Manor Lakes made an impression on Navineesh and Magda

Magda, an English teacher, and Navineesh, in IT, are living in Hawthorn and were looking to find a place that would better suit them long term.

Navineesh moved from Malaysia 10 years earlier and has been living in Hawthorn and Glen Iris.

Magda, originally from Poland, came to Australia via Malaysia where she was living and working until making the move south.

“I’ve lived here on my own for about a year and then we got married and Magda moved from Malaysia to Australia.”

“So we’ve been here two to three years now, and definitely the space is not enough,” Navineesh said.

Hawthorn as a suburb has some great features for the young couple, but the one-bedroom apartment wouldn’t do for much longer.

“I think it’s about time.”

Magda said they found the auction process frustrating and not honest.

“We wanted to do it right – communication from our end was amazing, we were doing the building checks in preparation for putting a bid on, and it was falling through. It didn’t feel like a genuine process.”

“Here, from the moment we started looking into buying the land House deal package, it just felt like yeah, we were on the right track.”

Finding Manor Lakes

“So we were looking for apartments initially and then we couldn’t find anything that we loved that was within our budget,” Magda said.

“Navin was always, kind of, attracted to the West with all the new developments, but also the friends that he has in in that area.

Starting in Laverton they went to see a few houses. Nothing seemed to fit until they went to Manor Lakes, and as Magda said, “absolutely loved it.”

“We felt like it was a very communal, vibrant neighbourhood with people like ourselves – young professionals, maybe a young family.

“We are hoping to have children soon, so it just felt right.”

Navineesh said that throughout their search they found themselves gravitating back to Manor Lakes and The Village precinct.

“So even now, every single time when we go even to look at the empty plot of land, it feels right.”

At this stage they were considering something off the plan, or ready to build, but nothing really matched up financially.

In the homes that might have worked they found that some of the features weren’t what the couple really wanted.

Rather than give up, they decided to check in with the Manor Lakes sales office and see what was possible.

Annetha and Alyx

Navineesh remembers speaking to Annetha and Alyx, and how a range of options quickly opened up.

“And we realised that we can actually buy within the budget that we set initially!”

Soon they were going through nearby display homes, discussing layouts, design options, land sizes and builders.

“We thought it would take maybe a year to build, which was surprising that it could be done within like 6 to 9 months we actually are building the exact display home that we liked,” Navineesh said.

“We liked how the area is planned with the shopping centre, I’m a member of the Anytime Fitness Gym and they have one in Manor Lakes Central which is perfect.

“So, this was ideal when it’s so close to the train station, which is a big plus getting into the city every day. That’s going to be helpful.”

Magda reflected on the collaboration process with Annetha.

“The approach felt very transparent and non-problematic, it felt like we were not necessarily dealing with people who were marketing or selling things, but people who were interested in creating a good neighbourhood feel and welcoming you to the area.”

Along the way Alyx and Annetha have helped with questions and given Magda and Navineesh recommendations beyond the plot of land or the suburb.

“There are quite a few things that we needed to learn about, and we were inquiring from the perspective of the overall layout or, you know, even having mirrors in your cupboard doors, things that we wouldn’t normally think about as necessary. But once you’ve had that explained it becomes obvious,” Magda said.

“I feel like it was more just a sense of being welcomed and welcomed to ask questions and having that honesty in conversation.”

By the end of the process, Annetha had recommended great people Magda and Navineesh could work with to pull it all together; the building consultant, mortgage broker (“the broker’s amazing!” Magda mentions as they both list off services) and the conveyancer.

“Everything was based off Annetha’s recommendation,” Navineesh said.

“When we spoke to her initially, she gave us all the confidence that we needed, like, ‘hey we can trust this person to give us this experience of building a home better,’ I think that was key.”

How it’s going

Magda mentioned that a few months into the process it feels like it was very much the right decision.

“It’s not an option that we initially considered because we thought it was massively outside of our price range.

Now it feels like a good choice just simply from the perspective of making it more of your dream home, and not cutting corners on or not excluding something that you really want with ready-made houses.

Having the right people in place, like the broker or the architect, it doesn’t feel like so much work because you are not really chasing anything. You are just reviewing, asking questions.”

Their new home is walking distance to a childcare centre with schools and other services nearby.

Navineesh added that it’s still quite a process.

“I think the Dennis Family team has made it a really, really good experience for us – any questions answered, any help that we needed.

The day of settlement they couldn’t get out to their land in time to make an inspection to confirm that everything on the lot was in order. Magda called the Manor Lakes Sales office to let them know.

“Annetha and the team were like, ‘Hey, no problem, we’ll do it for you.’

“They checked the land, took the pictures and got back to us in an hour or so.”

With construction underway, the couple are hopeful they’ll move in by Christmas.

“Currently the house that we are looking at is going to feel way too big for us,” Magda said.

“But yeah, hopefully we will fill up the space pretty soon.”