PRE TENDER MEETING

A few weeks after paying the holding deposit, we had another meeting with Lisa. In this meeting, you get to walkthrough the display home where you get to pick and choose the additions and items you want added in your Tender. This process is really exciting because you get to tell your Sales Consultant – “I want this, I want that”, while pointing at the things you think you can afford – or can’t!

A few weeks after the Pre Tender Meeting, i received the Plan Siting and Sketch in my inbox. There were a few more changes, amendments and questions for our very patient Sales Consultant!

Main changes were:

- Lounge Room to Theatre Room conversion: instead of square set ceiling to the ground floor lounge room, we opted to enclose this with cavity sliding doors and turn it into a Theatre/Movie Room. We could have left this open and not have incurred costs BUT if we had done that, the room would be left as a Sitting Room and i suspect no one in the family would actually use it! The kids also have a Rumpus Room on the first floor so a Lounge/Sitting Room downstairs was most likely not going to be used. We really needed to think about our family, our needs and how the house will work best for us. Our weekend nights are spent watching movies – it’s our family bonding time, so it only made sense turning this room into our Theatre Room!

- Kitchen re configuration: We love food. We love cooking. The secret’s out. So it was extremely important that the kitchen was going to be functional. The original floorplan had a U shape kitchen. However, I was determined to have my kitchen island. So there was no doubt, this was a very important amendment that needed to be made - cost wasn't a factor in this instance. The kitchen is the heart of the home!

- Leisure Room extension: we wanted to extend the Leisure Room so that the roof of the alfresco was aligned with the roof of the leisure room. It meant we could open up the alfresco and create a flow from the indoors to the out. It also meant converting the original window to a stacker door. It's important to also factor in how you will use this room effectively. You really need to use your imagination because it's important to think about furniture layout when changing any part of the floor plan. 

- Walk In Pantry turned Butler’s Pantry: I hate clutter and I hate mess. It only made sense to turn the WIP into a Butler’s where I can hide dirty dishes when entertaining. Like the kitchen island, cost wasn't a factor because a Butler's Pantry in my mind was essential.

- Powder Room layout: because the Powder Room backs onto the now converted Butler’s Pantry, we had to re jig the layout a little.

- Double Vanity in Ensuite: the original floor plan only had a single vanity. This was definitely a no brainer. We needed double vanities, not only for aesthetic reasons but also for functionality.

We didn’t need to change too much to the floor plan, but I still like to think we customised it a little to suit our family’s needs.

TENDER REQUEST

Once we requested these changes and amendments, we received a Welcome Letter from Wisdom Homes. I do remember the excitement of receiving this, even though I know it’s just a generic email. It’s early days, but every communication from Wisdom that we received in our email Inbox was exciting. Just cements the fact that this is the beginning of our journey.

Lisa also sent us our Final Sales Estimate which she will submit for Tender Submission. This includes the floor plan with our requested changes.

It is at this stage i started a spreadsheet of all estimates and possible costs. It was imperative that i keep track of these things so i knew where we stood with budget.