
Ah yes, those little discoveries you encounter at prelim that cost you money - the only extra site works cost we had was piering, incase we wanted a pool in the future. Our sales person allowed approx $16,000 for site costs and it ended up just a little over that with the piering and additional cut, so not too bad.
PS; we're in south east Melbourne.
Good luck, and I'll be following the progress!
Paul