Pressure makes diamonds. Pressure also makes rubble.

Most unexpectedly, we have land! My partner and I have put down a deposit on a block of land in Point Cook. It's in the Alamanda estate and we're expecting the land to title in May 2009. Perfect. We're both super stoked and very excited that our dream is becoming more real.

So why the quote in my title? Well, I'm feeling a bit conflicted about the whole process. Why did we buy the block, when we were wanting to wait until we return from holiday? How could we lay down a $20,000 deposit before we secure finance? Why would we do exactly the opposite of what we intended to do?

Pressure. Plain old pressure.

A bit of background, to start us off. We looked at the Alamanda estate a couple of weeks ago. We were sold the minute we walked into the sales office. It's a great location and there's strict development guidelines which is important to us. The sales person was fantastic, answering all of our "newbie" questions confidently and properly. We found a block that we liked the look of and best of all, it was wide enough to suit the house we have picked. More importantly, it was available! A rare find in such a popular estate. We wanted it and would've put down a deposit then and there, except...

Except we're going on holidays in the middle of August. Except we haven't really looked at other estates. Except it doesn't title til May, meaning our dream home is more likely 2 years away. Except we haven't arranged finance.

So we took our brochures, our contracts, our dreams and headed home. Of course, we left our details with the very lovely sales person, but didn't really think they'd call.

They did. I'd like to say they called me every day. I'd even like to say they called me 10 times. No. Just twice. Once on the Monday after the first viewing, then again the following Monday. That's all it took. After a brief chat with my partner, we decided to go for it. Why?

Pressure! It's not the old fashioned, over bearing sales person pressure that I'm talking about. It's the new kind, much more subtle. It's when you want your dream to happen, so you pressure yourself. It's when you listen to your friends who tell you it's a good price, so they pressure you. It's the internet, who says that good blocks go quick, so you feel the pressure.

All that remains to be seen is whether this pressure will create diamonds or rubble.

I think diamonds.

It's a question of finance...

There are so many nice parts to buying a home. There's even more nice parts to building a home. Choosing an area you want to live in, walking through display homes and reading magazines for ideas are all part of a marvelous experience that everyone deserves to have. It's exciting and, for me at least, completely dominates my every waking thought right now.

There are also the less nice parts. No one likes parting with money and a house needs a whole heap of it. So much, in fact, that a loan is almost always required. I'm sad to say that we are no exception to this rule and soon will be seeking finance. We probably should've done this before putting down a deposit on a block of land, but here we are.

Welcome to damosbitofblog!

Hello World!

This is my first foray into the world of blogging, so welcome, both to you and me! I've always wanted to write, be it a diary, a journal or a blog, but have never had a real reason to do so. Why start now, you may ask? Well, I'm 29, getting ever closer to 30, and have decided to build and buy a house! What better reason could I have?

I should probably put a bit of context around this by telling you about myself. Well, I've already told you my age so I guess my name should be next. Damien is what my parents call me, Damo is what almost everyone else calls me. You can probably tell from the title of the blog that I'm pretty comfortable with that nickname, so don't be shy in using it! I'd never tell my mother this (again), but I don't really like Damien as a name. Three syllables is overkill for a first name, I'd be happy with one. Two is a great compromise.

Work always seems to be the third thing I tell people about myself, moreso because they ask than because I'm thinking about it. Truth is, I like to spend as little time as possible thinking about work, never truer than when I'm there! But since this is more a one way conversation, I thought it best to bring it up unprompted. So, my job. My career. My reason for leaving the house for 8 (or so) hours a day. I'm a consultant for an IT company, often called an engineer, or senior engineer, or systems engineer or whatever other special title suits the client I'm working with. Full time employed by one company who rents me out for project work to other companies? Do I feel used? I wish! Bored is more like it; however, I don't want this, my first post on my first blog, to descend into a work conversation. Lord knows, I've had enough of those. Perhaps I'll discuss in more detail in a side post later on, but I think you know enough for now.

Let's recap. You know my age, my name, my nickname, my job and a bit about my reason for blogging (to save you scrolling up to re-read, I'm building and buying a house and want to write about it). The question that hasn't been asked (or answered) is why should you stay? Well, I guess there could be any number of reasons! People building a house may wish to follow my progress, learn from my mistakes, share in my triumphs (and disappointments) or just give me advice (which is always sought and always welcome). Perhaps you'll stay because you like my style of writing, which I hope improves as I blog. Maybe you'll stay just to fill in a few minutes of your day. I guess I can't be sure who will read what I write, but hopefully you'll find some reason to visit.

I think I will close my first ever blog post in the same way I opened it.

Hello World!