Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Avonlee Estate 65Jul 22, 2014 11:13 am Haha - you guys seem like a blast. we live about 20-25 mins from the block, have made a couple of trips out, but both times, not much was happening. We were given an option to pay an extra $1000 to lock the price in with our builder for an extra 3 months just in case the titles were going to be in March, i'm just praying,.... praying they aren't delayed and we get a price increase which could be $5-$7k - that would suck. Elly_93 Hey Kaylz what is your block number? I'm 365 Hi Elly, we are block 334, next block over on the other side by the reserve. Who are you building with? Have you had your block for long? 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 66Jul 22, 2014 12:59 pm Kaylz Haha - you guys seem like a blast. we live about 20-25 mins from the block, have made a couple of trips out, but both times, not much was happening. We were given an option to pay an extra $1000 to lock the price in with our builder for an extra 3 months just in case the titles were going to be in March, i'm just praying,.... praying they aren't delayed and we get a price increase which could be $5-$7k - that would suck. Elly_93 Hey Kaylz what is your block number? I'm 365 Hi Elly, we are block 334, next block over on the other side by the reserve. Who are you building with? Have you had your block for long? We signed up in May and are building with celebration homes we are doing Prestart august 4th and then will have to wait for titles after that Re: Avonlee Estate 67Jul 22, 2014 1:10 pm Hi Again, Seem to be trolling these threads as if we were just about to start construction. Not sure if it's worth starting my own thread yet, but I now have some new concersn. When we signed our PCQ with our builder, i realised the next day, me and DH signed the wrong month (June instead of July) so i told our consultant and he's send it all back through to be signed again. I have some more minor changes i wanted added in there, so i've asked if we should get the whole thing revised again. NOW, my concern. After going back through the variations again, looking a little closer, i think i've come across some things which have been charged twice. i.e. 1. In structural Changes, - Floor tiling is included. This has been included in a seperate item (in which they also seemed to have double up in another seperate item) 2. In structural Changes, they've included adding our HIS / HERS WIR which they've charged for in a item called "HIS/HERS WIR" 3. Theatre door - states taking a door from another room in a house which wasn't required and upgrading it to a sliding door. The charge is minimal, but i want to know if there was a credit from the other door rather than just a single charge....?? 4. Ref #2, HIS / HERS WIR charges which were included in Structural changes 5. Changes in Ensuite, seems there 'could' be a mixture of credits, charges & no charges in this room (for simply moving things around, deleting & adding items) 6. Laundry Linen - they've charged for resizing the laundry (which was also included in the 'structural changes') and made the sliding door slightly smaller (credit???) 7. Kitchen - reconfigure kitchen layout (again.... mentioned in the structural changes and charged)and i'm not entirely sure, but it appears they've 'added' a 300mm overhang to the kitchen bench for a breakfast bar (which we wanted) but this could actually be in the original design and not a variation. Our new design states "300mm O/Hang" but doesn't say it on the original (but looks like it is there) 8. WIP & Fridge / Freezer Recess: charges for relocating the fridge / freezer recess? delete door & frame from original pantry (should be credit???) Additional shelves.... (Costs) 9. Laundry & WC Tiling - This isn't even happening, we are getting vinyl in these areas as it is 'extra' to get these areas tiled becuase they're not classed as a 'wet area'. AND it states in the next item the flooring of vinyl includes the laundry & WC...... 10. we are getting a larger bath which will eliminate some floor tiling in the bathroom, should we get credit for this? We got the Della Vita fixtures / sinks etc included at no extra charge & they gave us a 'company' Discount of $1500 because the total came to about $3000 over our budgeted amount so they said they will go us halves. I'm not thankful i made a mistake and signed with the wrong date and have had a chance to re-look at everything. My question after all of this, is i think i want to ask for an itemised quote, stating every single charge / credit / no charge for each and every line in the quote, how do i go about this? Should i just ask for it and then after seeing it address my concerns with the cost of everything or address the whole thing now asking for an itemised quote. I think we've been overcharged and getting ripped off!!! Not happy Jan. 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 68Jul 22, 2014 1:13 pm Oops..... I'm "NOW" thankful, i made a mistake..... and i've heard and read several times, that if you get discounts / free upgrades etc. it will be made up elsewhere as they don't really give things away for free..... does this seem to be the case? 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 69Jul 22, 2014 1:27 pm We signed up in May and are building with celebration homes we are doing Prestart august 4th and then will have to wait for titles after that [/quote] Hi Elly, did you buy a block which was re-released or have you been sitting on it for a while? i know some people have been sitting on their blocks in this stage for a long time. We managed to nab one which was bought originally in may last year (+$35,000). We are building a decent sized home for us, its only 3br but has activity room and a massive theatre (which is going to be my studio) and we are pretty happy with it. Some of these houses are gigantic, little bit of envy, but happy with our humble little abode. Got a great size backyard too - pretty happy with that. Have you stumbled upon any issues in the process so far? 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 70Jul 22, 2014 1:30 pm Yes they'll usually put a bunch of adds/minuses on the schedules, it gets very confusing. Ideally for every change there should be a separate line item (e.g. delete standard door, then add upgraded door on the following line; with a cost for each). It's also true that the credit for removing things isn't always going to be the cost of the item plus installing it. I asked about changing my standard storage hot water for instant gas, was going to cost about the price of an instant gas unit. The reason being, just about every builder uses the same storage hot water (Rheem stellar), so the builders' buy price is low; and that's all you get a credit on. Likewise when I had to shorten my laundry by 50cm to satisfy council regulations, the credit was all of $40. Re tiles to laundry/WC, this wasn't standard with my builder either (Aveling Homes). I got an 'upgrade pack' that added this (as well as several other small things, e.g. double power points, upgraded door handles, bigger oven, etc). There are a LOT of things that go into a house. You'll never get everything just perfect; builders know this so they charge a variation cost for when you change your mind down the track. Just remember it's your house so you can change things later if you don't like them when you first move in Re: Avonlee Estate 71Jul 22, 2014 1:43 pm Thanks Mortz, I know we are very uneducated about these kinds of things, so trying to get my head around as much as i possibly can about it all so we don't get too far in over our heads. I think I will ask my consultant to send me through an itemised PCQ so i can see exactly where the charges and costs are, then go through it again with a fine tooth comb and question my concerns. I know we can change things later, except for the cost....!!!! There are little things which we've thought about also, and can possibly change later, which we will, and where we can, will approach electricians to put in our personally bought ceiling fans etc. 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 73Jul 22, 2014 1:52 pm Just like me and Mortz..haha. I was in rush when i signed up. My sales person told me this was the last lot on stage 3A which was not true. But its not too bad..got a good price and decent construction price. I was lucky that i did not have to make so many changes though.. Re: Avonlee Estate 75Jul 22, 2014 2:04 pm Yeah we did a pretty big variation to the original design as they had nothing which was close to what we wanted. We are extremely happy with the design now minus a couple of worries about storage space on my end. But really, i know we are going to just love the house. Glad i got you two here who can pass all your knowledge on lol. We weren't in a rush, although it all happened super fast and we were a bit overwhelmed, but I think i've got to get this PCQ back to them before the end of the month with the deposit paid to avoid 'price rises'. I will still be researching to my hearts content and know when we do get our contract we should really go through everything over and over and double / triple check everything to make sure it's right. Once you sign that - that's it. Our variations to the contract as it stands are $22,663 on a base price of $156,990. first i was shocked at the price and variations, then soon realised it was just about right on our budget (plus site costs of approx $10,200) oing a quick calulation on what i think we mayhave been overcharged for aor charged twice, even with our disounts & credits, they would be up on us by $96. and this isn't even going through every line item, just each "block" item. that's another question, how much did you all pay for your site costs in Avonlee?? and did you have to build with BAL specs? 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 76Jul 22, 2014 2:05 pm Mortz But did you sign the option for your house to be constructed? It sounds like that was an option at your builder! Mortz, yeah, maybe these charges are just for design only??? Better check this one hahaha 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 78Jul 22, 2014 6:03 pm Same for mine, there was a provisional sum for site works (and a concrete pump); I've no idea how much of this was used (apparently it is adjusted at final account). I believe the adjustment isn't made sooner because the builder has sent a schedule of progress payments to the bank, so they release a pre-approved, set amount of funds. Re: Avonlee Estate 79Jul 22, 2014 6:10 pm Ok - that's interesting. Every builder we went to gave us a range of quotes for Site works from $8000 - $14,500. Our provisional sum with our builder is $10,200 but he's over quoted $2,500 just in case we need some extras, they don't think we will, but that's just what they've done to help us cover the costs if something comes up. I will be requesting all invoices for this to see what the final cost actually was against what we are charged to ensure they don't take any monies that weren't used. I'd rather know what the site works are than have them included in the build price to ensure ^. Pity you don't actually know - it would be good to gauge the costs in the other areas of this development. 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Avonlee Estate 80Jul 22, 2014 6:41 pm One thing I know, is that site works are a huge question mark. Your site works might have cost $12k, and your neighbours' might cost $30k, even in a developed estate like Avonlee. All I know at the moment is that it came in under the provisional sum amount of $15k, so any difference is credited at final account. I won't really know more until then (though I'll ask the question if I get the chance). |