we've moved the house, and built a new one...

Well actually, we moved the house, subdivided the block, sold the existing house, and built a new house on the vacant block. Now we've sold it and we're moving onto our next adventure.

Would I do it again? Yes! Have you seen this current real estate market?
Would I do it the same way? Hell, no! I'd be an idiot not to learn from the mistakes.

I started this blog to create a resource for anyone interested in / contemplating a similar exercise, so it'd be silly of me not to give some kind of summation on the most important things...

Top 5 things I wish I'd known before starting....

1) It will take longer than anticipated...like years longer!

2) The emotional cost will outweigh any budget blow-out.

3) Be an expert on paperwork.

Learn everything you can about any plan / contract / diagram with your property on it, as ultimately it will become your responsibility and / or problem. You need to be in the know - don't EVER leave this to a 'professional'.

4) Check your trades.

Not only their work history and references, but check their work on a daily basis. Make a diary with photos on your phone of any progress made and write down any conversations where decisions / alterations were made, then back this up with an email confirming the conversation.

5) Keep some perspective.

Crappy tradespeople do get away with it.
Courts, insurance policies and contracts are not very sympathetic to home owners.
Learn when to stop fighting...and being angry.
It's just a house.
You'll laugh about it one day, I promise.

Lastly, I had a ball working with my husband, brothers, friends and parents on the property...we couldn't have done it without their help.

One of my best days involved retrieving some rubbish out of a pipe (so glamorous!). My father and I couldn't reach far enough in to collect it all, so my clever Dad engineered some BBQ tongs to fish it out (with a rope looped through the end so we didn't lose them down the pipe too). I had the skinniest arm, so I was able to retrieve the most debris. Towards the end, the tongs started getting mucky. I asked my Dad whether the tongs were covered in mud or sewerage, to which he replied "Don't. Worry. About. It"...it's probably the best advice I've ever been given.

life at a different pace

The lead-up to all of the house drama being finally over was full of...well, drama.

The Deed signed between us and the builder took months, instead of weeks to complete. All the while the middle man (who doesn't like to be called a mediator), had to chase the builder constantly to keep him on track and to his end of the bargain. A serious case of deja vu, but this time we were paying someone to do it on our behalf.

We completed all of our (physical) items, while we waited for the builder to complete his list of required paperwork. This could have gone on forever, except that the looming NCAT date for the next round of hearings was fast-approaching. We applied for an extension due to our "trying to settle outside of tribunal" and were granted 2 weeks, but our second extension was knocked back due to our reasoning (if we were still trying to settle, then obviously it wasn't working, and tribunal should proceed).

We pleaded with the builder to finish up and drop his Claim. He only came back with garbage about not being able to drop the Claim due to not having a Claim... blah, blah, blah (that was almost as good as the time he claimed he didn't have a building contract with us!!!). We were now faced with having to proceed with NCAT (lawyers and all) due to the Deed not being finalised and the builder refusing to drop his Claim. After all, we couldn't drop our Claim and risk being pursued by him. We even offered that the Claim be dropped and the Deed finalised at a later date, but to no avail.

It came down to the wire on the day of Tribunal. My husband dropped everything at work, rushed into Tribunal and presented our case. Funny thing was, he (and the Arbitrator) were the only two people in the room. The builder didn't bother to show or send a representative. The Arbitrator asked my husband what we would like as an outcome and he stated he would like both Claims to be dropped. In an unusual turn of events, the Arbitrator called the builder, verified his identity and asked if he agreed to this outcome. The builder agreed, and it all ended. The end.

When my husband called me I burst into tears. You cannot imagine the relief.

We then spent the following fortnight (via the middle man) trying to get the builder to finish the final item on the Deed but the builder had washed his hands of it. No result. In the end we employed our own tradesman to organise the required inspections and resulting documentation, with a cost to us of around $500. A pretty cheap outcome, considering we no longer have anything to do with the builder, his trades, or Tribunal.

So how does the house look? Pretty awesome! We had the structual items resolved, the entire house re-plastered and re-painted, polished all of the exterior concrete surfaces, tiled the un-finished kitchen and laundry, and spent a little (well really, a lot) on beautiful blinds and cabinetry - we really wanted to do the house justice.

So what now? Onto our next adventure. The house is on the market, and in this current climate it shouldn't take long to sell. We're turning this entire experience into a positive by capitalising on the real estate boom and using the funds to trying something new. I'd even go as far as saying that if all of this hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been the catalyst to persue a big dream of mine.

Too 'peace, love and mung beans' for you??? I have to be. Otherwise this entire experience would have eaten me, my marriage and my relationships up. And that dickhead idiot incompetent moron 'builder' isn't worth it.

Pop the cork, this thing is finally OVER!

28 months to finish building the house.
$20,000 in legal costs to pursue completion.
16 months in Tribunal.
4 months to complete the settlement deed.
1 last dash...and now it's OVER!