Frames!!

I've been slack updating my blog so here's some piccies of latest progress!

Woohoo! :D

I have pipes!

It's been a fairly long process, but construction has begun! I arrived back from a week away to find my block had been prepared with piping and electrical box!

Slab is due late this week / early next. Very excited!

P.s.

I have grass on my block!! Haha :). Took this a few days ago - they've turfed the front and back few meters of the block to make it pretty :)

Settlement tomorrow!!!!!

Land settles tomorrow!

Woo! As of tomorrow, I'll officially be a land owner :). Tomorrow is settlement date for my block of land - and council approval for the construction is in the final stages - so everything is starting to move. Not long now! :)

Land settles tomorrow!

Woo! As of tomorrow, I'll officially be a land owner :). Tomorrow is settlement date for my block of land - and council approval for the construction is in the final stages - so everything is starting to move. Not long now! :)

Update

Another update for you :)

I'm just waiting on two things now before the house can proceed. The first being compaction certificates so my builder can complete foundation engineering, and the second being land title issue!

Hopefully both these will become available in the coming days.

Everything else is on track. In fact it's nice to be able to sit back and relax a little while I wait.

Final variations are done! I came in a little over budget for electrical, but I was expecting that :). Also paid extra for driveway cut, and a last minute decision to upgrade vanity taps to mixers.

So all is ready! Bank papers signed, deposit ready, final plans, electrical, colours all done, council approval pending, covenant approval granted - just waiting on the land.

Won't be long now :)

Almost at the starting line :)

Well I signed the final bank documents today! Loan is signed, approved and ready to roll! Now I just wait for title issue.

On that subject, I received notification today that Warner Lakes expect title issue in approx 2 weeks, so it's not far at all!

I have the feeling things will start to build momentum very soon! :)

Bank Documents!!

Wow! It's been a long wait but finally I have my letter of offer of finance!

A scary wait considering I had signed contracts on house and land before the bank finally put their commitment in writing - but it's done now and I'm happy with it all! :)

A lot has happened since my last update and I feel things will start to move quickly very soon!

Land titles are due in 3 weeks. I've received covenant approval by the estate. Soil tests done and waiting on results, and the initial plans are on their way to council!

Not long now!

Loan and House update

I've received approval pending verification for my loan - hooray! Although I won't be able to sleep easy until I receive the formal offer of credit, just in case things still go wrong, but at least its looking promising!

In other news, I had my colour selections last Friday! Two hours of whirlwind pickings, but its done now and I'm happy with the selections. Once things start moving, I'll upload photos of the selections :)

I also went for a stroll along the recently opened lake near my land on the weekend - its really nice! Looking forward to afternoon jogs around the lake!

Still to come to this blog in the coming weeks: photos of my block, photos of colour selections and house plans! :)

The wait continues

So I'm still stuck in this waiting phase. Hopefully not much longer now! I'm expecting a call from the bank today with the result of my home loan application, so praying that all is well there.

Meanwhile everything is going well with the house. The floorplan is basically done, and I'm doing colour selection on Monday! I guess everything will start to speed up in pace one the building starts later this year.

Not long now.

Waiting.

Not sure if anyone actually reads this blog, but I thought I would provide an update.

 

The land contract has been signed, and I'm waiting for the whole process to complete - it takes quite some time.  Meanwhile, I have the house plans almost finalised and am waiting for the final plan from Bold Properties, which is exciting!  As this happens, the loan is also in the process and I'm waiting on some paperwork from Warner Lakes before I can proceed further with that.  So it's a bit of a wait state at the moment.  Hopefully things start moving again soon and it should all get quite interesting once the land settles and construction begins.

 

But for now it's just waiting.  I'll keep you posted.  Whoever you may be.

Contract Signed!

w00t :) I've officially signed the contract on the land, so I guess it's semi-officially mine now! The 46 hours of waiting on a cold windy sales office deck seem to have payed off, as such (even though I'm the one who will be paying for the next 30 years). Ahh well, such is life - at least I'm a step closer to a place of my own now.

They say owning your own home is the great Australian dream. Well I don't know if it's my dream, but I pray that it will be a place to relax and recharge while I live out my dreams - whatever they may be.

Next step is obtaining home loan approval. I had a pre-approval before camping out for the land, but the full approval process is a little more in-depth. Here's hoping that will work out.

In the meantime, I'm busy talking to Bold Properties about building a home, and they have been fantastic! Not only are they amongst the most reasonably priced 'turn-key' options out there, but they go the extra mile to help. They almost feel like part of my extended family!

And the journey continues...

Done :)

Hooray :). Almost 48 hours after I first arrived at the Warner Lakes sales office, I finally have a block of land reserved with my name on it! I'm happy with the block and very relieved the whole process is over. Well, I guess the process has actually just begun, but at least this big step is over :)

Time for coffee and catching up on some lost sleep! Very soon I'll need to be back into building mode as I look at house plans :). The story continues...

It's almost time!

The office is open an hour early and the first couple in line are signing up for their land - yay! It's almost my turn! :). Excitement is building :)

Yaaaay!!! :)

Finally! It's monday morning!

Less than 4 hours and the campout is over :). W00t.

Goodnight

Well it's time for bed and tomorrow morning is the end of the long wait for land. I have my block waiting as do 9 others. Not long now. Its freezing tonight but I'm a little more prepared this time. Goodnight!

Night 2

And one sleep to go - yay! There's now 14 of us huddled on the deck in freezing cold wind. One couple has tried to shelter us from the wind by erecting a large tarp on the western side, but I'm not sure if it's accomplishing much more than sound like a giant sail flapping in the wind.

It doesn't really matter now - last night and I can then head home to my own familiar warm bed. Aaaah :).

A few Nexus folk will be visiting soon, a couple of them staying the night too, just for kicks. Although maybe the bitter cold will change their minds.

14 hours to go! w00t!

Update

So it's almost night two and our numbers are growing. There's now around 12 campers on the deck of the display office and no doubt more to come.

Morning of day 2

Morning of day 2 and the happy campers are awake. I can't really say that sleeping on the deck is a ideal, but I managed to get at least some sleep. Just one more day and night to go :)

Goodnight

Well it's time for bed on night one. Still a long wait until the monday morning release, but I'm in line and have effectively secured a nice block of land. Feels a little surreal at the moment - the thought that come Monday, I'll own a block of land.

Settling in with the others who are camping out and making friends with those who I guess will one day be my neighbours. We're expecting some more 'campers' to turn up tomorrow morning.

But for now, it's time to get some sleep. Goodnight :)

Night 1

Well its the beginning of night one. The sun's set and there's not much to do now. There's about 8 of us huddled on the deck of the sales office, with 4 lots reserved by those of us camping out.

I'm rather bored and a little lonely, but hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep and tomorrow will go quickly :). Its a bit of an adventure so I'm going to do my best to enjoy it :)

Home sweet home

This will be my home for the next 40 hours. Joy. :). Feels like it's going to be a cold night!

It's on: 41 Hours to go.

I've found another suitable block. Heck, it might even turn out to be better than the one I initially wanted - but it's in a good position and has elevation.

So here goes. The long wait begins - far earlier than I anticipated. I'm 4th in line with the others who will camp alongside me for the next two nights until the land release on Monday morning.

The long wait begins...

Challenge #1

OK. Disaster. Well, kind of. The block I wanted is already gone - people are camping out already. I didn't anticipate anyone would line up this early, so I'm rather thrown out now.

But overcoming that disappointment, there are two other possibly suitable blocks I'm considering. I have to find the balance between not rushing such a big decision, and not missing out on an opportunity.

Will I camp out 45 hours for another block, or will I give up on this release and hope something else turns up.

Time will tell.

48 hours until the campout!

Well it's friday night, just two sleeps to go until the campout. Sunday night may be a long cold sleepless night so I had better make the most of the next two sleeps!

I've started preparing. Deck chair ready. Umbrella ready. Esky and sleeping bag ready. BlackBerry and a spare battery ready to go.

I wonder if anyone else will be there in line too Sunday night? Or will people turn up early Monday? Time will tell.

Support Building

The plan is coming together, and its raising some interest! Two brave friends have heard of my plans and will be joining me for the campout! Numerous others have also heard and will be dropping into Warner Lakes during the camp out. Further to that, the amazing people from Bold Properties have offered to visit and bring hot chocolate for those waiting! It's turning out to be quite an event.

Now, if only someone would sponsor the cost of the block. Anyone? :)

High Stakes

So what's this blog all about anyway? I mean if you're buying land from an estate, don't you just walk into the sales office and make an offer? Well in this case... Not quite.

You see, stage 4 of 'The Landing' at Warner Lakes goes on sale this coming Monday the 28th June. Due to popularity, lots are sold on a first come, first served basis. The office opens at 10am on Monday, and first through the door gets first choice of all lots on offer.

After talking with Ben Burns, the very friendly sales agent for Warner Lakes, I was made aware that some people start lining up outside the sales office very early. And when I say 'early', I mean the night before!!!

So this is it. If I want the best chance at getting the block I'm after, I need to join the queue and camp the night outside the sales office. You've seen it for the iPhone. You've seen it for U2 tickets, and now it's my turn to brave the winter night for the opportunity to buy my very own piece of land at Warner Lakes!

I'm going to be blogging the whole experience live - leading up to, during, and after the weekend's craziness.

Will there be many others camping out for land? Will I be close enough to the front of the line to be in the running for my block? Will I get the land after all?

Stay tuned as I prepare :)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog :)

In just a few short days, I will embark on a quest to buy my first block of land. Its been a long time coming but hopefully it's finally coming together.

I'm looking at the lovely Warner Lakes estate, in Warner, Queensland, Australia. It's a beautifully masterplanned estate by developer 'PEET'. With only a few land releases left, and only 17km from the city, it's quickly becoming a very sought after area.

Over the coming days I'll be blogging my advertures as I journey toward owning my very own piece of turf in the Warner Lakes estate.

Stay tuned :)

-Dave.

P.S.

If you wish to contact me, try:
campoutforland@operationearth.com

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