Design & build: Time counts down, mortgage climbs up

The Block NZ 2012 winner Ben Crawford and his fiancé Kylie are building their dream home. Share their proud moments and pitfalls here every week.

I had a panic attack the other day when I counted the weekends left until we plan to move into the house. I got from thumb to pinky on my left hand, but I still had a spare finger or two on my right. Yikes! I'm sure our builders are more frantic about this than we are, but Kylie and I are painting the whole house, have lots of landscaping to do and will have plenty of finishing touches to add, so I had flashbacks to nights on The Block NZ, painting walls at 4.38am, in a mad rush to get finished on time.

Kylie putting a second coat of oil on cedar. Photo / Ben Crawford

With that wee reality check, Kylie and I got stuck into our to-do list and put a second coat of oil on the cedar cladding last weekend with the scaffolding still up around the bedroom pod. The boards came out of the Rosenfeld Kidson factory with one coat of oil, but they need another one within 90 days. We chose a profile with a smooth, dressed face so the oil went on effortlessly and we finished in no time at all. We slightly tinted the oil, which looked great, adding a more polished feel to the cladding and keeping the lovely natural tones of the cedar.

Then it was back into the stream. We had more or less finished three-quarters of our works on the bubbling brook, but the back portion was still a little unloved. I ordered in another three tonnes of rock, lugged them to the rear of the section, then I and Kylie's brother Nick set them into place, rock by rock.

Our beers tasted remarkably good on Sunday night.

It's a weird feeling as we get closer to completion, because as the house takes shape, so does our mortgage, steadily advancing on our pre-approved limit as our monthly payments become noticeably larger.

We have multiple mortgages with Kiwibank. The first was to purchase the section and we set up a revolving credit facility, which acts as our transactional account for the build. The third mortgage is our construction loan. It has a pre-approved limit that we draw down from as the build progresses.

Watch episode ten of Kylie and Ben's Brave New Build:

It took 10 months from the time we bought the land to when we locked in our construction loan. The bank gave us an indicative figure they'd be willing to loan provided we maintained 20 per cent equity in the property, but nothing was confirmed until we satisfied several criteria. These included a fixed contract with our builder, a valuation as complete and the necessary insurance - all of which couldn't be finalised until the building consent was in place.

Our eventual build contract with Haven Renovations was for the majority of the job but some budget items were our responsibility as I was managing the supply of these goods and services.

Because of this, the bank viewed the construction as an owner-build and stipulated we needed a quantity surveyor to review the costs and manage our regular draw-down requests. A little frustrating since this additional level of administration will add nearly $5000 in professional fees to our budget but it was needed to allow the project to proceed. In hindsight, the reassurance it provides is a good thing. But, man, we could use that five grand on the house!

Ben putting a second coat of oil on cedar. Photo / Ben Crawford

Budget management is a never-ending job that often keeps me awake at night.

You work so hard to cut costs in one area, then find they've crept up elsewhere, eliminating all the effort you've put in. We're about 65 per cent of the way through our budget and it's tracking well, so sleep is a little easier to come by.

Servicing our mortgage is going to be super-tight over the first couple of years, with half our take-home incomes going into repayments. But we think it's well worth the short-term financial pain to be able to live in our dream home from such an early age and it's a wonderful investment in our future together.

Now we just want to move in and enjoy it. If only that bloody steel would turn up so our living pod can get finished.

• Find out more about Ben and Kylie's dream home at ourdreamhome.co.nz

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For more information on the Kiwibank First Home Buyer's Guide visit: kiwibank.co.nz and search for "first home".