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!