Come on a journey of inspiration & adventure while renovate & restore a beautiful Victorian home 'St Elmo' in the picturesque Hunter Valley, Australia & laugh at a few of our family adventures along the way.




Thursday, November 4, 2010

Simplifying life for future dreams

Beautiful crisp white, blue and green bedroom contemporary bedroom

Well life has certainly been a little crazy & emotional here on the dream house front. If you missed the progress update a while back you can read the whole story HERE

Vt Interiors

We got a quote from a second builder for our dream house & it was actually more expensive than our quote from the first builder, with lesser quality fixtures & fittings.
WOW!
Doesn't the truth hurt or in our case disappoint :o(


Water leaf Interiors

We have had further discussions with builder No.1 & there are ways we can bring our price down a bit.
He also apologised for the actions of the kitchen & tile guys who both thought we would up our budget dramatically, so recommended more than was affordable for us.
These are some of the things we can change.

Noe Valley Three contemporary bathroom

In order to build our house to our liking we have opted to wait a bit & work towards ridding ourselves of  all debt.
We have several investment properties in The Blue Mountains we can sell, which will leave us owning our land, vehicles & be debt free, ready to build with a slightly bigger budget, not to mention ridding us of the stresses you sometimes face as a landlord.

I know it has taken me a while to update you all on this house building story, but we have really had to do a lot of thinking, planning & research before we could make any decisions.
This included going back on the project home search.
 As it turns out we just really love the home we designed & felt we would be better to make some sacrifices in other areas to achieve our goal. So, farewell investments & hope our dream home turns out to be a great retirement plan instead!

Wish me speedy house sales!!

CHEERS
Trish xxx


14 comments:

Blogs said...

my mind is boggling for you! i can't even imagine what a headache this has been! but in the end it should be fantastic:) best wishes dear!

Just Martha said...

Oh well dome Trish!! Good decision by the sound of it. Can't wait to see the progress reports!!!

GoldenValley50 said...

So much thinking and so much planning! But you have a DREAM and that is everything. Keep holding it close to your heart. ;)Sharyne

Unknown said...

Wow Trish! This must have been a very emotional time for you all. With such big decisions to make and all the ups and downs but I think you'll feel better by selling your other properties and going into the dream house knowing exactly how much you've got for it and feeling very consolidated :)
Keep us updated!!!!
Hugs,
Jxx

Jenny said...

Big decisions Trish and this must have had you pre-occupied for some time. I wish you speedy sales and on and up for your dream home! Best wishes. ;-)

The Decorating Emporium said...

Hi Trish! I was so furious when I read that the new quote was even higher than the last quote that was higher than it should have been in the first place. But, by the end of the post I was feeling happy and positive for you. I am glad that the 'Dream House' can happen, even if it means making some changes. I think if you can live your dream, even by selling those investment properties, it is worth it.

As is the saying in our house at the moment - let's make this happen!

M
xoxo

Laura said...

Hi trish, how annoying!! but, at least you are fortunate enough to have the investment properties! It will all work out in the end. hugs, have a great day, Laura xxx

Life in the Country Lane said...

It must be a relief to have made the decision and now know where your at. Hope the property sales go smoothly. Im a little envious you have investment property - we dont own/have any including the family far house. Look forward to hearing your progress. Have a great week.
Rebecca x

NATURAL MODERN INTERIORS said...

Hi Trish... When it comes to quotes, I normally go out to tender to at least 6 or 7 companies for projects and compare very item like for like. Wishing you the best with what ever direction you take. Lisa

Beautiful House said...

Hi Trish, what a week you've had, but with decisions made it means you are getting closer to your dream. Enjoy your weekend.x

Cherie said...

Hi Trish,
Just wanted to share that we also have had to sell our investment properties in order to have the dream home. Now that our Construction is underway we can see the benefit and appreciate all we've gone through to get here.

Congratulations on making your decisions.

Georgy said...

Wow some hard decisions and a stressful period. Sounds like you have reached a good one. Good luck with the selling and look forward to the updates. G

Noosa Beach House said...

I too send best wishes and crossed fingers for speedy house selling, best of luck, it will happen because you are making it happen! Cheers x

Anonymous said...

Trish I feel your pain! We got 5 quotes and the differences between them were massive. In the end we went with the builder we trusted but asked to work with him on getting the quote into our budget. We had to cut a lot from the quote to achieve this but most of it we can get done later. It's really hard to make these decisions isn't it! Sounds like you've done some research and some level headed thinking and hopefully, your dream home won't be too far away.
X Briohny.

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