Spending summer by the pool and hosting all their family for Christmas in their entertainment area will be highlights of the Palmer family’s first year in their wonderful new home on a lifestyle property in Matamata.
Michelle and Trevor work together in real estate for Property Brokers Waikato and relocated to Matamata from Tauranga with son Lex and daughter Sienna. It was a family decision and saved Michelle a lengthy commute each day.
The decision to trust Generation to build a beautiful house was a simple one for the couple. They work in the industry and were involved in some lovely properties built smoothly and quickly by Generation Homes. Their experience with previous investment home projects compared unfavourably.
“I didn’t even look into building with anyone else,” Michelle says.
They got the keys for their five-bedroom Generation home on 21 December 21 2023, one day ahead of schedule.
“It was a hectic time but it was our goal to be in for Christmas and we made it,” Michelle says. “We had chicken nuggets and chips for Christmas dinner!”
They are looking forward to Christmas 2024.
“I planned this house for where the Christmas tree will go, so I am really excited about putting up the Christmas tree,” Michelle says.
“It will be great this summer to entertain and enjoy the indoor-outdoor flow.
“We have a large family of nine children – we only have two younger children living with us, but all our other children are grown up and living their best lives. Hence why we built a big house for them when they come back.”
Why did you decide to build a house instead of buying an existing property?
Michelle: I wanted our home to suit our family. I did look at existing places, but I could not find a home in Matamata that met our needs – that was having the kids’ wings separate from our wing and an L-shaped house as I wanted privacy. The only way to achieve everything I wanted was to build.
What attracted you to the location of your new home?
Michelle: It’s in a subdivision called Java Park. I had previously sold the section and I was living in Tauranga. I had decided that if I ever moved to Matamata, that I was going to buy it. I even told my husband about it. That was three years before we purchased it and we had no plans on relocating at that point.
The section has amazing views and I feel like we are part of the township, but still far enough out that we have a rural aspect, and we can see the Kaimais. I got fed up with commuting to Matamata every day, so I suggested to my husband that he come and work in Matamata as well, and that we buy this section which was back on the market as a house and land package with Generation Homes. That’s how it all happened.
Why did you choose Generation Homes to build your home?
Michelle: I work in real estate and I work closely with a developer who only builds with Generation Homes. I’ve sold about nine of his properties. Everyone was just so happy. I’d never had any complaints with any clients that I dealt with regarding Generation Homes. If there were problems after people moved in, they got fixed really quickly. They will be onto it, and that’s important.
Generation can build anything – they will make it work. A standard four bedroom, two bathroom, living area home or something that isn’t their plan.
How did you choose Generation Homes to build your home?
Michelle: I didn’t even look into building with anyone else. I’ve been working with Generation Homes Waikato Central for four years through a developer. I know Trevor Roberts (Managing Director), Julie Miles (Sales Consultant) and Scott Duncan (Operations Manager) very well – how they work, the product and the quality. So I felt really confident.
What was the process like working with Generation Homes?
Michelle: The process wasn’t stressful at all. It was just joyful and happy and exciting. I can imagine they might have had a few stresses behind the scenes, but we never knew. It happened fast and smoothly – 18 weeks as our changes added a couple of weeks to their schedule.
As I had worked with the developer on nine Generation Homes, I knew the process from the moment we chose the land. So even though I’ve never built with Generation personally, I knew how they worked, I knew the systems. I knew we would be given a handover day and I knew that every single build that developer and myself did, never once did the build run over time, even during Covid. It was always to the day that we got the keys.
I definitely like structure. I would say I am a control freak and I guess I have a bit of OCD as well. For me, I liked that I was in control the whole time. Even though I’d employed someone else to do it and I wasn’t the site manager or the architect or anything, I felt like I had control the whole time.
Did you trust the team to deliver a beautiful home for you?
Michelle: I trusted the process and I had 100% trust in the team. I just knew it was going to be an amazing home. We love it.
How do you describe your experience working with Generation Homes?
Michelle: We were 100% satisfied with the finish of our home. The tradies were all brilliant. I can’t fault any of them. They are all experts and were just amazing. And they seemed to take so much pride as well. They were doing it like it could have been their own home. The tiler was amazing with a very fiddly job. I guess it’s an art. The bricklayers placed every brick as if they’re building their own homes. A lot of love went into that home.
Julie is amazing and she’s so enthusiastic. She was just as excited as we were. She understood my vision and I took on board her expertise. There were a few times when she said, ‘I think you should do this.’ Although we weren’t sure about it, we took her advice. I had complete confidence in Julie.
The Generation team was always helpful. For example, we’ve got exposed aggregate concrete everywhere in the driveways and out the back, and it had to be the same river stone around the pool or it wasn’t going to match. They communicated with the pool guys to make sure that everything flowed and all matched. That was really nice.
Tell us a bit about your house – did you have your own design or opt for one of Generation Homes’ plans?
Michelle: We went with the Kamaka plan. We kept the basic shape and we changed a few walls and door sizes. You can do that. That’s the amazing thing with Generation, that you can make the plan fit your needs. We made the lounge a metre wider just to fit the couch that we had. The double garage is a bit bigger than usual to fit scooters etc. And it was no trouble or hassle to do that.
We were given the fixed price for our build, but we had a larger budget and we wanted to upgrade to something that was high end and high spec. So we did. We got a quote for every change we made. Julie kept us updated on the price, so we knew exactly where we were.
What are some of your favourite features in your home?
Michelle: My vision was for it to be a country home. I love the brick that we chose. It was outsourced for us and really did the house justice. And I guess the first thing you see is the brick.
I wanted an L-shaped house. I just love long houses. I love the fact that our bedroom is separate from the children’s bedrooms. We have our bedroom wing at one end of the house. Then we have the kitchen, dining, family room and separate lounge in the middle. Then we have the children’s wing at the other end of the house. The L part is the garage, the laundry and the guest suite.
It’s a four-bedroom home with a guest suite. I’m from the UK, and my mum and dad come and visit for two months every year, so we built the house with them in mind. When they come, we want them to have privacy and their own space and a bit of luxury. The garage divides us from the guest suite and they have their own bathroom. My mum said this year ‘Michelle, I felt like I was in a five-star hotel.’
We were always going to get a pool. It’s an added feature we love.
How did you feel when you first moved in?
Michelle: Oh, it was amazing. We’d been watching the progress, because we rented around the corner. So we were there looking every night. It was just an amazing feeling to think we’ve done this ourselves, created this stunning home.
Moving in was overwhelming in a really good way. It was Christmas and we brought all this new furniture and we had all these new things being delivered. It was such a happy moment of unwrapping everything and putting it in this new home.
What tips do you have for those building for the first time?
Michelle: I guess if I had only met Generation Homes when we first did this build, I would say that everything they told me was correct, everything happened when they said it would happen. Everyone else said to me, ‘there’s no way you’ll be in by Christmas with a house that big.’ Generation did have us in by Christmas. My advice is to just trust in the process, trust Generation.
Once you live in a home you realise you could always improve it and do even better. Building this home with Generation has made me want to build again. I would always choose Generation to build with.
I love design and I love all the extra things you can add to make a home high spec, but next time I would be stricter with my budget. We went over budget. I wanted it to be the perfect home. I didn’t want to think, ‘Oh, we didn’t do that, and we should have done it.’ But looking back now we should have been tighter with the budget. The home would still have been amazing.
