Back to the drawing board

So we've decided to build, and we of course have a block of land. We'd picked the house we wanted to build - the Cottesloe, by Porter Davis and the wheels were in motion.

I guess the first warning sign should've been when our Porter Davis sales guy, forgot to turn up to his own office, for our very first variations meeting, then when I called in a week later, clearly didn't know who I was.

That's what you get right? They're big, they process home builders like cattle through their process - that's why people on our budget can afford it.

Well it turns out, that the house Porter Davis have on display in the Quay Estate, Torquay, cannot be built on our block. Not sure which block in that estate you could build it on, as ours was one of the largest available.

Despite what the Australand guidelines in relation to the Quay Estate acutally say, you cannot have a 3 or even 4.5 metre setback, (distance from front of block to front of house) even when facing a reserve or on a corner block. (We are both!) Nope, hidden in the contract is an overriding clause that says, all setbacks, 6 metres. (Thanks Australand).

This pushes the 24 metre long, Cottesloe 29, so far back on the block we can't even make room for a garden shed behind it. (We were told we have just a 3 metre setback during sales meetings, but of course, we can only blame ourselves, it's undoubtedly written somewhere in the 200 odd page, land contract which we signed.)

So we almost found a way to lay the house out on our block, when we noticed that our initial Sales Quoation, a mere $40K over the the advertised Cottesloe price, didn't contain prices for the slim lines water thanks, also required by the regulations for the Quay Estate, Torquay! Naturally I questioned this. Turns out, "he forgot to include them" - add another 5 or 6 grand to the price.

But it gets better - there is also no room at the back of the house for these tanks. Lose 0.7m from the back of the house - undoubtedly at extra cost!

But wait, that's not all - the same email that explained the problem with the water tanks that were missing from the Sales Quote, but are required in the Quay Estate, told us that despite several conversations regarding our tiled roof, and just how many houses in the estate have one, it turns out that Porter Davis houses will need to have a colour-bond roof, (add another $6K) because they only build at a 18 degree pitch, and you can only tile at 20 degrees (it may be the other way around I was a bit over it by this stage). So when I asked why we can't just change the pitch, the answer was, "No Porter Davis don't do that!"

Ah well - that house will not go on our block, so it's back to the drawing board, this week with a builder in the Hotondo Franchise. We deal with the Hotondo franchise regularly at work (Constructor) and I know the Torquay Hotondo builder, who is a Constructor user and I've dealt with the guy before. He's a straight up bloke, and they have some really nice plans. Their sales person also really knows her stuff. I also really like the idea of dealing with a builder, not a Volume Building company managing sub-contractors from behind a desk. Not to mention he's a local guy who will know the estate better than this large Melbourne based company.

So, as nice a house as the Porter Davis Cottesloe 29 is, we aren't going to see a lot of them in the Quay Estate in Torquay. Be careful what you commit to (pay for) before finding out all the facts.

We haven't even got to the point about how close to the boundary fence they had our laundry door yet...

In years to come, they won't remember who had a smart comment during the match, they'll remember who was always a tough competitor, every time."

Kieren's Under 10 footy coach. 2009. (Brett "Cunza" Cunningham).

We are Geelong, the Greatest Team of All

At the end of what could just be the greatest day of all, I'm sitting here sipping a Baileys and trying to find a way to savor the feeling of watching (for the third time today) the Grand Final replay.

Geelong have just beaten St Kilda for the 2009 premiership. Geelong are premiers for the second time in three years. It is still surreal. I hate that word, but that best describes what I feel. The game was so close all the way. Like Geelong last year, St Kilda probably deserved to be premiers this year, as they did so well all year. But it's all about being there at the end, being ready, and being in a position to win the flag. And Geelong were. Their players are so tough and so professional, but there's so much more than that now-a-days. The professionalism you need extends beyond the players, to the coach staff (Collingwood sacked a midfield coach before the finals and fell away immediately) and fitness staff (Geelong were trained to the minute!) and so much more. Geelong defined this a couple of years ago, and now, no one can take away from us, two premierships in three years. At times, I never thought I'd see one at all. In 2007, I saw a record breaking win. I knew we were a great side, but something inside me said "Well at least I've seen my side win a Premiership". Well today, I saw us become a champion side for the ages!

From now on Geelong have to be rated with the Brisbane, North Melbourne and Hawthorn sides of the past 20 years. I was a member during this time, and I'm bloody proud to be a Geelong-ite in '09.

I'm imploring the boys to remember this. If it takes another 44 years, it will be 2053 until they win another. Kieren would be in his 50's and I'll be a sprightly 83. Who knows? At least, I've seen a couple now, and I'll be off to Kardinia Park tomorrow for another Geelong premiership family day with Rachel and the boys.

It doesn't get any better than this!

"It was as excited as I've ever been in my life. Doin' it with people you love workin' with. Mmm!"

Mark Thomson. Post-Grand Final 2009.

"You don't catch up with blokes that won other "Norm Smith's" you catch up with blokes that you won Premierships with."

Paul Chapman *Norm Smith Medalist and dual premiership play. September 26th 2009

We've been "toing and froing" lately regarding the "buy vs build" question. I think we've been secretly hoping for the perfect house to land in our laps, and given our budget it would probably have to be about $20K or $30K under priced. In fact we did find one almost perfect house, and

as expected, our offer was about $20K too low.

So last Sunday, after trolling through the display village a the Quay

estate in Torquay and pouring over the land releases therein, we took the plunge and put down a holding fee on one of the blocks there. The rest of the deposit will be paid later in the week and come the end of November, we ought to be land owners...then the fun begins as we start the building process. This probably won't happen until next March.

We also have our eye on one of the display homes in the estate which we would like to build

so now, discussions begin with Porter Davis, as we try to get our heads around "extras", "as displayed" and any other traps for new players that threaten to turn the whole exercise to custard.

Here's a couple of pics, for prosterity...

Kieren and Toby "playing in the park" opposite our place - across Anchor Lane

Our block: corner of Anchor Lane and Offshore Drive

Toby and Kieren in front of the new block.

Unconditional

Just for the record - the sale went unconditional today!

The couple and "her" mother came for a quick look through this afternoon. Sounds like they are really excited about moving in which is great! A young couple, ready to start a family, and they're really excited about moving into "our" (well "their") house. Cool.