The Beginning...

Evidently I have been quite slack at updating this blog, but with land almost registered I figured I probably should get around to starting it, so here goes...

Purchasing the land
Originally I had been looking at building in  the Brook's Reach estate (Horsley/West Dapto), but with the local property market going gang busters the land costs just got ridiculous and out of my reach.

It was actually just by chance that I came across the ad for Calderwood Valley in the local newspaper (which I don't always read) in mid-March 2015 for the first release that was happening at the end of March 2015.  The next week was a frenzy of crunching the numbers, talking to builders, my mortgage broker,etc to make sure I could afford the build.

Fast forward a week and I was lucky to secure a place on the second day of their appointments to purchase a block in Calderwood Valley Stage 1A.  Initially I had wanted a 450sqm block, however, all the decent ones were gone by the time I had my appointment.  Luckily though, I did get to purchase what had been my first pick out of the 375sqm blocks.

Picking a builder
From looking at all the builders in the Brooks Reach and Shell Cove display villages, I had narrowed down my options to Allworth, New Living and McDonald Jones as being the main options within my budget and having designs I liked to suit a 450sqm block.

When I instead ended up with a 375sqm block it really complicated matters, because 12.5m wide lots are a lot harder to find decent designs for than a 13+m wide lot. 

Ultimately I settled on the building Cordova One with McDonald Jones as I was keen on building a steel framed frame with a Colorbond roof and MDJ's display homes seemed to show a better quality standard.

I ended up putting down my deposit with MDJ in early April 2015 to lock in my prices before their upcoming price rise.