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Everything posted by Chardy
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Tips & tricks for building your dream home
Chardy replied to sipidan's topic in Suburbs, Renting & Real Estate
Great ideas Port but as soon as you say Eco or sustainable up go the $s ! don't get the whole outdoor shower thing......why ?? -
I think you've found why Homebuyers seem cheaper, they must catch a lot of people on some of those points whereas the more pricey ones like ours include those things or at least don't inflate the costs.
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Tips & tricks for building your dream home
Chardy replied to sipidan's topic in Suburbs, Renting & Real Estate
Hi, we are building in Baldivis right now. The land & house pacakages are great but tend to be less choice of lot and house design so if you can find the lot separately then choose your builder you'll have greater flexibility. As for features I'll append your list : Better quality lawn next time? Artificial or maybe more hard landscaping to reduce maintenance ? Fully tiled in all wet areas? Most are unless you mean full height tiling which we are having in our ensuite Spa instead of pool? Give me a pool please (especially with kids), wouldn't mind a spa on the side though Granite kitchen top? I think stone benchtops are becoming the norm, ours is included. Bigger cooker & oven? Again most are 900mm now but recommend if not. Walk in wardrobe in 2nd bedroom? Depends on your family needs but we find the built in ones fine for kids. Concrete drive? Certainly to reduce weeding although paving can be sealed to help I believe I'd deffinately want low maintainents! Good luck with that, easier said than done (especially within a budget) More lights in kitchen? Absolutely, we are having 3 downlights plus 3 pendants over the island minimum More sockets in cinema room? Again a must everywhere (at least 2 x doubles) but get the builders to put theirs on the internal walls and get a sparky in afterwards to put more in on external walls, it'll be way cheaper ! His & hers sinks? In the ensuite, most builders do it as standard. How about hobless showers (or wetrooms) to save stepping into the shower ? Glass splashback in the kitchen but not the laundry unless you like spending $$$s ? Spa bath in the ensuite (we are supplying our own) but not an 80s style corner one, yuk ! ? Outside gas point for a built in BBQ and outside power points too ? Solar hot water and electric panels to save on the bills ? Data points (smart wiring) ? (Doing mine myself after handover as am a registered cabler) Tap for the fridge water supply ? Can't think of any others right now ! -
I have heard they are all pretty similar, Baldivis (North Baldivis) is a more country feel. Makybe and Settlers are newer. Our kids start at Makybe next year (whether the house is finished or not). Bear in mind each school has a pretty strict catchment too so that may decide it for you. Not heard much opinion about the private schools so can't comment. By the way the Post office opened last month ! As for builders, Ross North are one of the best but more expensive. Their display home is great but to get that replicated over the base build price is mega $$$ !! Not heard of Complete Homes ??? We are building with Ventura in Highbury Park and all looking very good so far.
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Hampshire too but a little bit of the Pompey Mockney ! Deffo sounding Aussie when using phrases like "how you goin" or "too easy" or "at all" (which took a while to say right)
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Same as Penguins used to be before they sneakily reduced the size of them !
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I agree that league tables are only part of it but to be honest I have found they relate pretty closely to the socio economics of the area with a few exceptions of course. Not sure where to find that info though? Work out what you can afford housing wise and try to narrow down your search to maybe a couple of suburbs on each of the areas. If you have the cash to buy outright you can do do as soon as you like but for a mortgage you will need to wait at least 6 months. I strongly recommend renting first as buying in the wrong area for you could be a disaster!
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Nope not if you're PR. We arrived on a PR visa but forgot to claim for 8 months so they back paid it in a lump sum from the beginning of our tenancy.
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We get $164 a fortnight rent assistance based on total income of $86k. Once you are PR you will be eligible depending on your income.
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Mmmm drinking tea through a Timtam, yum !!!!
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Nice one VS and good luck Jackboots ;-)
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Not ideal but ditto the above !
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7th November 2013 marked our first year.......really flown by ;-)) Went for a slap up meal at Rustico in Rockingham, yum !!
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Have a look at Baldivis too, close to Rockingham but schools look to be better and still only a 10 min drive to the beach and 25 ish to Freo.
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Our youngest girl is 4 in June so will be in Pre primary with Finn. Our boy is 8 and our eldest girl is 10. You'll be just over the road from us in Highbury Park (once the house is complete in Feb) hopefully!) Spooky that your rental starts the same day as ours did last year, we are moving to Secret Harbour until the house is ready, our summer residence, haha ! Oh and they wear trainers for school ;-) I'll drop you a PM with my mobile number, perhaps Rob would like to meet for a beer at the Chase before Xmas ? Justin
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The catchment areas are very strict so you may not get the choice !
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Ours start in Feb 2014 and have just spent over $500 on uniform for the three of them and that's reusing the 2 girls skirts from Meadow springs as they are the same. No other shops you can buy from. They do PE in the uniform too. What ages are yours and where are you renting?
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The whole build process takes about 12 months from singing for the land to moving in, 6 to 7months actual build time. If you go for a land/build package you will reduce your choice of lots to choose from so best to find the land separate IMHO. You will normally pay a couple of thousand deposit of the land and the same when you sign up with the builder. I can really recommend the sales guy at the display for our builder in Baldivis, PM me if you want more info. You start paying your mortgage as soon as you settle on the land then it grows through the build as each stage completes.
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Personally I'm not paying for my kids to have a religion forced on them, I want them to decide that for themselves when they are ready. Not all private schools are top either, I think you have to look around each one until it feels right !
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Love a chicken parmi....... but it has to be done right !
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2.28, oh you poor thing !! ;-))
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Wow, 1.71 pounds to $ ! Would have brought me $12k more than a year ago :-((
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Your UK credit agreements have nothing to do with your visa or future Aussie credit. There is no link between countries for consumer credit but for civil debt like HMRC and council tax it's a different matter.
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I hear you on the whole church thing and want our kids to decide for themselves what/who to believe in, not have it forced on them. We are building in Baldivis now so our kids will be starting at Makybe in Feb after a happy first year at Meadow Springs, we have heard good things and looking round it looks to be at least as good as MS. The new high school seems to have a great start too with some top staff at the helm and the social inclusion and sports programs look excellent. Secret Harbour schools are good but have a strict catchment area so bear that in mind. Also Baldivis is growing all the time so catchment areas may change when new schools are built (2 more primaries still planned) so try to be as close as you can to the existing ones.
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Nope, on Secret Harbour beach for nippers yesterday and really bad but when at a friends house a bit later 600m inland nothing - wind blowing out to sea though !