First home buyer Bryce Imms has achieved a fantastic lifestyle in Northland and an enviable work-from-home location in his new house.
Account Manager Bryce moved into his home at the One Tree Point settlement on the southern side of Whangārei Harbour in December. In January he returned to work – from home – and it’s working out well.
Buying a house in Auckland was out of his budget. But, in Northland he has secured a new place neaar the beach and conveniently by the boat ramp at a far less cost than Auckland homes, and at a similar price as an existing home in Northland.
“There’s no traffic to deal with up here,” he says.
With the commute to Auckland soon to be less time when the new motorway opens, it was a simple decision to live in Northland in a new, single-level home on a 600-square-metre-plus section, in a lovely community with great leisure activities.
Driving to visit clients is not much of a change as he is all over the upper North Island.
Bryce works in the building industry and for him it was a no brainer to choose to build when existing homes in the area were the same price.
He’s happy to be in his own home after flatting for seven years in Auckland.
Bryce’s home is the first Generation Home Rimu house plan to be designed and built.
It originated as the Totara architectural design, which was modified into a three-bedroom home now available for other Generation Homes customers as the Rimu plan.
Bryce talks about his experience building with Generation Homes below.
BRYCE
The prices were similar and you’re often looking at around $100,000 plus for renovations to bathrooms and the kitchen if you buy an existing home. I’ve been around a lot of homes in the past 20 years in the industry, so I know roughly what the market is doing. Basically I saw it is the same price to build. It is good that Generation Homes advertise the price of house and land packages so you can compare. I've got a nice new home probably 100 grand cheaper than any existing place you can buy.
Plus, to get what I have got in Auckland it is probably twice the price.
BRYCE
I didn’t approach any other building company or get any other price. I know the Regional Director Jake Pille from school and fishing and from both of us being volunteer firefighters. I also knew the former Regional Director David Skudder from previous installation work on many other homes he has done, so I trusted Generation Homes.
BRYCE
The fixed price agreement was attractive to my mortgage broker. And the bank loved that. You hear the horror stories of people getting an extra bill for $125K at the end of the build and thinking where are they going to find that? A fixed price is almost unheard of these days.
Also, my decision was about what Generation Homes had to offer in terms of house and land packages.
BRYCE
I was very fortunate. Nothing was an issue for them. The whole build with Jake was amazing. To be honest there was nothing that was hard.
Everyone in the industry was freaking out about the gib crisis, but Generation said they had it sorted and not to worry about it. I guess that comes down to their extensive planning.
I said that it would be nice to be in my home before Christmas, because that is when I have a long holiday and can have the time to move in properly. I didn’t think it would be possible, but they definitely delivered on that timeframe.
BRYCE
I chose the Totara plan which is a four-bedroom home and I chopped out the fourth small bedroom to create a bigger lounge and larger outside area. Everything in the area I think is four bedrooms. When I eventually sell my target market would be a retirement couple. So, I thought a three-bedroom would be more unique and maybe more appealing than a four.
I covered in an uncovered area outside so I can have two options for outside entertaining depending on the weather and where the sun is coming from. The whole house opens up from the kitchen, dining, lounge – it’s one big common open area.
I cut a few things out that I didn’t need such as a basin in the toilet. I pulled that out as there is a basin in the adjacent bathroom and I didn’t need two so that saved money.
BRYCE
I’ve been flatting for a long time and now I have my own bathroom – that’s very good! The scullery and the kitchen and the outside entertaining area are great.
BRYCE
The attraction of One Tree Point is having the boat ramp nearby, good fishing, and the beach. It’s handy being halfway between Auckland and the Bay of Islands. I can easily go to the Bay of Islands for fishing on the weekend and then I work in Auckland. It’s an up-and-coming area.
BRYCE
Find a good mortgage broker who knows what they are doing. I was recommended one by family. The broker told me about using my KiwiSaver first home drawdown. I was able to sign the fixed price contract and put the deposit down on my house and land package to hold the land before the titles were out. You don’t have to wait for the titles.
Work out what is a need and what is not a need. Ask questions about how you can make your home cheaper. I cut some things out and that made the price lower. For example, there were stairs included to go to the attic for more storage. I didn’t think I would use it much as I could use a ladder. So I put that money into upgrading other features that are more commonly used.
Know what you want before you start and stick to your decisions. When you start changing things halfway through a build that is when the budget can start to move.
