House Update #04: Ang Pagbuhos

It's been a while since my last post re our house construction. Why? Wala kasing progress for the past 3 mos. How I wanted na mkipag away sa Camella and contractor because they don't deliver on time. Hubby and my parents prohibited me from doing so dhil daw bka paglaruan ang quality ng house. Dapat daw maging mabait at bolabolahin, kung pwede nga daw suhulan, suhulan. Hehe.

Anyways, finally the construction begun 3rd week of March. So it's very impossible that we can move by May, they're new target is July - which will be the turn over month. How I wish we can move out before I give birth, pero parang it's impossible :(

The foundation and footings or what they call "buhos" commenced last April 1 at around 4PM wherein the scheduled time is 11:30 AM. Na pa whole day leave tuloy kmi ni hubby instead na half day lng sana. We wanted to witness the "buhos" because we believe in the pamahiin na magsabog ng coins during the "buhos" proper, pampaswerte and for abundant life daw. This has been a practice in our family, everytime na may papaconstruct/renovate sa house nmin we do this . . . ok naman ang buhay nmin, hindi naman kmi naghirap or nagutom. Hehe. Pero ung pagsabog salt hindi na kmi naniwala dun para di daw kmi multuhin or aswangin - we will have it blessed naman. Hehe.

It was hubby who did mostly the pagsabog ng coins. He didn't permit me to roam around the small construction, mabato kasi bka daw madapa ako, my role was maging amuyong at photographer lng. Kundi lng ako buntis malamang sinamahan ko pa ung mga construction workers magbuhos. Cowboy here. Hehe.

The sun was really striking hard that day, pero nung actual buhos na umambon then right after umaraw ulit, ang galing! Nakakatuwa. We consider it as a blessing tlga :)

After 3 days . . . this is their accomplishment, not bad. We were actually with our free of charge consultant. Hehe. Archi Jowette (my HS friend)

Though the construction is delayed hubby and I are still happy to see na ang pinaghirapan nmin is turning now into reality.

House Update #03: Really?

It was August when I last posted re our soon to be house. It's true that our house will soon be turned over to us by April 2009. We tought it was just a wrong info. Just in time to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary, my birthday and sabay na rin ang house blessing. Sana no problems will be encountered during the construction. I hope this will all materialize in the given timeline. Hubby and I are uber excited about this, keep on imagining on how we will do the interiors, etc . . .

Last Nov 29, we went to Camella Homes (Alabang) to sign the floor plan layout. While waiting for our turn I took a picture of our house model miniature.

Ground Floor

Second Floor

House Exterior

We don't actually want to sign the floor plan yet because we want to do some revisions in the layout. As per Tina of Camella, signing the plan only means a go signal to start the construction and we will be notified on anything that has to be executed. Construction starts next week. Yihee.! Anyway we can email our prefered layout, no need to go back to Alabang . . . but still subject for approval of the engineer and contractor. Normally customized plans are approved as long as no changes made at the exterior. To our excitement, we signed the floor plan because the more we delay the signing the more na madedelay ang construction. Hehe.

After signing we headed to site (Taguig) and it was a wow! the area has been developed. From a trashy site we saw last March, it's now fenced and the right of way are in place. We can now even pinpoint or lot. The 3 model houses are also being constructed. No wonder why Camella was able to have a price increase of .8m because if the fast development. In addition to that the subdivision has it's name, when we had our reservation kasi wla pa. It's name is GRENVILLE RESIDENCES. You read it right, Grenville not Greenville. Hehe.

out lot

We even got inside the model house that is being constructed. That made us really decide to have our's revised. There are a lot of things I didn't like though these are specified in the contract. I want another style of staircase, I want a bigger kitchen with granite countertop, granite flooring etc . . . hubby wanted a servants quarter and a T&B at the 2/f.

standard stairs - not my type :p

deafult/standard sink - too small for a cooking fanatic :p

The following day we had dinner with my HS barkada, this is actually scheduled because I'll be giving Dex-Grace wedding invites and at the same time distribute them to us. It was also an advance bday celeb for Grace, Noel and Jorrel. So this is a perfect timing to consult our friend, Architect Jowette (whom I also assigned as the head coordinator during our wedding, hehe) on how we can revise the plan. She just asked us on what are things we want and we don't want. She even brought some magazines for us.

Come Monday (Dec 1) the revised plan is already in my Inbox. The plan was cute, I can't imagine that she was able to draw the things we wanted in a 70 sq meter lot area and 52 sq meter floor area, which was very small space. The plan was almost perfect. She'll just make a little adjustments because of my additional requirements. Ahihi. Ang nakakahiya lng, she's giving her services for free and very much willing to help us throughout the construction and interiors as well. I am really thankful that I have friends like Jowette, like my friendships. :-)

the original floor plan

by architect jowette gorospe

We are really looking forward on our house construction following Jowette's plan. A few days from now our hard earned money will be tangible :-)

Transfer?

While hubby is waiting for me at the mansion lobby, he happened to have a talk with our landlady. She offered us the unit at the 2/f, which will be vacated by month-end. Apparently, the rent is 1k higher. To be able to transfer we have to pay in advance 1k x no of remaining contract months.

We are actually attracted to transfer because our unit is located at the 5/f. FYI, NO elevator! So climbing approximately 60 steps everyday is no joke though we consider it as an exercise. What if I get pregnant? I guess it wouldn’t be advisable for me since I had a miscarriage history.

How about the burden of transferring and fixing our things all over again? The additional pay? Loosing the free Platinum Sky Cable and Wifi connection :p. Will the transfer be worth it if we will stay only until April 2009?

If you were in our case will you transfer or not? Let us know your insights. Thanks.

House Update #02: Turn Over by April 2009?

Mwhihhi! MIL a.k.a. our broker told us Camella Prestige - Pacific Residences Phase 3 is being developed and by April 2009 our house will be turned over to us. Yihee! Hubby and I felt so much excitement after hearing the news.

We never thought that the turn over will be a quarter earlier. Since our documents are complete and we pay on time, the contractor will be prioritizing ours. Another Yihee! So we have to save more and tipid more so as we can furnish our home with beautiful furnitures and appliances :)

Still, our fingers are crossed . . . hoping that promised turn over will come to reality. Can't wait for April 2009 - that is 8 mos from now na lng! :)

Related Post: http://raymond-rhia.blogspot.com/2008/04/our-very-own-home.html

House Update #01: Our Very Own HOME!

It's been months since i started searching for a house via internet, I give myself around 1-2 hrs a day to search (during lunch break or before going home/while waiting for hubby, minsan sinasabay ko na rin sa pag check mail pagdating ko ng office. hehe) I do some inquiry, requests for sample computation and kung pasok sa specs nmin we request for tripping.

Marvela: House model (this is how our home will look like)

Last March 15 we had another round of tripping. Met the broker at Festival Mall at 10AM then we headed sa Daang Hari to see the model units at Camella Homes Cerritos. We instantly fell in love with the model units and with the community. It's really nice! Dahil nagustuhan nmin we decided to see the actual site sa may Taguig (Diversion Road), lapit sa Petron C-5 and Market! Market! As per hubby's assesment ok naman daw sa kanya ang location, hindi kalayuan and malapit sa mga commercial areas. It's just a few minutes away sa Ortigas via C-5, Makati and airport.

After two weeks, we finally decided to invest. We made our reservation last Mar 31. 10% DP will be paid in 12 mos at 0% interest, less reservation fee. We opted for the 10 year term payment scheme via bank housing loan thru RCBC which will start after the DP.

Archi friends any advise? Ano dapat nming bantayan during the house construction? Btw, this is Camella Homes pla. Heard any reviews/feedbacks on this?

This April start na ung development ng site and expected turn over is by 2Q or 3Q of 2009. Sana 2009 na! Para makalipat na kmi . . . we are so excited to furnish our house, fill it with love and turn it into a home :-)

March 2008 (Busy-Fire-Home)

It's blogging time once again!

Finally, I finished all the asap system configuration, support for small but controvesial projects and my simplified but complicated tech specs for OR Automation Project. Petiks mode muna ulit. Need to rest muna my over used na brain. I am excerting too much effort pero not worth the pay for a SAP certified consultant. Unfair! Hehehe. Anyway, I know time will come for me and everything will pay off . . . yayaman din ako. 1 taon na lng! Hahaha!

March was indeed a very busy month for us (hubby and I) and ang dami rin happenings that we never thought na mangyayari.

Busy! Busy! Busy!
At work syempre! Since Hubby and I have the same profession we understand each other, so this is a no issue. There are times pa nga na we consult each other at kapag medyo light work load ko, I help him. Hubby is busier than me. He even worked nung Holy Week (lapit na ksi go live nila) so I spent the season sa Pampanga. Hanggang ngayon busy pa rin sya. Well I guess this is what IT profession really is, minsan dami work load, minsan wala (tulad ngayon). Hehehe. I love it!

On FIRE!
I guess some of you heard the angelica jones' fire incident. Hay naku! nadamay pa kami dahil we live on the same apartelle/bldg, 2f kmi while 3f sya. Good thing nothing bad happend to us and other tenants pati na rin sa things namin, binaha lng kmi. The worst thing is wala pa rin kami kuryente upto now. Aghrrr! Hindi namin kinaya ang init and mosquitoes.

We have 2 options naman where to stay while waiting for the electricity resoration. Siguro maselan, naninimbang or ayaw lng nmin tlga magkahiwalay. Option 1: Sa condo (Fort) ni ate, where she lives alone dahil wala naman bro-in-law ko. Option 2: Sa in-laws ko (Makati). Dahil we both dont want to stay sa side nya, side ko or sleep separately we ended checking-in every night. At ang gastos ah.

We are now looking for a place were we can transfer dahil hindi pa rin alam when marerestore ang electricity, pero sure sila na matatagalan - more than a month daw. Whew! We were advised by the care taker kung pwede lipat na rin kmi. like what other tenants did. Hay! We don't actually want to give up the unit since matagal na ako dito, 2001 pa. Aside sa matagal na ako . . . I love the location, malapit sa office, malapit sa lhat ng needs and the rent is cheap compared to nearby for rent apartments. Upto now hindi pa rin namin alam kung ano gagawin nmin. Ang hirap magdecide specially kpag ayaw mo iwan ang place were we both started relationship and shared our memories.

Our Future HOME!
It's not that we don't want to leave our rented love nest. Moving out is actually a part of our plan pero hindi pa ngayon ang takdang panahon by 3Q of 2009 pa dahil by this time matuturn-over na sa amin ang aming bahay. Yes on our very own home! Yiheee!

See my next blog for more details :)