A couple of days ago I received an email from our CSA advising that they have lodged our CDC. Awesome! She advised that it will take 2-3 weeks for approval  This was great news!

It also said that our 'site start date' was still for 31/05/2016 which is soon. I thought the date was going to be rescheduled but I guess not!

We were given an approval checklist to make sure that all items below are completed. I think we've done most of them? But it's good to know to make sure that we're prepared:

It was going to be an awesome day today! We were so excited that tender signing day was here!

We received a confirmation email from our tender presenter about a couple of days after our tender presentation to advise of our appointment and that it would take about 1.5 hours. During the appointment we will go through the tender, new plans, and any other questions that we had.

It was pretty straight forward. We still did make some changes at the appointment (based on our new house plans), and our tender presenter also picked up a couple of errors that we didn't pick up which was awesome!

Once all was ok and we had finished going through the tender, we had to sign our life away and also initial every single page. That is correct, every.single.page! It wasn't that bad as I ended up making a game out of it with my husband to see who could sign all the pages first. He won...! haha

Once that was done, we gave our 5% deposit. It was awesome that you could pay by credit card (really helped with my points), and you didn't get charged a surcharge either!

We also got introduced to our CSA in person which was a nice touch. Was good to meet the person/voice behind the emails/calls.

And that was it! We were given a Home Options Gallery pack which basically had brochures to try and upsell you some stuff. If I can, I'll try and post up some of the brochures for you.

Our tender presenter recommended to head to PGH bricks to have a look at the brick selection before our appointment which was a good idea. So that will be our first stop!

The day after our tender presentation, we received a confirmation email from our tender presenter of our appointment for our contract signing.

They recommend that you read the sample HIA contract in between.

I knew from other posts on the homeone forum is that you pretty much don't receive your building contract about 48 hours before your tender presentation, and you know what, that was pretty much right on point. We didn't receive our contract until the Wednesday avo before our signing.

I guess the main points to look for in your building contract are that they didn't miss anything from your tender presentation, and that all the dollar values (+/-) are the correct prices as per your presentation.

I went through the pricing like a fine tooth comb, and made sure that all our upgrades were as discussed, I then looked at our house plans (and they looked amazing), to make sure that they added all the additions. Things to check on your house plans are:

• Where your hose outlets are (if that's where you requested them);
• Same with your gas outlets;
• The placement of the rainwater tank;
• The placement of your airconditioner; and
• That your window sizes are all the same as per previous plans or upgrades

When all is ok and you're happy with your upgrades and pricing etc, you will have to give $2500 to have the new plans and building contract drawn.

It does sound a lot to just draw plans as some people don't even continue once they have the plans drawn! We decided to pay the $2500 as we knew that there was no turning back for us!

At the same time, they give you a 5% amount that you are required to pay at the contract signing (which will then be another 2 weeks from your tender presentation). This 5% equates to the total 5% including your upgrades (just for the building contract). They are pretty flexible with payment. You can pay your deposit either via bank transfer, cheque or credit card.

The 5% is also minus the $1000 you paid at the sales centre and the $2500 you paid at the tender presentation.

Once you have paid the $2500 you can decide if you want to book your contract signing appointment there and then. We decided to do it then as we got first dibs before our tender presenter's calendar filled up. We managed to get 2.30pm on a Friday afternoon, which was perfect for us!

It was another productive afternoon!

Ok, this was it! Pretty much every night for 2 weeks I was researching, adding, subtracting and changing this on our house plans. I made sure that I went and documented all inclusions that we had were in the tender as well, and any questions I had were put into a spreadsheet!

We had an afternoon meeting, so we met with our Tender Presenter at around 2:30pm. Eden Brae's office fit out is awesome! Nice and modern and welcoming.

We were offered coffee and biscuits and off we went!

So basically we started off with the whole tender which they had put together, showing all inclusions and exclusions of the tender. We were surprised that there were a lot of things included. These are things like:

• Landscaping plans (just the plan)
• The driveway (paved or concrete)
• All BASIX requirements for your council
• All site costs
• And other things (which I don't remember)

It was good because it was a fixed tender, so most prices would not go up if there were delays with council etc.

Our tender presenter was very attentive and knew what she was talking about.

I had a long list of questions. Most of them were internal changes which she advised that she did we did not have to go through these (kitchen changes etc) as these will be made all separate appointments.

The most important thing about the tender presentation is that you can negotiate pricing. This will probably be the only time where you can do this. You can probably shed a couple hundred here and there but hey, every cent counts! I think we did ok.. I think?!

We were ahead of schedule with the appointment and we were very surprised that it all went well. All questions were answered and it was a great experience.

So these were the following upgrades/changes we made at tender appointment (which can also be viewed on the upgrades page):

As soon as you leave the sales office, you basically have about 14 days until your tender presentation. The most important things you need to think about are your structural changes, so anything that is connected to the walls of your home.

When we initially looked at our house plans at the sales office and knew that we wanted to add and subtract some walls. Even though we thought of it then, we were able to change it at the presentation.

Because we also bought a H+L package, we couldn't really extend out, as the the house plans were already pretty tight on the block.

So some things to think about for your presentation:

• Adding and subtracting walls (e.g. we extended our front living room wall to make it into an enclosed media room instead of an open front lounge);
• Changing window sizes and moving them around;
• Gas points (alfresco or inside);
• Upgrading ceiling height;
• If upgrading ceiling height, upgrading window and door heights;
• Size of shower niches;
• Your facade;
• Obscure glazing to your bathroom windows;
• A cavity sliding door (CSD) to your ensuite (yep, doors aren't included!);
• Recessing your tracks for your sliding or stacker doors; and
• The width of your front door.

At this point in time, the journey has just begun, but everything happens so fast!

After a couple of days of being at the sales centre, I received a voicemail about the introduction our Customer Service Administrator (CSA). The CSA will basically be there through your whole building journey (that is if they don't leave the company!) to help answer any of your questions, and to advise of you of when you need to do things and have things ready in preparation for your build.

At this stage is when you also have to arrange a date and time for your tender presentation. This usually happens around 14 days from your initial deposit at the sales centre. Unfortunately, this is where you start taking half days and days off work as they are all completed during business hours.

Once you book your tender appointment, your CSA then emails you regarding the appointment confirmation.

Our CSA so far has been great. She has been very helpful and replies to emails in a timely manner. Yep, I have already emailed her asking questions. Some of the questions are really stupid (yes first home owner questions), but it's better to ask, or else you'll never know!

To be honest, when we were at the sales centre at Eden Brae, we didn't expect to walk away with a deposit on a house and land package!

We were probably talking for about half an hour, trying to get a grasp on the house and land plans. Half of the phrases I didn't even understand! What happens when you cut and fill land? You have to level what? It was a bit overwhelming!

30 minutes isn't a long time to think about signing your life away but it had to be done.

We quickly called our broker to make sure all was ok, and when it was we went back in and placed a $2k deposit there and then ($1k for the house and $1k for the land). During this time, we were already able to make structural changes and additions to the house. These changes would be made and prepared with actual costings when you arrive for your tender presentation.

This is what we ended up getting:


The package included:

• Land (312.5m2)

• House (Richmond Mk2 27)

• Air conditioning

• Smart living series inclusions

• Kitchen, Bathroom & Ensuite upgrade

• Alfresco

• Roof upgrade (to Monier tiles or Colorbond)

• Fixed price site costs

• $12,000 smart home buyer bonus (which was removed from the total cost price)

• And a lot of other things (which was great!)

The main things that weren't included were:

• Landscaping (including fencing and mailbox)

• Window blinds

• Tiling to alfresco

We were quite happy with the total price. I couldn't believe that it was finally happening!

We already knew how tough the property market was, but we still decided to look into it anyway!

We initially started looking at blocks of land in new estates (mostly in south west Sydney). We knew that it was more inexpensive than the west and north west, and it was a perfect area is it was close to both my parents and in-laws.

I just didn't realise how competitive it was, registering to go into a ballot system, then getting a priority number, etc. It was hard, and we didn't want to stress about trying to get a block of land. This was also our first time to buy and build a house, so I was half clueless about how it all worked!

My husband and I then agreed on looking for house + land packages. So here we went again, going to display villages, asking if there were packages available but being advised that they were all sold out. The amount of times I registered my email address with how many builders, I don't even remember! I'd say we were on email listings for about 4 months.

One day we were out around Oran Park looking at display homes when I received a bunch of house and land packages via email from Eden Brae. At the same time, I was on the phone to Masterton about a house and land package out at Cobbitty, and we were going to go and see the sales officer out in Warwick Farm about it. When I got off the phone, I opened the Eden Brae email and we read a package that we were interested in, so we decided to head up to Willowdale first. A 5 minute drive and a 30 minute conversation later, we ended up putting a holding deposit on one of the packages with Eden Brae!

It all happened so fast, I wanted to go home and think about it but I knew the package wasn't going to last for long. I feel like we didn't think hard enough about it, but I guess that's how the rat race works!

For me, I would personally say that purchasing a house + land package was so much easier. I know you don't get to choose your perfect block of land but with the way property is going at the moment, I think it was the best way for us!

We're happy we've taken the step towards building our first home.

And so it begins....