So i thought i would start a blog series on building our new home, the process and how we are going about building the whole things ourselves, ill start with our land purchasing experience.
One of the main reasons we moved to Queenstown was the opportunity of purchasing land and building for ourselves. This is something we could never afford to do if we continued to live in Auckland, it's just too overpriced. We had our eye on the new subdivision in Queenstown called Hanley's Farm long before we made the move, we signed up to a lonnnng list of hopefuls at the end of 2016 and paid our $2000 NZD deposit to be in the queue. After a few section releases we realised it wasn't really going to work until we actually committed to moving and were able to attend the sales days as you had to be present to purchase.
4 stages of Hanley's Farm had been released by the time we had finally made the move to Queenstown. In this time the realtor had decided to scrap the waiting list and return the deposits, the list had just gotten too long. We still kept up to date with all newsletters and social media following the progress and development of the new subdivision, just waiting for that email to say the next release was only moments away.
Tuesday August 14th 2018 i opened my inbox to find an email from the realtor about the stage 5A release, from this point, it was the craziest week of our lives to say the least. An open day was scheduled on Saturday 18th August, only 4 day after the first email was received with pricing set to be released on Wednesday 22nd (sales day), so much had to happen in this time, we had no clue where to even begin and so many questions, no much sleep was had that week.
Can we afford it? Will the bank even lend us enough to build? How do you find a lawyer? Are lawyers scary? Will i become broke if i just ask the lawyer a question?
We decided to go and see a mortgage broker to answer all these questions for us and to see if we were financially able to purchase in this release, or wait for the next. Friday the 17th we booked in to talk with Loan Market here in Queenstown, we spent an hour figuring out exactly what the banks would be willing to lend us, what our repayments would be on our mortgage and answering all the small questions keeping me awake at night. I can't recommend seeing a mortgage broker more, not only was the consultation free, but they were able to connect us to a lawyer who had vast experience dealing with first home buyers purchasing in Hanley's Farm.
Saturday came around in a blink of an eye, the realtor had set out the next stage (5A) with pegs for each section so we could visually see where they were placed in relation to the sun etc. They pinged a bit of a surprise on us as we were greeted by an agent when we arrived, not only were they releasing Stage 5A, but they had a sneaky 5B stage in there too, meaning only the perspective buyers who attended the open day had knowledge of these sections (promising!) Because there is SUCH a high demand for these sections, we were asked to choose our top 5 sections ready for when the pricing is released as you are not guaranteed to get your first pick, or let alone score a section at all.
After getting in touch with the lawyers which were recommended on Monday 20th we found ourselves filling in paperwork to ensure on the day we had every single legality covered. It was great to go in and see our lawyer too as she was able to give us a run down on how previous releases had worked in the past.
Wednesday 22nd was here, we were freaking out. 8am on the dot an email was expected from the realtor with a list of pricing for all the sections. Normally work starts at 8am so we went in a little later that morning. We pre-wrote our email listing all our section options so when the clock ticked 8, we could hit send. The email with pricing came through at 7.59am, it was a mad rush to check the pricing of the sections we had picked out, as soon as we saw the number and agreed it was totally fine , we hit send..... and not the nervous waiting began. 10 minutes went by, 15 minutes went by.. i started freaking out as the lawyer has said they wouldn't accept any emails prior to 8am, and we replied to the pricing email which came through at 7.59am.. not 8!! I had a wee melt down and re-sent our section options again, just in case, only 15 minutes later.
by 8.25am we had a reply, we had scored ourselves our second choice (only over the back fence of our first choice, our neighbours will love us)
We finally scored our own 748sqm slice of Queenstown!!
So now you can understand why it was the craziest week.. but the stress was worth the outcome for sure. We then had the lawyers look over the paperwork which we signed and had 3 days to have a 10% deposit paid to the realtor to secure the section as our own.
After scraping together all our savings, some help from both of our parents (if we were able to use our Kiwisaver we wouldn't have needed the help, but there was no way we could withdraw our funds within 3 days, so this will be used at settlement) we had our names signed on that pre-purchase sales agreement.
The adventure has just begun!
So a few people have sent me a bunch of messages asking for some more information on the Du'It Tough Hands hand cream constantly featured on my Instagram, so thought id pop a small post together about it...
I have the WORST hands, constantly dry and my nails are very soft and sensitive, hence why i always wear gloves... like everyday all day at work. When my gloves aren't on, the first thing i grab is the hand cream, because 9 times out of 10, as soon as my hands home out of those gloves, they're like prunes. I used to use any old hand cream i could get my hands on, whatever was close by. But most of the time they were full of fragrance, and didn't really give my hands the moisture they needed to stay moist (yes i said it haha) for more than a few minutes.
We were working on a bathroom repair on a clients house one week and he had this cream on top of his drawers. My eyes were drawn to "TOUGH HANDS".. YES this is me, i NEEED tough hands! So i snapped a picture and searched high and low at the local supermarket till i found some, literally the last one on the shelf hiding behind another brand. This was back in March. Its now September and I've just finished by last tube of 'DU'IT Tough Hands'. A small amount goes a lonnnnggg way.
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The thing i love most about this stuff, is not only does it keep your hands moisturised for ages, but it kind of feels like you have a barrier on when you have it on, like invisible gloves almost. Its made me feel a little more confident in using my hands without gloves for some tasks, where as before finding this magical hand cream, you wouldn't see me take them off for anything.
I you have dry, sensitive or just tradie hands in general, i recommend this stuff 100%. My first tube i picked up from Countdown Supermarket in the isle with all the hand creams for around $15.00 NZD. And PaknSave also sell it in the womens body creams section (which is weird as its aimed at men) and on special is around $9.50. It would be best to shop around.
Heres to Tough Hands!!
*Please note, my reviews are not sponsored in any way (unless stated otherwise). I do these because I really believe the product is worthy of my opinion to help others, good and bad.
https://duit.com.au/product/duit-tough-hands/
Long time no talk. Its been almost six months since we have moved to Queenstown and I made the change from desk to building sites, and what can I say? I LOVE IT!
Some of the first weeks were pretty hard, VERY physical, and with starting in the peak of summer we were hitting 35 degree days, I was shattered by the end of those few months. Tying steel, lifting massive 5-meter posts (about a dozen of these), lifting frames, laying flooring, floor joists, putting up GIB... and well, a lot more.
After some thinking, and asking a million others what their thoughts were, I've decided to take the next step and begin a BCITO carpentry apprenticeship! Before I made the decision, these were some of the thoughts I had about joining up at this point in time.
Have I been working long enough to know I'm ready to take on an apprenticeship just yet? Do I start now or do I wait until I know more, saving me money in the long run because I don't have to be signed up for as long?
These are just some of the questions in my head prior to making the decision.
Because I have previously been to uni, I don't qualify for the governments' new scheme of free fees for the first year (rather silly when they're trying to get more people into trades and wanting people to "trade up" except if they have already studied there is no incentive to make them want to get a trade qualification) so, I would be dipping into savings to pursue my trade qualification. My boss told me, in the end, it was totally up to me as long as I felt comfortable that now was the time to sign up. Otherwise, I wait a year, have a lot more knowledge and as long as I am taking notes and photos of my work, I can backtrack and fill my books in when I finally do sign up. I did consider this option...
BUT..
At the same time, I feel like I loosely know enough of what I'm doing to be able to complete the work required, even though I've only seen theory books from years ago so have no idea whats currently in them and live with two builders who can help explain things to me when I need it. With the books in front of me, I can understand what I need to be doing to be able to get to the end of my apprenticeship as fast as possible.
So I took the leap! Because I already have a job in building, it made signing up to BCITO a breeze! I went to their website filled out the form, 20 minutes later I had a phone call from the team to confirm a few details and I have someone coming out to talk to me on Monday, all within the week.
It was so easy, I'm kind of kicking myself I didn't do it sooner. Can't wait to get into the books and see how much I've already learned.
A small round up of what everything has been like for the last few weeks and my thoughts about actually going ahead and choosing a trade. I’ve come to terms with the face there in no way to get rid of those sock tan lines half way up my legs, and in my case around my wrists as I prefer to wear gloves. I’ve realised my body is going to hate me most days as I come home battered, bruised, cut up and sore from actually doing a physical job and not sitting at a screen 6 hours a day. But one thing I thought I’d never comes to terms with was using a porta loo on each site, but surprisingly they are cleaned often and are full of super nice smelling things which makes them smell like bubble gum! Hahaha I now don’t have an issue with them!
My backs possibly taken the biggest toll this week gone as we have been cleaning out more trenches for the site located on the steepest hill ever. It’s been a week of trying to remember “use your legs chelsea, not your back!” But as simple as it sounds, it becomes the last thing you remember to do and it’s not till the evening you realise you slacked off and resulted in using your back not legs and now have a sore back for the rest of the night. This is one thing I need to make sure I keep on top of now, or a few years down the track I will be hating myself to being a sloppy lifter all those years ago.
Another change for me coming from an office job is changing back from a salary pay check to wages, the last time I was on wages I was working two jobs while also still going to uni when studying Graphic Design (I can’t complain, that extra money was so good at 17). I think salary just gives you a little piece of mind knowing you get paid the same amount every week, and not worrying you haven’t worked enough hours to be able to pay your bills for the week. But not the end of the world, it’s just another challenge to work through as I figure out if making the switch to become a builder was a good idea, but after my first pay check this week, it’s already got me smiling moon beams.
I don’t want to say as a Designer you get paid like crap, but if I’m comparing the two, I was a qualified graphic designer with two diplomas and 5 years industry experience and in my first week as a labourer in the building industry, including one rain day, my weekly pay is more than what I received as a designer in any of those 5 years.For so many years I was like a lot of people in New Zealand. I WANTED to be a builder so bad, but as a female, it’s just not what we do right? We go to uni, get a diploma or a degree and sit at a desk all day while the guys do a trade and make the bucks for the family. It wasn’t right. We have just as much skill and muscle as the guys do and I wasn’t just going to sit back and let them have all the fun. I may not be strong right now and have no clue what I’m doing half the time, but with a great mentor to help explain the job and help push my body’s physical ability to the limits, I can see myself being just as much of a asset as the “new guy” on the site. I’m just annoyed that it’s not something that was pushed more when I was at high school, if I had the courage to push through that “it’s a mans job” stigma when I was 16, who knows where I would have been right now!
If you are a teacher, parent, mentor, social worker or careers advisor and you know a girl who is lost in their career path, I can 100% recommend a trade, I have only been in this journey 3 weeks, but I can already say I have so many more dreams and aspirations for life than I ever did before choosing to take up a trade. Along with the need for more builders in New Zealand and the great starting wage, it’s one job you will never get bored. I hope that over time, this blog can grow and help others to see just what it’s like to be a female in the building industry, because when I was in the apprehensive stage of making the change, it was one thing I wish I had to read, someone else’s real life experiences.
So id been meaning to do this post last week, but unfortunately, with so much going on still, I haven't had a chance. Moving from one profession to another, the one you left behind never really leaves! So I've been doing a full days working and coming home and doing client design work, with a few websites on the go currently! So it pretty full on.
But I thought id share a few words about my first week on the job as a full-time laborer working in Queenstown. For the first few months, I will be working as a laborer until I have a bit more knowledge about building before undertaking an apprenticeship, which is totally fine with me, as I wouldn't want to be going into study blind on what anything is about. But at the same time, I can't wait to get my hands on the books and have the work I'm doing each day help me work towards a qualification in carpentry.
I think the first week was one of the toughest. We were delayed in starting work, so between leaving my last job and starting a new one, I had about 1 month's holidays (i know who would complain) but after a few weeks and making the move from Auckland to Queenstown, I was itching to get started.
The first day was helping out getting GIB up in a flat within a house, so we were prepping for the 2 layers needed for the firewall. Coming from a job spending 7 hours a day on my butt, I can tell you now, after this day, my body HATED me. My abs were sore, my arms were sore, legs were sore, and I lost grip on a sheet of GIB and it slid down my shin, so that was a wicked bruise!
For the rest of the week, my brother and I (who is kinda my boss, which is pretty cool) were placed on a site, which to my legs hated, it was pretty much vertical. So when I say vertical, I mean you can put your feet sideways and slide down the hill. So forgetting anything from the car which was on the road above... yeah that was never good, not to mention we had some of the HOTTEST weather of the past few years, sitting at 32º - 35º. The site had been lined out ready for works to begin and had two trenches dug ready for the first two lots of footings. I learned how to correctly tie stirrups and how to gain a million cuts on your legs from the ties sticking out, to the point I had to ring Mum to check when my last tetanus injection was. It was a pretty good feeling see the section turn from a few empty holes, to a bunch of posts all braced in and ready for concrete to come. (images above)
So that was pretty much what my first week on a building site was like. Including one rain day, which was also the day the concrete for the footings arrived, so we still worked the morning in the rain. One thing I would like to say is, I'm pretty happy with the team of guys I've been working with down here. Not once have I been given any shit for being a girl, not once has someone said "oh that will be too heavy for you, I'll get it" they have always let me give it a go and then if its a bit beyond my current strength then id let them give me a hand. Being treated no different than anyone else is exactly what I was looking for! So it's been a great start.
Sorry, this blog post was probably terrible, I'm not the best writer, but if I can give a little insight into what It's like being a female in the building industry in New Zealand, hopefully, more women will take up the challenge of completing a trade qualification. It's definitely not just a mans industry
Chelsea.
