So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye....

Its quote ironic that my previous post way back in 2012 was called we are still here as after living in our wonderful Nolan 45 for over 3 years we have decided its time to move on and up. We have loved everything about this house, the layout, the light, huge kitchen, wonderful master suite and on and on I could go. But due to our location it lacks on thing and that is a view. Since building work is complete on the surrounding blocks we feel slightly hemmed in and began talking about moving around 6 months ago. First we tested the waters by going to opens in our local area as we love our suburb and the school of son goes to so didn't want to look at leaving the area.

We decided it would be a good investment to move a rung up the property ladder and buy something more expensive while the housing market is flat.
Now while we had seen some lovely homes none of then held a candle to our beautifully designed and planned for our family Metricon Nolan.

In early November we viewed a large older style home on a very big block and decided it would be something we could renovate and possible sub-divide at a later date. However, there was intense interest and we learn we had been pipped to the post by about $25,000. Money we simply couldn't raise as we were not only at the top of our budget but past it.

Funny how things turn out though, the next day our real estate agent rang to tell us a contract had fallen through on a house she felt would suit us perfectly. Excited we tee'd up a view for later in the week. 

Well we weren't to be disappointed, it's not often I walk into a house and find myself saying 'wow'. But this house wowed me, from the huge expansive living ares, 4 car garage and master suite the size of a small apartment I was impressed. the add to that the piece de resistance - a river view!

And the rest is history - offer made and accepted and our Nolan on the market and sold within a matter of days. People just know a well built and well designed home when they see one.

So its a frenzy of packing and we move in less than 3 weeks.
Are we sad to be going - we'd be lying if we said no but it is time for the next adventure and project and to have room for our family and friends as our son grows.

So as a final farewell here are some photos of our home....

Vanity Solution

The vanity position will be rectified but it will cost us more money as they will have to make a new kicker and alter the carcass. It is to be moved over 500mm so it will be centred give or take 5-10mm either side. Our SS said it would be done yesterday because the tilers are starting to prepare the floors today but as I'm away I can't go on site and check it out until Monday so here's hoping its done properly and that they don't make a botch job of it. We have no idea how much it will cost at this stage however we did get a bonus of a $255 refund for the pot drawers that couldn't fit below our different specification ovens. Fingers crossed that will cover the vanity moving costs.

Please Move 500mm to The Left

Well done to our SS for sorting it out the vanity as at first he said there wasn't much scope to move it by more than 300mm but I persisted that there had to be a way to rectify the problem. I explained that I didn't want to spend all that time, effort and cash in planning a home the way we wanted to have to compromise on something that would royally pee me off every time I went in my ensuite. He was pretty understanding and didn't mess about coming up with a solution that suits us and the build. He'll have to draw up some paperwork now for both the refund and the additional charge on the vanity - there better not be any admin fees.

So floor prep for the tiles starts today and the holes were being cut for the electrical sockets and lights (hope they move the one in the ensuite over to be in the middle of the vanity!!!). I will be having a very good look around when we get back.

Our Build with Metricon Brisbane

Nolan 45

The Nolan 45 by Metricon

History

Early 2010 we decided our home of nine years no longer worked for our family as our son now aged four wants to play outside more. This means packing everything up, going downstairs and out into our small yard or pool area. We wanted a house where the living areas flowed out into the garden, with a pool and a lovely outdoor entertaining space, somewhere we can play and relax as a family.
Several months of house hunting (it was now August) and one business premises renovation/relocation later we finally admitted the perfect home did not exist! Tired of looking the idea of buying a block of land and building our own home seemed the only way to go, however, land around our suburb didn't come available that often and if it did would be way too expensive. Moving away was not an option as our business is in the area and Rachel refuses to commute more than 10 mins. (It's a hang up from growing up and working in England where rush hour traffic is awful.)



That's the patch of dirt for sale

Amazingly that weekend a land release with 36 lots was being advertised in the suburb next to ours and would be selling at auction in November. The time to take the plunge and find out what building a house would cost, how long it would take and what is involved had come.
After researching and lots of number crunching it didn't seem that difficult. Really how hard could it be?.......I guess we are just about to find out.


August 2010
Visited display village at Springfield Lakes - really like the Metricon homes there and the guy at the desk was really helpful even though he was busy he made time to chat to us. Like the brochures too - wow those houses look perfect.
Next day visited display village at North Lakes - the Metricon homes still did it for us. Sadly the lady there could hardly give us the time of day and could well have put us off.

Spent the next week pouring over house designs to find "The One"

Sept 2010
11th Sept - Back to see Greg at Springfield. He really is mister helpful going through plans and prices, house designs etc and even offering to help us decide which block of land would work best before we went to auction, simply email the lot plan and he'd email back how the house fits and where the sun comes from etc. He even suggested to going to the Metricon display at Underwood as they had just finished a double story house similar to the ones on our shortlist.
12th Sept - Underwood display. Mmmmm very nice I wonder how much it costs to have one with all those fancy finishes? Definitely worth the trip over, took heaps of photos and picked up ideas for layout and finishes.

Oct 2010
Emailed potential blocks of land to Greg. Narrowed it down to about 4 and have 3 favourite house designs. Thanks to Greg we knew which lots would work for us and had a lot more confidence to attend and bid at our first ever auction.

Nov 2010

Auction Day!!! It's a hot sunny day and loads of people have turned out for the auction Sandy and I are nervous but have our strategy all worked out. The key is to not get too excited and remember that is real money your are writing down on those little pieces of paper. The bidding on the lots was to happen simultaneously and the auction got off to a fast and furious start. We put the first bid on our block and were swiftly countered by a very determined couple. We held our nerve and pushed our competition on to another lot by coming back strong more than once. The auction continues until there are no more bids it seemed to last forever but was great fun. Finally the hammer fell and then began the nervous wait to see if we had met reserve. Yippee the land was our and for less than we had expected to pay. AWESOME - now we can build our dream home. If only we could decide which one to go with!!!

13th Nov Meeting at Metricon Springfield. Paid our deposit to get building process moving and also to beat the cut off date for the free upgrade to the NeoDusk Promotion which gets us $90K of upgrades including extra high ceilings downstairs, pivot front door, bi-folds, caeser stonework tops, stove top, cooker, microwave, smart sinks and taps and even tiles and carpets so long as we stick to the standard range. Have a feeling we may upgrade though as we have expensive taste.