Bought a section

[Dawn]

Another adventure for Glenda the Great!!!

Enjoy yourself and keep us posted - I'm really interested in this one :)

[MotherBear]

Enjoy yourself and keep us posted - I'm really interested in this one :)

I think a lot of us will be, Dawn. ?It's a great adventure and the dream of many. ?But wait till you see the section. ?I hope Glenda won't mind me posting her
blog as it already appears in another thread on the forum. ?It's one way we can drool over it while we wait for a proper photo upload site.

[Glenda]

Gee ... it is not that brilliant a section of land as New Zealand goes. :-[ I mean, there are no fantastic mountain or coastal views. Still, it is in a nice area, reasonably flat, fenced in and small enough for me to afford the landscaping!
:)

[MotherBear]

Wow, it's taking me absolutely ages to get into the forum pages this morning. People looking in would think I was very busy on here, but I'm actually peeling potatoes, sweeping up the sand dust or doing the washing up while I wait for each page to come up. :D

Anyway, Glenda, I think the section looks wonderful. Lots of sun, quite flat so you can do what you want with it and you have room to breathe. I've seen a lot worse. I'm sure you're going to have a ball watching your new house going up. [smiley=Yes.gif]

[selchie]

Maybe you could get a couple of sheep to trim the lawn for you, Glenda. The property looks nice.

We use our wood burner more than central heat at our house. The furnace is useful for taking the chill off the back rooms, but not really necessary. Sometimes a well-placed fan circulates the heat from the wood burner quite nicely.

[Glenda]

I?ll post again soon with details of all those ?lovely? extras ? expected to be around $30-35,000!

Well, I've got those 'lovely' extras and it amounts to $49,400. ? :o

That figure includes:- cutting driveway to house, cut out house with 3-4 metres clearance around house, laying metal driveway and turning area, digging water tank holes, stockpiling excess soil around site and creating raised gardens, tidy garden area, dig power trench and backfill, install water drainage around house and to tanks, supply and install 2x concrete water tanks, supply and install water pump, water tank overflow to road, supply and install septic tank, supply and lay power cable to house, installation of fire, supply and install heat pump with heat transfer to three bedrooms, concrete patio and paths to 82sq.m, GPS surveying and site positioning, connection of power to plinth, supplying and laying of telecom.

The heat pump and transfer kit amounted to $4,500 which I thought was not too bad. ? On top of that I will purchase a small woodburning stove (around $1,700 with all fittings and hearth). ?I did specifically ask for the soil to be cleared around the house, having seen myself the problems of a bank of earth close to a house. ?

Guess, I can't really complain. ?Apart from taking out from the equation the heating, the patio and paths, the clearance around the house and the levelling of the site I don't think there is much room for negotiation. ?At the end of the day I will still have a house which is way cheaper than similar houses on the market for sale. ?
:)

[Dawn]

You were copying that off an invoice or schedule of work weren't you :o Hell of a lot to remember otherwise. You sound so much like you know what you're doing! Impressive 8-)

[Glenda]

Well, this is the section I've bought. ? :) ? As I said, no mountain or coastal scenery but it is in a pleasant area withing walking distance of the centre of town. ?We could have gone for that 'view', with a couple of hectares even, but that would be some kilometres from town, and that is not what we need.

And the current update? ?Will building soon start? ?No. ? >:( ?I have finally got the drawings completed, the specification finalised, and the contract to look over and sign ... then it will go to the Council for a couple of months. ?

I did so wonder about the building company's rep's optimism about getting the groundworks done before Christmas. ?Had heard from others that it could take longer than the 6/7 months from start to finish ... maybe for the actual construction of the house but getting the plans and contract ready has taken them far too long. ?It is a good thing we are not on a fixed term rental! ? ? ?

Anyway, the plans show what the house will look like, it's floorplan, where the house is to be built, the drive, areas to be concreted, water tanks etc. and where utilities will spur from. ?The specification sets out practically everything to supplied and be done - down to the last electrical socket, wall tile and carpet bead. ?The Contract sets out the stage payments and all terms and conditions. ?Nothing has been left out. ? ?

I still think I am being treated fairly well. ?They got the 'extras' down by approximately $700 - better than nothing. ?Just hope they are not too busy to get started on the construction when consent has been given. ?:-/ ?

[MotherBear]

I still think it's a lovely section and, being so close to town, think how much petrol you'll save if everyone can just walk in.

Bummer about the delay with the plans, but one 'good' thing is that, if you're quick, you can get them in and, hopefully passed, before the Christmas period when everything will shut down and you wouldn't make any progress at all.

[Maggiemoo]

Wow Glenda that looks like a gorgeous bit of land - did I read that its 3000m2? ?The kids will love it - so much space. ?We have bought a section here in Tauranga, but all we could afford was 950m2!! ?That's still about 50% bigger than most of the other sections on the sub-division though!! ?Its really exciting now cos the concrete slab has gone down for our house - the building company we are using are guaranteeing that the house will be completed in the week ending 22/12 (!!!!) but realistically we probably won't be able to move in til beginning of February as we have to wait for code of compliance certificate (bank requirement - boo hiss!) and the Council shuts down from Xmas to end of January!!

Can't wait to hear your progress reports as the house takes shape.

Best wishes

Maggie and the Moos xx