The Ball is Rolling

Last week, there's been a number of people coming and going...

1. Site inspection - tick
2. Bore hole soil test - tick
3. Contour survey of land - tick
4. Tender presentation scheduled for early July

So far so good with one exception...

The guy who did the bore hole soil test was a little disrespectful to say the least. He destroyed our hedges along side our driveway. Looks like he just bull-dozed over it despite the fact we left our driveway clean and clear. What's most disappointing is that he didn't even have the courtesy to call and let us know  what had happened! See photos...

It wasn't so much about the hedges but just the total lack of respect he had for the property. There was rubbish left behind on site in addition to the destruction of the hedges! Now, there are no guarantees that this "New Home" plan would proceed as the development plans have not been submitted to council for approval. Moreover, this is our primary residence and so the least we expected was a little courtesy!

Over the weekend, we wrote an email providing some feedback to our sales consultant. We were pleasantly surprised by his speedy response confirming that it would be further investigated and the feedback would be dealt with appropriately.

And so it looks like step one is complete! And we now wait to discuss the new tender with the presenters in a couple of weeks.

Step 1 - Inspecting our site

http://www.clarendon.com.au/about/process 

This is the beginning of an exciting journey... we're going to build our very own home.

It's been a long time in the making! Much thought, planning, viewings and discussion. Months of "should we?" and many other options considered, the sums have been weighed against the emotions and we have finally decided to take the big leap. This is, despite the stories we've heard of the dramas, challenges and roller coaster rides we are sure to encounter along our way.

Last Wednesday, 2nd June 2010, we drove out to Oran Park and met with our sales consultant who walked us through the process, talked through what the package included, added all the variations and upgrades we wanted, to give us an indication of the realistic cost - which may surprise most! "Ouch!" boy does it add up at warp speed.

Despite this, we pushed on.

And so, we signed several documents to confirm our understanding of the process, what the package offered and most importantly, the house we wanted to build.

Following this, we pay the site inspection fees and the we let the ride begin.

Today, we confirm all the variations in writing and to our pleasant surprise, it was all go. The phone calls from respective inspectors and surveyors started streaming in, appointments are scheduled and we let the process take its course.