The story so far .. we have signed a contract and paid a 5% deposit for a block of land in Renaissance Rise in Mernda. The block is 470 sqm with a front 14.31 wide. Settlement is expected "late October", and that area of the development has not yet been built.
The house we have chosen to build is the Metricon Riva 33. The siting gives us a good 10m of backyard which is nice!
We made our colour, electrical and tile selections
in August 2009 and are still finalizing these. Among other things we have gone for a kitchen window, similar to what is in both of the Riva display homes. We also changed the rear door from a 2 panel sliding door to an aluminium bi-part door, which gives more space while open, but doesn't cost as much as bi-fold doors.
In the kitchen we have widened the pantry to use the void space next to the external wall, and widened the fridge space.
And we added an internal door to the garage, an odd ommission from the house plans, especially as both display homes include this door! I guess they want to keep the headline price down.
The promotion we took was called His Hers Ours, and includes the following for a total of $4,000:
- Caesarstone benchtop in kitchen, 20mm cat 2 (we chose Glacier)
- Glass splashback in ktichen, cat 1 (actually this is only 200mm high. What a joke)
- Over fridge cupboard
- Cat 3 cabinet handles to kitchen
- Remote control to garage
- 4 zone security system
- Colour video intercom to entry
- Locks to all openable windows
- Flyscreens to all openable windows
- Ovelle Spa bath (this had to go in the main bathroom, our ensuite is too small)
- Caesarstone benchtop to ensuite, 20mm cat 2 (Night Sky)
- WIR fitout to master bedroom - hanging rails, shelving, drawers, shoe shelves.
- WIR fitout to other bedrooms - hanging rails, shelving, drawers.
- 2100mm tiling to ensuite
- Caroma Liano semi-recessed sinks (promotion gives choice of countertop, semi-recessed or fully recessed)
- Cabinet to ensuite (with 2 mirrors one on either side)
Our situation now is waiting on our Metricon contact to answer a few questions.. then we will be sending all the variations off to the bank (ANZ) for approval, then paying the deposit to Metricon. Even though land is expected (hah!) to be ready at the end of October, our CSC told us that in all likelihood, construction will start next year, as they are focusing on finishing off existing homes before christmas.
