With rapid improvements in technology, the world gets smaller every day, and there’s no better example of that than the story of Shane and Helen Russell - a Kiwi couple living in Dubai, who have just finished building their stunning new home with
David Reid Homes’ Sunshine Coast Southern branch. In - a remarkable testament to the skills of the team at David Reid Homes, the entire building process was managed by email, with Shane and Helen having only just seen their newly completed Pelican Waters home for the very first time.
With senior positions in the aviation industry in Dubai, Shane and Helen have spent the last 8 years in the United Arab Emirates. “We both enjoy our work, and Dubai is a dynamic place to be,” tells Helen. “But we absolutely love the Sunshine Coast and ultimately that’s where we’d like to settle. Although we’ll be in Dubai for a while yet, we’re keen property investors and wanted to get into the Sunshine Coast market sooner rather than later.”
Armed with a very specific list of ‘must-haves’, Shane and Helen took a short holiday and headed for the Sunshine Coast. “We wanted something on the water, it had to be north facing, and it had to be somewhere between Noosa and the Gold Coast” tells Shane. After two weeks of fruitless searching, they returned to Dubai and put their investment plans temporarily on hold, until an invitation for Shane to attend his high school reunion in New Zealand changed everything.
“I actually went to school with David Reid, and although I was unable to attend the reunion the photographs of the event prompted me to contact David via email later. Before we moved over to Dubai, I had watched with interest as Dave’s reputation grew. Unless you’ve lived in New Zealand, it’s hard to appreciate just how significant Dave’s impact has been over there – people actually advertise their homes for sale by emphasising the fact that it’s a David Reid home” tells Shane.
“Having been unsuccessful finding a suitable property in Queensland and aware of David’s expansion into Australia, Helen and I had a look at davidreidhomes.com and found a plan for a home they called the Baja” tells Shane. “We emailed Dave to say that if he could find the right block for us, we’d like to build the Baja with him. Dave put us in touch with Steve and Melissa, who were actually in the process of finalising plans to build the Baja in the new Display Village at Pelican Waters.”
Under David Reid Homes’ Showhome investment program, Shane and Helen were able to invest in the Baja, then lease it back to Steve and Melissa, who will use it as their
Showhome for 2 years, with options to extend that lease open to mutual agreement. Helen takes up the story: “It was perfect. The block that Steve and Melissa had chosen to build their Showhome was on the water, it was north-facing and because we wanted a home that we could eventually enjoy as a base for friends and family, the location was ideal. With the leaseback arrangement we don’t have to worry about finding tenants, and because it is going to be Steve and Melissa’s Showhome, we know it will be meticulously maintained and looked after until we’re ready to move in.”
“By the time we got involved, the plans had already been drawn up, but Steve and Melissa were wonderful,” tells Helen. “They let us change a few things around before construction started, and Melissa sent colour swatches and product brochures by email so that we could make the final decisions on what went where.” Until a recent visit to view their new home, Helen had never even been to the site. “Although I’d never been there, because Melissa had sent photos and had kept us so well informed, I walked in the front door and knew where everything was. It was quite a surreal experience.”
Shane adds: “Communicating by email can be very difficult sometimes - it’s easy to misinterpret things. But Steve and Melissa were so straightforward, and very clear in the way they communicated. We received a progress report weekly, progress photos once a month, and an immediate response from them if we had any questions. Particularly when you’re doing something like this longdistance, trust is a huge factor. It was a real comfort to be dealing with people that we had absolute trust in.”
17-Dec-2007