September 2009 and I can't believe how excited we are. Scared, nervous but certainly excited. We have just signed the contract to build our dream home. December 2014 and I'm bankrupt. How did it all go so wrong, so terribly, terribly wrong? I am up to date with all the bills. Not a single late payment to the bank or anyone else. I was employed on a pretty good salary so how did I end up bankrupt. I declared bankruptcy by choice, well, sort of by choice. We built our dream house in a small town in the Lockyer Valley, 80 minutes drive west of Brisbane, Queensland. 400 square meters of sheer luxury. Every room is huge, in fact ridiculously huge. The laundry is big enough for a dinner party. 6mtr high raked ceiling in the living room, 3 double bathrooms. Situated on a hill with 180-degree views across the Brisbane Valley. For us it was paradise. This really was our dream home. 25 years of hard work had led to this point. We poured $700,000 into it. Every cent we had