News/Blog

When you have lived in an area for many years and your family’s lives are fully immersed in the neighbourhood, schools, and community, it’s always a difficult decision to know what to do when you have outgrown the family home.

Do you look around the area for another home, knowing you don’t want to leave and knowing you’ll need to outlay thousands and thousands of dollars in agent fees and stamp duty to sell and move? Or do you do what the Francis family did and work out that a great option is to rebuild on existing land they had as an investment property and stay in the same area they loved?

“My younger daughter attends school in Oakleigh which is a 10-minute drive from home, and my older girl is in Monash University, Clayton. My husband Olancio works in Bayswater, and I work in Dandenong; we have built a life in this area and knew we wanted to stay,” explains Rachel Francis. 

“We have always lived in Southeast Melbourne because of all the services available in the area, We previously lived in a home in the area that we built a little over 14 years ago, and decided to build our second home with Dennis Family Homes as we had heard good reviews from friends who had built with Dennis Family Homes.”

Not having considered a Knockdown Rebuild the family had pursued other options. They started to consider the process and finally settled on the idea of knocking down the house and building their new dream home after speaking with family and friends.

“We did a lot of research on building extensions and renovations before considering a Knockdown Rebuild. Based on recommendations from friends and family and their experiences we decided a Knock Down Rebuild would be a perfect option. Several of them after completing renovations and extensions on their homes still decided on a Knockdown Rebuild, and we didn’t what to be in a position where we had spent money on renovations and then go down the path of a Knockdown Rebuild,” confirms Rachel.

The family looked at a few different builders and researched for about six months before deciding on the Dennis Family Homes family favourite, Balmoral design and found the overall process wasn’t too hard, especially with the support of their Sales Consultant.

“Adam our Sales Consultant from Dennis Family Homes was most helpful with the guidance and information he provided, which was very reassuring. We choose the Balmoral as we could have a bedroom downstairs and a second living space/games room close to the family area, plus we really liked the open plan that the Balmoral offered. We amended the plans to have the garage extended out and for the lounge at the front to be converted into a guest bedroom.”

‘We have a friend and a family member who had the Hamptons Facade which we loved. We love the fact that the facade offers a coastal feel and has light shades and decided to go with whites, greys, whitewashed wood and lots of plants to add some greenery inside and out,” says Rachel.

Rachel said they found the team across Dennis Family Homes very helpful.

“Our building supervisor Brendan was most helpful and very responsive. He was readily available for any private inspections. We also had a very good experience at our colour and lighting selection appointments. We found everyone to be very helpful and they offered us good insight into the colours that would look good together. We’ve built with another builder once before and I don’t remember much of our dealing with the staff there. The friendly and approachable attitude of the Dennis Family Homes’ staff has been the best part of our building journey,” reports Rachel.

Although there were a few delays with material supply shortages along the way, they didn’t impact the overall time frame and the Francis family’s home was ready prior to the timeframe given and they were able to move in a few months ago.

“We moved in at the end of May 2023 and would definitely recommend Dennis Family Homes. Our experience with our building supervisor Brendan and other staff made the process so much easier. Now having the space for teenage girls and being able to entertain extended family and friends and having a butler’s pantry and walk in robe is a dream come true. I enjoy baking and cake decorating, and love gardening in our new home.”

“We have a number of friends and some family members in the area and belong to a great church community. We’ve also started building relationships with our neighbours who all seem to be very friendly. Several neighbours have stopped by and commented on our new home which makes us feel very proud, we couldn’t be happier with the way the house has turned out both inside and out,” Rachel proudly responds.

Congratulations to the Francis family on your new home. We know you’ll love everything the Balmoral has to offer and enjoy your home for many years to come.