TomCat's new digs!

[VPS]

Discovered we paid the full whack of stamp duty because the conveyancer didnt arrange the first home buyer concession paperwork. Now to unravel the mess and get a refund.

None of the button options are appropriate to respond to this so I'll just damned conveyancer

 

[JessicaTam]

The incompetence astounds me.

 

[Deleted member]

The incompetence astounds me.

I’m less astounded by incompetence the older I get. That said, I am no less annoyed by it. (Lol)

 

[TomVexille]

Would it be reasonable to bill them for the interest we pay in the meantime?

 

[JessicaTam]

Would it be reasonable to bill them for the interest we pay in the meantime?

Unless accepted at first go, probably not worth the effort.

 

[blackcat20]

Turns out to be a bit of a weird one. Because we signed our land contract before July 1, the old rules apply to us. Which means we have to wait until our FHOG is approved before we can apply for the stamp duty concession ie refund. And that wont be till the slab goes down. In the meantime we're paying interest on the higher amount. Would be nice if people explained these things from the start to avoid panic and confusion.

 

[Denali]

Im following a few people on instagram who are building new, there are a lot of things people get hit by that they didnt foresee - all part of the learning process I guess. Sucks, which is why Im online stalking them to hope to learn a bit before we commit ourselves to the rebuild.

We sold a place in May and there was a lot of googling on how some things were done as Ive never been involved in a sell before.

 

[blackcat20]

Still waiting for developer approval, meanwhile people who settled a week before us are due to start on site next week . Seems our builder provided an incomplete colour schedule to the panel and they want to know what colours will be on the facade. Our rep plans to follow it up "next week" which isnt really quick enough to be honest, especially given I emailed her back the colours....

Based on this they seem to be expecting approval next week...hopefully council gets permits out quickly as they have to be on site within three weeks of that being issue.

 

[Pushka]

Still waiting for developer approval, meanwhile people who settled a week before us are due to start on site next week . Seems our builder provided an incomplete colour schedule to the panel and they want to know what colours will be on the facade. Our rep plans to follow it up "next week" which isnt really quick enough to be honest, especially given I emailed her back the colours....

Based on this they seem to be expecting approval next week...hopefully council gets permits out quickly as they have to be on site within three weeks of that being issue.

View attachment 118175

I cant understand why there is that date requirement for the builder to start when that process is completely out of your control and you are moving as fast as the government rusty process allow you to.

 

[cove]

When we were building we just kept saving during all the delays. Ended up borrowing less.

 

[blackcat20]

I cant understand why there is that date requirement for the builder to start when that process is completely out of your control and you are moving as fast as the government rusty process allow you to.

What I meant was, the builder is contracted to start within three weeks of all permits being issued. So the quicker we get permits, the sooner they have to start building. They could have helped the developer approval by providing all the correct information to start with.

 

[blackcat20]

When we were building we just kept saving during all the delays. Ended up borrowing less.

Which is all good and well but we actually just want somewhere to live. We're on borrowed time where we are living right now. Besides, it gets expensive servicing the mortgage for the build while also paying to live somewhere else.

 

[Pushka]

When we were building we just kept saving during all the delays. Ended up borrowing less.

You totally have to be an accountant.

Extra delays equals more time having to rent though.

 

[TomVexille]

When we were building we just kept saving during all the delays. Ended up borrowing less.

Delays only cost us now as we're paying the mortgage.

 

[blackcat20]

Finally some good news; I prodded the design review board myself and have been told they expect to review our "revised plans" today or tomorrow. Hopefully we have approval by the end of the week.

 

[QF WP]

Still waiting for developer approval, meanwhile people who settled a week before us are due to start on site next week . Seems our builder provided an incomplete colour schedule to the panel and they want to know what colours will be on the facade. Our rep plans to follow it up "next week" which isnt really quick enough to be honest, especially given I emailed her back the colours....

Based on this they seem to be expecting approval next week...hopefully council gets permits out quickly as they have to be on site within three weeks of that being issue.

View attachment 118175

Finally some good news; I prodded the design review board myself and have been told they expect to review our "revised plans" today or tomorrow. Hopefully we have approval by the end of the week.

Sometimes you just have to do things yourself to ensure they are done on your timeline, not somebody else who isn't paying the mortgage. Well done @blackcat20. I'm sure you'll have a scathing response back to your rep

 

[blackcat20]

Sometimes you just have to do things yourself to ensure they are done on your timeline, not somebody else who isn't paying the mortgage. Well done @blackcat20. I'm sure you'll have a scathing response back to your rep

Our rep is doing her best (and shes much better than the last one); the problem is there are so many people with a finger in the pie that it can be hard to work out who is letting things slip. The review panel is snowed under as they titled 5 stages within weeks, each stage has around 29 blocks in it. But I've told her Im the sort to always follow up and push things along, and will keep doing so throughout the build.

 

[blackcat20]

They seem to think we'll have building permits in the next two weeks. I'm hoping that means our developer approval mess has been sorted out.



Apparently there were hoons in the estate yesterday doing burnouts on the vacant blocks. Doesnt sound like ours was invovled but keen to get down there and check. We're also planning to stain the back fence before the build starts so hopefully we can get that done next week.

 

[blackcat20]

And we officially have developer approval. Final plans and permits are next, then construction can start.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sorry, a bit behind:

Before then though I want to go and stain the back fence so it doesnt weather to that greyish colour that timber fences usually end up.

Sometimes grey blends into the background though so you don’t ‘see’ it as much.

I like em nice and fresh looking

Hmmm ... I wonder who will be keeping it nice and fresh looking year after year .

Seriously, I know you've made up your mind, but as someone who decided to oil a huge new deck many years ago, let me tell you the novelty of cleaning and re-doing it every second year or so runs out eventually ...