Bank Documents Submitted

Went to the bank today to submit the documents for them to give unconditional approval. I would expect them to give us an answer next week. Second last day before our bank manager retires so it was good to see him as we have dealt with him for seven years now. Just owe him the council approved plans and builders insurance certificate. He also confirmed that the balance of the deposit can be the first draw down on the loan - happy with that.

Hopefully the valuation comes back more than what we had estimated otherwise we may need to rethink things.....

Prestart Changes

Major changes
1. Increase the size of the garage door
2. Added front paving including crossover
3. Added fuse box to garage
4. Added doors to WIRs
5. Added front brick fence (including letterbox)
6. Added three phase power

Minor Changes
1. Front door/door lock
2. Added lights and powerpoints
3. Added floor heating to ensuite toilet
4. Changed one double door of linen to broom cupboard
5. Added drawer under oven
6. Confirmed that drawers in kitchen to be 600mm wide
7. Changed the pantry door to swing outwards
8. Added cupboards and bulkhead above fridge
9. Added bulkhead above microve/appliance stack
10. Confirmed additional 900mm pull out drawer set in kitchen
11. Added flumed vent fan in laundry
12. Added window to opening from family to home theatre

Options requested
1. Laminex freestyle for bathroom and ensuite benchtops
2. Essa stone for the kitchen benchtop
3. Internal wall painting
4. Colorbond gutter/fascia/downpipes

Pre-start followup

Just realised this morning that we forgot the powerpoint in the appliance recess under the microwave. We will need this to plug the jug and the toaster in otherwise we would need to move the appliances to the breakfast bar everytime we need to use them.

We need to confirm the location of the light in the meals area (over the dining table) so hopefully we can add this in without any issues.

Pre-start

Woohooo prestart done and dusted today. It only took 2.5 hours and 1.5 hours was spent on the electrical and lighting plan! Bec was expecting the worst however we came out relatively unscathed however the wallet may be feeling it in two weeks time when we get the new price sheet.
The Contracts Administrator at Ultimate was very friendly and knowledgable (she has 5 kids!). She seemed to indicate that she knew what a Clipsal Powertainment unit was. After pointing out that two of the elevations were not to scale, she picked up that I was an engineer. One of the main changes that I had not picked up was that the electric meter box was a standard one - I just assumed that it was the one with the fuse box in the garage. Good thing as Bec would not want to go to the dark side of the house to reset a fuse.
We had some trouble with the downlights as Ultimate do not have 240V downlights (GU10 base) in their offering so we had to go with halogen downlights over the kitchen bench, ensuite and bathroom room vanities. We will also be buying oyster lights for the family, kitchen, meals and outside lights for them to install.

Formal Plans and Signed Contract

After 6 weeks of waiting (32 working days per Bec) here are the formal plans. All nicely drawn up.
It was great that the consultant brought the plans over on Tuesday night and went through them with us. He also had a wad of documents which we were surprised at because these were the contract documents! So plans and contract all on the one night.

So we are now well and truly on our way to building our new home.

Demolition Signed

Wow so much can happen after long periods of waiting. On Monday, we signed up with a demolition company. It is a friend of a family member and it will save us valuable money! However the City of Stirling has now changed their procedure for demolition licenses - you don't apply 4 weeks before then submit the final documents (rat baiting, etc etc) to get the license. You just submit once everything is done and they gurarantee you the license 14 days after submission. So....moving out is now the critical path to getting the house demolished. So on with packing...

Demolition Quotes

We now have 4 quotes for the demolition of the house. This has only taken 5 weeks! What recession! Got 2 quotes from the yellow pages, 1 quote from a recommendation by the sales consultant (who said that another client in Ballajura was also having trouble getting demolition quotes). And the final quote from a friend of the brother in law's floorball mate.

So we will sign the demolition agreement on Monday. Another milestone on the way to our new house.