Stuart and Tanya McDonald have just built their second home with Generation Homes at One Tree Point in Northland and they couldn’t be happier.
The couple moved into their first home in One Tree Point early in 2013 and had nine wonderful years there.
While it was a lovely home, their budget at the time meant they compromised and it was not perfect.
So when David Skudder from Generation Homes approached them with the idea to build again to create their perfect forever home, they were open to the idea.
“We’re grateful for David approaching us, because the house we’re in now is just unbelievable,” Stuart says.
There were some motivating factors for the family, like moving out of a subdivision that had body corporate fees and achieving a more open outlook by leaving behind a position down a right of way, Stuart explained.
“And could actually have a house with specific tweaks that we really wanted,” Stuart says.
The main obstacle for Stuart and Tanya would be to find a rental home in One Tree Point to live in while they were waiting for their new house to be complete.
But luckily David had an answer to that problem – he knew a family who were building a spec house and needed a tenant.
The couple also gave David the financial challenge that they wanted to keep their mortgage at the same level.
This was all possible with the customer service David provided – understanding their interests and motivations, then finding solutions to any obstacles.
“David is someone who’s very good at helping people visualise what their home will look like. In essence, he initiated our thinking about it and then facilitated it to make it doable for us,” Stuart says.
When the couple walked to their section, they could envision the potential their new home was going to have.
A bonus for the couple, was that they sold when the housing market was at its peak.
“We ended up being able to build a house with a much higher spec than where we were, which was amazing,” Stuart says.
They moved into their new home in May 2023 with their daughter Siobhan and son James and they envisage retiring there.
STUART
In 2011 we were living in Whangarei, and we wanted to move closer to the sea in One Tree Point. I saw an advert on my Facebook feed from Generation Homes, so I contacted them. David Skudder had just started up Generation Homes Northland at that time and we ended up being the thirteenth house built.
In the end David managed to get us a section for a good price and that was probably the thing that made it doable for us that first time around. The section he found was great and positioned for the sun.
David did that again for this second house as well - he made it work for us.
STUART
We had a mortgage and while we loved the idea of a new home, we were going to make sure it was affordable. One of the things that attracted me to Generation Homes the first time around was the idea of a set price. I had built a house in Scotland where there were several variations increasing the cost, which was terrible, so I liked the set price from Generation Homes. I also liked the idea of the set timeline, which was 14 weeks.
We did go and look at three or four other companies to do our due diligence. We chose Generation Homes as they had given us a price with a planned deadline. None of the other companies could do that at that time.
A key point for us as well, is that we built a relationship with David. I’ve been in sales and at no point did we feel like we were being sold to. We felt that he had our best interests at heart. When we spoke with other franchises, we didn’t make a connection with any of their salespeople.
The couple did not include other building companies in their planning the second time around, but the Generation Homes set price and timeframe were just as important.
STUART
The first time we built it took 14 weeks. This time it was a little bit different because there were a few weather events that had an impact. Also, the title took longer to get issued by the council.
We were a lot more relaxed though, because our priority was to empower Generation Homes to build the best house they could for us.
Generation Holmes is a very connected company internally, and I could phone and whoever who answered would help me and know who I was. Queries got answered quickly. If they saw things that needed an answer from us, they would invite us to come around to the site. It was very much a two-way street. Christian the project manager was fantastic, professional, personable.
STUART
The house has been finished to a high level. I remember going to see our house when the painters were in and they were meticulous about how they were doing it. We got a high-quality house and every night one of us will say ‘I love this house’.
STUART
It’s a four-bedroom home adapted from the sycamore plan. As you walk in the door, there’s a separate lounge to the left which is really nice because we can disappear there in the evening. We have an open plan family room and kitchen with an office space in the family room.
With our first house we had the base design and the only extra we asked for was tiles in our ensuite shower.
This time, my wife was very keen on certain things to have in the kitchen, such as a walk-in pantry. One of the stone benches is about 8-foot long, which is a great worktop.
The general spec of the house is a lot higher than we had before. We’ve got air conditioning throughout the house and extra lighting, electrical sockets and USB charging areas. We’ve added storage into the house as well.
STUART
The kitchen window looks down to the lake, so when we’re doing the dishes we’ve got a view. The kitchen is exactly how my wife wanted it and how we imagined it – just perfect.
The way the house is positioned means the ranch sliders all feed out onto the lake so we’ve got a 150-metre outlook, with trees and then we can see hills.
STUART
We like the fact that you come home from work and relax because you’re in a quiet village. We come from Scotland and lived in a village with 1,500 people and our house was right on the beach. When we moved to New Zealand, we started off living in Whangarei. We found that massive and were never settled. We initially picked One Tree Point because it was close to the water and boat launching, so we could go fishing. The population was around about the same as the village we came from.
In the 10 years that we’ve been in One Tree Point our kids have grown up here. They’ve benefited from a safe environment. The area has grown, but the way that it’s expanded has been done in a very tasteful way. Every night after dinner we go for a walk and even if it’s dark there are no issues.
We spent 10 years living down a right of way and we had houses surrounding us. So we wanted something a little bit different – an outlook if possible. We’ve got a lake in front of our house, which is awesome.
STUART
Work with a mortgage advisor and work out what your true budget is and what your monthly repayments will be. There’s no point building your dream house if you can’t afford to live in it!
I wanted to share with people one of our learnings from our first home built with Generation Homes. We had the plans, the fixed price and we even put an offer down on a section.
We had an offer on our Whangarei home which we needed to sell before building, but the price wasn’t what we wanted, so instead of approaching Generation Homes to tell them about the situation we were in, we put off building and waited another year to sell our house. Despite waiting a year, a better offer never came to the table and we accepted the same amount we would’ve gotten a year earlier.
Had we gone to Generation Homes during the first offer, we could’ve negotiated a cheaper section with them and our build could’ve started 12 months earlier than it did. Keeping them in the loop and finding a solution together would’ve saved us a year of waiting to sell and build our new home.
So my advice is that if you have any issues in your situation, it’s best to talk to Generation Homes and see if there’s a way forward.
In our case, the compromise to make it all possible a year later was about finding a cheaper section.
Finally, work out what you’re going to need once you move in and include that in your budget. Think about things outside, such as fences and landscaping.
STUART
We’ve put in a couple of concrete pads on the side of our house. We’re going to put a pergola-type building outside. We’re currently getting pricing for a shed and we are getting grass turf put in.
