Generally, when people think about building a house, “relaxing” is not what they picture.
But that’s exactly what Joe Webber says Sentinel Homes delivered when we built not one, but two homes for him.
With Auckland’s population booming, Joe and his wife decided to build a four-bedroom, two living room home just outside the city in Pokeno.
Joe says it made more financial sense to build, than to buy new.
“You only need a 10% deposit on new builds,” says Joe.
The reason people don’t often go for this smarter option is worry over the risk that can come with a new build. Nate from Sentinel Homes Waikato convinced him that he could trust our systems and people to keep budgets, timeframes and stress levels under control. Joe and his partner didn’t just take his word for it, though. What it came down to for the couple was a simple equation – spend slightly more and get a far better product.
“We shopped around a bit, and I just liked their houses,” says Joe. “There were other housing companies that could build a bit cheaper, but it wasn’t as good quality. We went with the quality.”
Even with some back and forth with council about soil types that the Sentinel Homes team dealt with, Joe says the project felt like it was all “smooth sailing.”
“I have a few friends who built with other companies who had some bad experiences, so I was pretty nervous with our first home, but it was sweet as,” he explains.
Joe and his family were happy to leave Nate in charge of making decisions about fit-out. Their brief to him was to create a comfortable, low-maintenance home that would stand the test of time. Nate stuck to neutral colours, and chose hardwearing and functional over more aesthetic or expensive options.
“We trusted him,” says Joe. “They kept us up to date with what was happening. It was really good communication and they kept us in the loop.”
They had a few more opinions about their new three-bedroom, two living room home in Maketu, though. Joe plays for the New Zealand Sevens, and loves hunting and fishing. Their new home is only five minutes to the boat ramp, and about 15 minutes’ drive from Blake Park, where the Sevens train. So, you could say this was the dream house, and Joe made sure it was built around the family’s unique lifestyle.
The house has a mud room for cleaning up, and a small garage door perfectly sized for his ride-on. There’s parking and a specially positioned tap out the front for the boat, and an extra-high ceiling in the garage to allow for Joe’s gym equipment. A mono-pitch roof suited the couple’s taste, and two living rooms means there’s space for their three young kids. A big deck and room for a Christmas hāngi pit out the back completed the dream-home wish list.
“We love our house,” says Joe. “It’s exactly what we wanted.”
For this build, they got to use the Sentinel Home build app, which Joe says was “pretty cool to follow” – especially useful for when he was out of town on training camps. He was also impressed with how easily the team dealt with any changes the couple wanted to make.
“Anything we asked for and wanted to change, it was no problem. There were no delays on it,” explains Joe. “I didn’t have to worry about anything.”
Joe and his partner say they’d definitely recommend Sentinel Homes, and in fact, already do.
“I tell everyone,” says Joe. “Some of my friends went with someone else and they had some blow outs. You don’t get that with Sentinel.”
Let’s get together for a free, no-pressure meeting with one of our team, at your place or ours.
We can't wait to hear your ideas!
