The beginning, but half over.

Mr and Mrs Parker's first home building experience...

Let's start with some very brief introductions, minus real names for anonymity's sake.
We're a couple, both 26, married for 7 years. 2 Dogs, no kids, both working full time. We live near Wagga NSW.

Our blog starts quite a way through the process of our building project in terms of time invested, though there's very little to show for it.
So far, we've

• bought a block of land (1/4 acre)
• Had it surveyed and soil tested. (It's an MD)
• Gone through a long process of looking at transportable homes and project homes of all sorts including having DFH produce fairly detailed estimates on the Brooklyn design and nearly paying them a deposit except that they only accepted cheque which is very inconvenient.
• Considered owner building using a variety of Insulated Concrete Forms.
• Drew up our own plans after many hours of drawing and redrawing using Chief Architect 6 and My Virtual Home. (The idea was to try and maximise usability and suitability to our lifestyle)
• Had these plans drafted to proposal stage by a drafting and engineering place
• Had these plans quoted by 2 local builders (the 3rd never got back to us)
• Picked bricks and external colours that matched the design.
• Had another look at a new promotion DFH are running.

Which brings us to today, where we find ourselves trying to work out which option is the best way to go.

In my next posting I will provide pictures and specs we're comparing to give people who may follow our footsteps a bit of a head start.