The journey of finding the right suburb to settle in Perth started in early July 2012. Basically I chose where all the good Asian food are which is south of the river. After months of searching for the right location, I've decided to build my nest in Cannington, Western Australia. All these years of endless moving from one rented property to another, from one state to another, I can finally call Perth my second home. I've bought this relatively small subdivided piece of survey-strata land that is approximately 348sqm in size (11.5m wide and 30.264 long). Hoping for a small but cosy first home.
The negotiation process of purchasing the land from the previous land owner wasn't a particularly good experience. He is described as a typical Australian rich bloke in his 50s with a rough edge living in Applecross. It must be my young female Asian complexion that gave him the impression that I could be bullied. He was just loud and constantly talking down on me when I asked for a better price. Maybe if there was a male partner around to be my shield, he would have treated me otherwise.
When I thought shopping around for builders would be a nicer experience, I was so wrong. I was tempted with all the promotions and freebies given by various builders in the display villages. It was shocking that once I've started comparing apples to apples on the Excel spreadsheet, alot of them were actually quite overpriced! The transparency in the house specifications for many builders were poor and I had to break it down to see the obvious. Among the lot, Celebration Homes was the winner. The building price was reasonable and the basic specifications were clearly outlined. Besides that, the service provided by the Building Consultant was superb. Roger was not only friendly and patient but very attentive to the minor details of my preferred house plan. There were various times he knew what I wanted even before I opened my mouth. However,there was a little hiccup with the construction site cost along the way but that it was an inevitable one. For those who are interested to buy a land in Perth or other areas of Australia, make sure you obtain an Engineer report that classifies the reactivity of the soil and footing of the land prior to making any purchases. To have clay in your land is bad and to have C6 /C7 as a footing will incur really high site cost. Be mindful that with a land like mine, you have to set aside at least AUD20k to 30k on top of the starting building price. A good land with little soil reactivity should only cost you AUD7-10k for site cost.
After looking at different houseplans from different builders, in order to minimize the modification costs, I have narrowed down to the
Como design. As a bonus, it came with a special promotion by Celebration Homes where I can upgrade to higher ceilings in the living area from standard 28c to 31c and have caeserstone kitchen benchtops at a minimal cost. I made
some modifications to the house plan by enclosing the lounge with walls and doors; and adding an extra storeroom. I have chosen the Easton Elevation as shown below for the exterior but unfortunately it does not come with the magnificent landscaping. A different colour for the roof,door,window frame and rendered walls will be chosen.
Como Layout
Easton Elevation - the exterior of the house. Landscaping not included though
This is by far one of the most exciting times in my life. I hope in the next few months, the journey of building my first home with Celebration Homes will be a fruitful one!Stay tune for more updates =)
