Our 'House'

Okay - so it's not really a 'house' yet but it WILL be and we are very, very excited! After looking at so many small, run down houses in our price range for 18 months, we had pretty much given up on finding a house that was suitable for us. The most frustrating thing was that we weren't being overly picky and put offers on three houses (all of which obviously weren't accepted) and it just seemed like there was no way we could afford a house that would suit us.

The things we were looking for wasn't anything flash like an inground pool (although that would be nice!) or that it was a huge mansion - we were just wanting something that would make our lives easier and something that would be ours. The things we were looking for was that it would be accessible for Noah (or could easily be changed to be accessible), that it wouldn't need too much work on it or if it did it would be a bargain price so we could afford to do it up, and it would be big enough for us meaning at least three massive bedrooms and lots of storage, or one big main bedroom (since Noah sleeps in our room) and 2 other big bedrooms.

We stopped going to open homes about 6 months ago after the government stopped the First Home Buyers Boost. It was quite depressing to know that we had looked at all of our options of buying at the time that they were giving out extra money for first home buyers, but nothing suitable and cheap enough came up. We even considered building with Eden and Jared building for us, but just the cost of blocks plus how much it would cost to build put it out of our price range.

Our priorities even changed a little after 18 months of looking and we even started to look in areas we weren't keen on living, including areas out of town. Finally a couple of months ago I got an email alert that sounded promising. A few days later the real estate agent and a builder turned up with the plans for a house that had everything we were looking for - four bedrooms, double garage, fully accessible for Noah, in our price range and close to everything still and the best thing was that it hadn't been built yet.

The builder was lovely and said that he wasn't keen on building until he found a buyer and that the good thing about it for the buyer (us!) was that although the plans were already drawn up to suit the block, it meant we would get an allowance for everything in the house such as the kitchen, bathroom, floor coverings and window furnishings which meant we could choose almost everything for the house.

So a few more visits with the bank, real estate agent, builder and solicitor and lots of phone calls back and forth, we signed the contract to build a brand new house! We would've loved for Eden or Jared to have been able to build a house for us, but it has worked out really well for us, even though they can't do it. The block isn't huge but we are just excited that we will have a house with everything we had been wanting and needing, and the best thing is that the builder has adjusted the plans to suit having a wheelchair and has let us design the bathroom so that we can hoist Noah in and out of the bath and shower. Oh it's going to be heaven!

It's been very exciting going up to visit 'the block' (or as Harri says 'let's go and see if he has a block on there yet!') and see lots of exciting things happen. Who would've thought that seeing machines dig would be so exciting!

We are feeling very blessed and excited as it should only be 3-4 months until we move in. The slab is just about ready to be laid!

oh...and for anyone who is interested it is still in East ward boundaries so the Westies can breath a sigh of relief ;)