Land? Check. House? Check

A couple of months after cancelling with Metricon, we decided on a house with Carlisle Homes.

The floor plan suited us a bit better, and the promotion and inclusions we were getting made the switch worthwhile.

Despite all of the research, visiting displays over and over again, and having this constantly on our minds for the better part of a year, signing up for the house was the easy part. At the time we signed up we were aware that there were lots of other things we needed to consider. But the difference between this decision and the decision we made with the Addison was that this time we went into it with higher expectations of ourselves in terms of achieving as much as we could in this house within our budget, and relying less on the builder to provide us with the information that we thought they should be giving us. It wasn't going to be easy.

Structurally, there were very few changes that we had planned. That was part of the reason for choosing the house design that we did - the standard floor plan suited our needs.

Aside from the usual colour selection decisions, we also had to consider our electrical requirements. The estate that we are in is part of the Telstra fibre optic community. This was something new to us when we purchased the land, and hubby's detailed research showed that there was a lot you could do with smart wiring in terms of future proofing the technology in your home.

The process we went through with deciding what electrical provisions to make deserves its own page - Electrical. For now, let's just say that it was a long, involved process, and we now know more about Cat-6 and Coax than we ever thought we would.

To summarise, if you are thinking of including any type of home automation or A/V capabilities, especially in a double storey house, do your research before you speak to the builder about it. The builders all have standard packages that they can provide, such as 'home theatre pre-wire', alarm systems, intercom, etc, and will be happy to provide these if you want them.

It seems a lot of people (including us) fall into the trap of initially just accepting the packages that the builder provides and settling for those items in their home. But there is so much more out there than what the builder can provide, and sometimes you find these things out when it's too late.