We were really happy in our house in a lovely neighbourhood in Greenhithe. That was until one day we stumbled across our dream plot of land in Riverhead.
We were at the stage in life where we had no mortgage and looking to retire in the not too distant future. So, we had some tough decisions to make.
We visited a few show homes that weekend to try and determine rough building costs. We then worked out how much we would need to get from the sale of our house in order to buy the land and then build, without committing to a mortgage until we are 100 years old!
We were wary as this was our first build. We planned to buy the land and build the house independently so we couldn’t be given a 100% build cost guarantee. But it was equally important for us to keep to a budget whilst allowing us to maximise the advantages of our amazing site.
That weekend we were introduced to Suanne Jackson and Generation Homes, who were to be a big part of our lives in the next 12 months, and more. We quickly decided that if we built, we would choose Generation Homes. We warmed to Suanne straight away and felt we could put all our trust in her. Paul is an Engineer by trade. He was immediately impressed with their project management skills, estimated build time of 18 to 21 weeks and their statement of never being late on a build. This figure was the best estimate to take in to account the extra time required for our proposed cathedral ceiling.
One week later our house was on the market. We planned 4 weeks of open homes ending with an auction. It was a quiet time in the housing market, but Suanne kept telling us to “hold the faith”. No one turned up to the auction to bid. That marked the end of the new dream for us, but we were still happy to keep living our old dream.
Then out of the blue on the Monday evening, a couple got in touch with our estate agent asking if they could have a look around. They put an offer in straight away and that was us sold by the next day!
Suanne had never given up and was ready for what came next! She had already visited our new site and quickly met up with Joe, the architect there too so he could see it for himself. We met with him shortly afterwards and his first draught was around a 95% match to our ideas. Not bad as we had never previously spoken with him!!
This was our dream home. It was really happening! And we wanted everything to be as perfect as possible inside and outside. Suanne was there holding our hand every step of the way. We have to say a huge thank you to Wade Bowmast, Quantity Surveyor at this stage, endeavouring to answer all our questions. And there were lots of them!
We were soon booked to see the Colour Consultant. Dee Mills, Colour Consultant, is amazing and gave us the confidence to step out of our usual comfort zone with colours and chose colours which truly complement the ambience of our new home.
Suanne also introduced us to a Frances Hardy from BNZ to assist with our mortgage. She was so awesome and far more helpful than our own bank that we swapped banks. She made the payment side of the build effortless.
And before we knew it, it was October and the slab went down… Wahoo! This was the day we had been waiting for as my parents were due at the end of February for a 5 week stay. We dared to hope the house could be built in time for their visit. As promised, Suanne was in touch with us that evening with a guaranteed move in date. Valentine’s Day! Not only had Generation Homes produced a small miracle, but they had bettered their initial estimates by a few weeks!
Within days, the framework had gone up and a house was quickly appearing before our eyes! It was at this stage we completely grasped the amount of work that had been going on behind the scenes. Brent McMillan, Construction Manager, is phenomenal. We are still amazed how he managed to plan efficiently enough for our 250m2 house with 2.55m stud height and cathedral ceilings to be built in 18 weeks from slab down. Hats off to you, thank you, Brent.
My Dad is also an Engineer. I love him, but he is quite hard to please! We sometimes hear the words “ok” or “fine” escape his lips which apparently translates to “good”. Mum couldn’t believe her ears when she repeatedly heard Dad describe the build quality of our house as “excellent”!!!!!
We were nervous about the process, but Suanne and her team really did make the whole procedure easy for us. Plus, importantly, there were no unplanned financial surprises along the way. Despite us not having a land build package with Generation Homes, Wade was brilliant (and very honest) in forecasting the PC sums out of his control.
Suanne unfortunately sustained a concussion fall and had to take some time away from her daily duties during our build and Hamish Jackson, her co-worker stepped in. We had exactly the same confidence with him, and this really highlighted to us the closeness of the team at Generation Homes.
The fact that we are now moved in, and that confidence and service is still there 100% is a credit to Generation Homes. We are lucky to have Suanne and Generation Homes as part of our future too. We cannot thank you enough.
Nicki and Paul
Deacon Point, Riverhead
