Going to Tender

With the Beechwood decision made, we set about how we could make the house our home. During the consultation process we met on numerous occasions with Ashleigh at the Beechwood sales office in Waterford County. Ash always made time available for us, either on the phone or in person. We had a few curly questions and requests that weren't immediatley able to be answered, however within a day or two Ash had all the info we needed.

The tender process through up a few curveballs, having not built before we weren't quite aware that BASIX requirements weren't going to be charged the same across all builders. What Beechwood quoted for certain services other builders charged a lot less or even not at all, and other items weren't even listed as a charge... this was strange at times. When this was questioned it was as if it was 'take it or leave it, its the way it is.' This attitude was a little stand-offish but we were assured that these prices were a fixed charge on the house we chose and there was no room to move unless we wanted to do it ourselves (that, by the way, wasn't a viable option!)

We had the standard range of inclusions, giving us finished floors throughout, basic kitchen finishes and an alarm system. From there we decided to pick and chose the 'upgrade' inclusions from the Genesis range. Once again, Ash was very helpful at this stage and allowed us time to chop and change, add and remove, and generally procrastinate! For us the 900mm oven, the kitchen pot drawers and the double ensuite vanity were a given.

We ended up settling on the 3rd tender. We thought this was a pretty good effort but with nothing to compare it too - who knows! I'm sure we would have been told if we were being more difficult than most! As we went along we knocked a few 'non essentials' off the list, such as the concrete slab for the outdoor area and added a few 'must have essentials' such as a 1200mm front door(??). Yes, James is writing this! We added a few future-proof items such TV aerial points to each room as you get only 1 included and multiple double power points as you only get 1 per room. Just little things but things that we know we will end up paying for in the end, so we may as well add them upfront. During this time we started visiting the tile showroom, carpet supplier and the brick and roof tile companies so that we were a step ahead when it came to colours and how we want the house to feel.

Going through this process in the final throws of 2015 we were hopeful of having our contract signed to enable us to qualify for the $15k home builder grant. Beechwood advised that we could sign our Consent to Build Contract prior to our final design being put together. This meant two things: 1, we would be $5,000 better off than if we waited a few weeks, and 2, we would be signing a contract with a builder without having a firm final price and what it would cost us. What's the worst that can happen we thought!!