The Construction Button Has Been Pushed!

Hello Sportsfans, finally after much anticipation the button has been pressed that has now seen our file finally sent to construction. We received our Construction Certificate mid last week and were advised that our block may be pegged and cut in the next week or so. Our first payment was made to MDJ of over 10K and it was great to finally feel that we are starting to move. On other matters however we appear to be having a few issues with the Developer or their contractors being able to move a heap of spoil that they decided to place on our block when they fitted some sewer infrastructure. The stockpiles of spoil may cause us an issue when it comes time to cut the block and so far I am up to email and phone call number three to get them moved with the all too usual "Yeah no worries we will get it done today" reply.

We also made one change to the laundry fit out to reduce the size of the linen cupboard to allow our washer and dryer to sit side by side. This did incur a penalty of 1k however the inconvenience caused by not doing it would be a regret we would have to live with for a long time.

On the lighting side of things we made our way to Beacon Lighting at Jamisontown and decided on our CFL down lights and ceiling fans. We are in the process of getting a package deal done as our old neighbours who are building close to us also got in on the deal to hopefully get us both some substantial discounts. They have a fantastic setup being a darkroom where there are multiple sets of lights that you can actually compare to see the lights in use. We found it very good to compare the differences between Halogen 240, 12V, CFL and LED lights.

Groundhog Day

So whats happening on the build you ask? Not a great deal apart from a bit of duplicitious work. Since the plans went in, out and were approved by Council, the recycled water plant has been approved by the NSW Department of Planning. As a result the BASIX and the plans need to be amended to reflect the change and it appears that the much hated and gold plated 10K water tank may be now just a distant nightmare. From what I "understand" and of course I may be wrong, both need to go back to Council for approval once again. After speaking with my CLO I have been told we should have the application for a Construction Certificate mid week, time will tell.

We went and visited the block today and saw that the plumbing for the recycled water and sewer has been connected which will hopefully result in the mountain of fill being removed from our block.

What we did notice though and to honest it's no suprise is that our next door neighbour is at lock up after just a little over EIGHT WEEKS! He is an owner builder and is barreling through it doing an awesome job.

On the banking front we have got our Unconditional Approval with only a small amount required in LMI whcih basically meant our valuations came in on par with what we were hoping for. I must say I can't recommend Mortgage Choice's Rhett HARRINGTON enough, he has been a lifesaver who is very dedicated to his customers. I have a VERY high expecitation in terms of Customer Service and he excelled in every aspect of this. I would encourage anyone in Sydney who reads this blog and is in the need of finance to give him a call http://www.mortgagechoice.com.au/macarthur1