What is good design and who cares anyway?

Our decision to initially brief an architect to renovate our existing home was based on a love for design. To be honest, we are not huge fans of project homes and wanted our renovation to be sensitive to both the local built and natural environment. Our architect did not disappoint by coming up with a solution that we believe a draftsperson would not have put forward – see Renovation: Episode I. Unfortunately local government and planning regulations do more to encourage the proliferation of ‘ugly’ and ‘bland’ – see Renovation: Episode II.

The reality however, is that most of us cannot afford ‘bespoke’ design. The main problem is building costs – which in Sydney have become ridiculous. To have arrived at the point where we have decided to build a project home is the result of years of frustration and the reality that a knock down rebuild represents significantly better value for money. At least we think we have found a project home and façade that we are happy with.

Finance for Small Business Owners

I have been running my own business for about eight years. There are many things I love about being my own boss, but one of the big frustrations is accessing finance. Applying for a loan involves submitting complete business accounts (including trust accounts if applicable). In addition, once you get to the beginning of a new year, the previous end of financial year business accounts need to be submitted in order to apply for finance, even if as a business owner you don't need to lodge your accounts with the ATO before May.

The main frustration though is that in my experience banks view self-employed as a bigger lending risk than your typical salary earning employee. This just makes no sense. Sure my yearly income can fluctuate – like any business some years are better than others but the key fact is, I am not about to go from earning an income to earning nothing. Even in a bad year, where my income may be for example 30% lower, it won't be zero. In fact, I would suggest that my income is more secure than the bank employee who is assessing my loan application!

Which Facade?

Not surprisingly, the key considerations for us in choosing a facade where visual appeal and cost. Cost ranges from the Heritage (included in the base price) all the way up to +$25k. A big factor in the final cost is choice of bricks and other finishes eg. amount of rendering, stonework, hardwood timber, glass etc. It can be a little confusing and unclear. Final costs do not become clearer until the tender and contract stages of the purchasing process.

The other issue for us was that we found the choice a little underwhelming, especially in the sub $15k range. We were keen to find a facade that would not look like your typical 'project home'. A lot of Eden Brae's designs come from RSS Design Studio in Melbourne and in fact many of Eden Brae's designs are shared with Porter Davis in Victoria. A review of the Porter Davis site identified a hampton-style facade called 'Hampton' – who would have thought! I am not necessarily a massive fan of the hampton style in general but I do like it a lot more than the other options in our budget. More importantly, my wife loves it and we both agreed that it does not look like your typical project home facade.

We emailed our sales contact at Eden Brae to ask if the Hampton Facade was available in Sydney and it was!

Hampton Facade. Source: Porter Davis website. Design: RSS Design Studio.

Which Project Home?

Choosing a project home was not really that difficult in the end. It really come down to finding a 5 bedroom floor plan that would fit our block without going anywhere near our 1 in 100 year flood zone which affects the rear of our block – see Renovation: Episode I.

That constraint alone narrowed our options quite considerably and included the Sandringham 38 by Eden Brae, Trentham and Vaucluse by Metricon and Benham by Rawson Homes. Both Metricon's Trentham and Rawson's Benham would have required modifications to add a 5th bedroom so were less than ideal, but initially, we wanted a few options to get some ballpark costs.

The next step was to visit a Display Home Centre and have some initial conversations with a few sales consultants. Unfortunately none of the project homes we were interested in were on display. Visiting display homes can raise expectations about affordability. They are all professionally 'styled' and usually feature high level finishes and expensive additions eg. open tread staircases, outdoor kitchens, plunge pools etc. This is all part of the sales & marketing process.

The other discovery is that each company has their own approach to promotions and pricing. Eden Brae for example have the somewhat questionable (and amusing) '$1 Upgrade' packages. At the end of day, they were all around about the same price point – without going to a detailed tender with all of them – so for us the choice came down to our preferred layout and whether we were comfortable with the reputation of the builder.

Without a doubt, our preferred layout was the Sandringham 38. It was the best fit for our block and with four daughters, having the kids bedrooms upstairs, with two bathrooms and a living space was just about the perfect second floor layout for our family.

In addition friends of ours had built a home with Eden Brae in 2013 and had a very positive experience. This provided us with a lot of confidence to move forward.

Eden Brae's Sandringham 38 Plan