We have had another session with Jeremy going over the 2nd concept design and I think we have managed to lock down the design. Two rooms ended up being redesigned, our den and the main bedroom, overall though the house has stayed approximately the same size.
We also had a good talk about the use of the house which helped firm up the layout of the kitchen and joinery area. This was a useful exercise with my wife and I discussing how we wanted the use and format to be and Jeremy being able to make a couple of tiny adjustments which ticked all the boxes. This could definitely evolve into an ‘airing of dirty laundry’ session, apparently my gym bag being dumped in our current living room is not viewed favorably so having an out of sight area next to the front door for this is an good option when designing a new house.
We also got to see the 3D design of the house and play around with some of the exterior portions/looks. This certainly helped us feel confident with the overall design and look.
We are now feeling pretty excited. The current design is a 120sqm house with a semi attached carport/garage. The nice part of the carport is this can be the compromise point going forward, if the build is getting beyond our comfort zone it can change from a garage to a carport to a lean to if needed and allow us to keep the focus and money for the actual house.
Jeremy is going to finalise the changes to the concept and then we should be able to get the engineer to go over the designs and then send back to the builders for some requoting. It will be quite interesting to see the price difference between the two concepts, especially between a single level and split level design. I’m hoping the new design will start with a 3 and not a 4 but we shall see.
Mike Columbus is a founder of sortmymortgage.co.nz and director of New Zealand Home Loans Christchurch Central. Mike can be contacted on 03 335 3527 or 021 369908. This advice is of a general nature only and before acting on it please read my disclaimer which can be obtained by emailing me at mike.columbus@nzhomeloans.co.nz