Garden Court , Wheelers Hill -   A New Life and a Major Renovation and Redevelopment.

We came back from our holiday to the USA in November / December 2014 and after staying with Bonnie and Gil in San Antonio, Texas where they had built a beautiful home of one level with every necessary creature comfort. We quickly realised that our time in the traditional family home in Caithness Crescent was coming to an end.

So we talked to our agent, Merelyn, who had sold us this home and discussed our needs.  Ken had identified a home down our street, which was nice and had been renovated, still had a large garden and there were some steps.  Our brief was a home that would allow a similar lifestyle, with plenty of space and a smaller garden.  The home has to be on one level with no stairs and also be able to be locked up as we continue to travel.

Merelyn then advised that she had a property in "the dress circle" of Wheelers Hill, that isn't even on the market , but the owner wants a quick sale preferebly pre the Auction date and she thinks it is well worth looking at.   Jeanette saw it and recognised the potential and we loved the area.  It is a Lewis Coote home of some 35-40 years old, well presented in a quiet court, but requiring renovation and updating.  Then spoke to our Architect (Rob McLauchlan) who said there is an option to do a knock down and rebuild or a major renovation.  We commissioned some drawings and plans before getting too excited as to the opportunity.

Rob came back with a stunning design and agreed that this could be renovated and achieve our desired result, without over capitalising etc.  Ken then did the numbers presented a detailed proposal to our Banker and financial planner and soon had the funding approval to purchase the property.

We continued to refine our drawings and plans, but were assured this could be done and that we would have a home that will meet our needs for the next 15-20 years!

We discussed the approach and offer circumstances with Merelyn and made an offer which was promptly rejected.  So we quickly realised that the chances of securing the property at a "cheap " price were negligible and we told Merelyn to renegotiate a sale pre-auction, if that was possible.  She took 3 days to come back with a figure that would create a sale and take the property off the market.   Rob had one further look, saw that it offered great potential given tight management of the costs and plans etc and said go for it.

Subsequently, Merelyn spoke to the owner, who confirmed the sale but requested that he stay in the property until his new unit at the new Weary Dunlop Development in Wheelers Hill was finalised.  We agreed and the contract was signed in early Feb 2015 with settlement in May 2015.  We were excited and delighted.  

The detailed planning and selection of our builder progressed.  There were multiple versions and ongoing changes, approval processes were laborious.   We eventually selected Dean of Alamode Constructions as our builder. Rob has used them before and recommends the quality and process management.  He says we will end up with a good result. 

So we have purchased, settled and now agreed the plans and timelines for our new home.

Unbeknown to us, our agent subsequently took several additional offers and conducted conversations as to whether we would sell the home pre renovatons for substantial increases.   We said no!   This is to be our new home.

The following photos reflect the home as we first saw it and then we progress through the redevelopment stage.