CDC Approval

Completed in 12 days.  Got the approval from the private certifier today.  Apparently, a construction certificate is already included in the CDC approval.  This made the progress faster, in comparison with going through council.

Odd thing about the CDC approval, it was required for us to install a privacy screen (no less that 1.7m height) in the RHS of the balcony.  Additional cost of $476 came in as a variation (PCV007).  Looks ugly and we don't like it.

Now, we are just waiting for the consolidated documents.

Post Contract Variations (PCV) 005, 006, 007, 008, 009 and 010

We had several additional variations;

PCV005 - Elderton can include the electrical upgrades in the total house package.  However, we had opted not to as we had already paid the deposit to Costa.

PCV006 - This was just a detailed variation of the front/rear setbacks and the reduction of the Meals area.  I reckon this was needed as part of the Stockland Design approval. No additional cost here.  

PCV007 - Site costs variations.  After the site survey, the report came back and gave us additional credit of $1,428.  Total site cost came back as $441 only.

PCV008 - CANCELLED due replaced by PCV009.  

PCV009 - CDC requirement. Provided two options for the required privacy screen to the RHS of the balcony. (1)   Aluminium $476.  (2) Timber $972.  Obviously, we went for the cheaper option. lol

PCV010 - Option for a treated timber frame.  The price tag on this one was a hefty $5,561.  Nah!! Thanks but no thanks!

Stockland Design Approval

Finally, things were moving the way it should be.  We got the design approval from Stockland (02July2015).  The drawings had the watermark stamp on every pages of the plan.

Land Registration and Settlement

Ok. Our land was finally registered (10 June 2015).  We have initiated our conveyancer and bank for the settlement. Yay!

Edit....
Land settlement was completed on 23 June.  Thanks to our conveyancer, it was a smooth process.  His job is all done.  We own (another) land!!

Post Contract Variation (PCV) 002, 003 and 004

Going back to our issue with the articulation zone setback, we had decided to keep the balcony and reduce the Meals area by 530mm.  This reduction gave a a credit.  Since we are having the an extra credit, we thought of using it to get some upgrades, see PCV 003 below.

Here are the additional PCVs;

PCV 002 - Michelle (Colour selection consultant) informed me that there were two new stain colors for our upgraded staircase - dark chocolate (walnut) and black.  I visited Elderton's office and had a look.  Sadly, these weren't the colors that I was looking for.  Despite that, I was very thankful that Elderton had provided new darker shades for the stain colors.  We ended up choosing the dark chocolate.  This was then entered as a variation.  Details - Quantum Microclear Walnut stain colour.

PCV 003 - Items included here were;

• Credit for meals area reduction by 530mm -$1,157
• Waterfall edges 2x 1000mm $1,215
• Sliding door to laundry $210
• External hot/cold and drainage points $325

PCV 004 - We decided to close off the study room.  Requested for a hinged door and to delete the square set openings $163

That's about it!!  All our designs were locked-in. Plans should now be submitted to Stockland for design approval.  Also, Elderton should be on their toes around this time as land registration was imminent.

Imminent Land Registration

Kudos to Stockland for having the land registrations on time.  They had informed land owners that it will happen within 2 weeks. Elara sales consultants were also giving courtesy calls to remind us that our land will be registered in the next few weeks.  Target dates were early first week of June.

Upon land registration, there will be 14 days to settle.  If not settled, Stockland will provide 10 days more but with a hefty 12% interest per day.  If not settled, Stockland has the right to take away the rights.

Bank Loans

Financial stuff here.

One thing we learned from our accountant Munzurul - it is best to leverage the bank's money.  This is done by getting the equity from your property and use it for a purchase for another property.  As we continue our journey in building our new home, we had consulted him and asked what is the best strategy for the loans on our new home and for the next investment property.  He said that before going on to our next investment property, it is best to get the loan for our new home first.  In the meantime, we should also get the equity ready from our current home and current investment property.  This could be used for the deposit on our new home loan.  A lot more to talk about here but I won't get into the details...

Our next move was to contact our broker, Reg.  We were very pleased with his service.  Reg, from CBA, was just fantastic to deal with.  During this time, interest rates for home loans were in all-time low.  Most probably, Reg can set on loans on an interest rate of 4.25% (or even less).  

The Sydney market had moved heaps and this affected the current value of our properties.  We asked for a valuation on our current home and the existing investment property.  After a couple of days, the valuation from CBA came back way beyond our expectation.  Our broker also offered us interest rate discounts and a 90% LVR with no LMI.  How good is that!!! Since the equity we got were more than enough, we will have no problems in using the extra equity for our next investment property.

Now moving into our new home loan, we were set for a 80% LVR (no LMI).  The valuation of our land sky rocketed after 10 months!! It came back with $110K more than the purchase price.  This could mean that we will pay less deposit.