oh dear! and we only signed up for ours in June this year
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5121Oct 25, 2013 3:57 pm Building the Avoca with MJH in Ed Park - BLOG 18/10 Construction list 29/10 Pegged 21/11 Slabbed 27/11 Framed 14/12 Roofed 4/1 Bricked 18/2 Lock up Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5124Oct 25, 2013 6:04 pm Building the Avoca with MJH in Ed Park - BLOG 18/10 Construction list 29/10 Pegged 21/11 Slabbed 27/11 Framed 14/12 Roofed 4/1 Bricked 18/2 Lock up Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5126Oct 25, 2013 8:03 pm theflints Hello everyone, I am just after a little bit of advice about building with MJH. We are planning on starting the process soon and have read the base price + 100k idea however we were just wondering if in the 100k it included your facade? We are wanting to build the monaco one elite with balinese tropicana facade and the wooden windows, with perhaps the smallest split level option (looking for a block to accommodate). This means our new price would be around the 270-280k mark. Not to mention higher ceilings, Lin1 doors, colours and electrical appointments. We were hoping to get away with the house being around the $350k mark (our limit we've decided). Any advice? Hi theflints, Welcome to the forum! If it helps, we originally had a quote on the Monaco One Elite in February this year that came in around $305,000. The quote included: - High ceilings - Split level - Villa C Facade - 4x Lin One Doors, 1x Lin One sliding cavity - Laundry cabinentry - Bifold Doors and alfresco/concrete - Bonus celebrations package and $7k off air conditioning At that stage the base price was $244,200 but it has gone up around 8% since then. We were really shocked that the first quote came up $55k from the base price! We ended up falling in love with the chesterfield and changing houses when we signed up in July. I've probably still got the old Monaco quote if you want me to scan and email it so you can see where costs add up. Our budget was $350 as well and our new house is a bit over with complete electrical, colours upgrades and flooring (carpet and floorboards). That doesn't include fencing, driveway, blinds or landscaping though People told us we would go over budget and we didn't want to believe them haha! That being said we already started behind because the base prices up here (up near Port Macquarie) are heaps more than Newcastle or Sydney. Have you looked at the new house added to the Stuart Everitt collection, it's called the Seaside Retreat and replaced the chesterfield design. It has similar features to the Monaco but the design is very cool, lots of storage space too. Apparently they were setting the price lower than the Monaco, which is weird because they are very similar sizes... Good luck! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5127Oct 25, 2013 9:39 pm For those of you who have commenced building, can you tell me how often you speak with your SS. Does he contact you with regular updates or do you need to chase him up to find out what is happening? We seam to be having some issues here and I can't quite work out why. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5128Oct 26, 2013 12:08 am bradk Nat84 merrynamy in this $100k we included 9ft ceilings, upgraded bricks, increased garage height, air con (yes we were the only silly ones to include the standard derby a/c, so if anyone wants a review on this later then speak to me ), No no, you're definitely not the only one getting the Derby aircon hehe Count us in too. Jasper 26 We received our DV yesterday and we have the same house design(Avoca) and façade(Balinese Resort) as you and its jumped to $7800 We signed up back in Feb. Last week I had a look at the new pricing, and the base price of our house, has gone up by $16k in 8 months. prices go up 4% every 6 months Building Milano 4 16m at North Kellyville Deposit paid 5/2013 Colours 7/9/13 Contract Signed 4/09/14 Land settled 13/10/13 CDC approval 26/11/13 Electricals 04/12/13 Construction list 11/12/13 Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5129Oct 26, 2013 12:17 am theflints Hello everyone, I am just after a little bit of advice about building with MJH. We are planning on starting the process soon and have read the base price + 100k idea however we were just wondering if in the 100k it included your facade? We are wanting to build the monaco one elite with balinese tropicana facade and the wooden windows, with perhaps the smallest split level option (looking for a block to accommodate). This means our new price would be around the 270-280k mark. Not to mention higher ceilings, Lin1 doors, colours and electrical appointments. We were hoping to get away with the house being around the $350k mark (our limit we've decided). Any advice? Welcome theflints it depends how much extras you put in and what you want. We are getting ready to build the milano 4 16m. Base price is $216k (we got $10k discount so it is now $206k ) Tender was for $307k Included higher ceiling, balinese facade, bifold doors site costs around $40k. We had to drop the garage which added $10k. after colours we spent $50k includign flooring and shutters and upgrade to kitch. didnt go silly but added what we wanted. out contract price is $357k. We have aircon on top of that after handover about $9k. then driveway after which is $7k. We havent done electricals but expect around $5k with builder and $6k after. So by the time we get it built with landscaping and fence we have budgetted for around $400k. give yourself plenty of room or be tight on budget good luck Building Milano 4 16m at North Kellyville Deposit paid 5/2013 Colours 7/9/13 Contract Signed 4/09/14 Land settled 13/10/13 CDC approval 26/11/13 Electricals 04/12/13 Construction list 11/12/13 Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5130Oct 26, 2013 6:33 am romishem theflints Hello everyone, I am just after a little bit of advice about building with MJH. We are planning on starting the process soon and have read the base price + 100k idea however we were just wondering if in the 100k it included your facade? We are wanting to build the monaco one elite with balinese tropicana facade and the wooden windows, with perhaps the smallest split level option (looking for a block to accommodate). This means our new price would be around the 270-280k mark. Not to mention higher ceilings, Lin1 doors, colours and electrical appointments. We were hoping to get away with the house being around the $350k mark (our limit we've decided). Any advice? Welcome theflints it depends how much extras you put in and what you want. We are getting ready to build the milano 4 16m. Base price is $216k (we got $10k discount so it is now $206k ) Tender was for $307k Included higher ceiling, balinese facade, bifold doors site costs around $40k. We had to drop the garage which added $10k. after colours we spent $50k includign flooring and shutters and upgrade to kitch. didnt go silly but added what we wanted. out contract price is $357k. We have aircon on top of that after handover about $9k. then driveway after which is $7k. We havent done electricals but expect around $5k with builder and $6k after. So by the time we get it built with landscaping and fence we have budgetted for around $400k. give yourself plenty of room or be tight on budget good luck Welcome the flints, I'm at the stage of getting bricks started next week. We went with the Havana 3. I'd agree with most people that the costs do add up very quickly and keep in mind that the builder will always add more on.... Compared to if you source someone externally later. Our base price was $196. Our contract price ended up being $265. So a little less than 100k, but bearing in mind, we are doing our own flooring, driveway, fly screens, aircon and electrical. So in couloirs we added higher ceilings, slide cavity doors on media, foil wrap, (facade which was around 9k), double alfresco, and bits and peices such as draws, glossy cupboards, 40mm ceaser stone, upgraded handles, locks, etc. our electrical app only came to $95. Yes, that's right. $95. We only upgraded our power points on glass splash back. But my brother is an electrician and us doing all electrical after hand over. So with all the extras I'm doing after hand over I'd say we would be very close and prob a bit over the 100k increase mark. Hope this helps and good luck! On a side note, a bit of advice.... When we picked our facade it changed the design of our front room (media room). Initially when we picked the plan out of the green next gen book our media room had a large recess of the tv which was in the ride hand wall. When we changed our facade to have corner windows we didn't realize that we cannot have a recess and we small windows were put in above where the tv was suppose to go. It wasn't mentioned anyway to us that this would occur due to the chance in facade. So our tv now goes on the left hand wall which backs onto the entry (where there is a picture recess). We are not too bothered but just got a little shock when we worked this out. Also what are people doing about hanging heavy pictures/ tv's on the walls? We've been told to put a wooden board behind where we want to hang anything heavy. That way the scews have something to bite into. Has anyone done this? Any ideas on what you did? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5131Oct 26, 2013 6:53 am romishem prices go up 4% every 6 months Any idea what other builders do? Thats way above CPI. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5132Oct 26, 2013 9:21 am bradk romishem prices go up 4% every 6 months Any idea what other builders do? Thats way above CPI. I'd take comments on this forum with a grain of salt. But this is probably not far from the truth over the last 20 years simply because house prices have also outpaced CPI for the same period. To elaborate; 4% per 6 months is doubling every 9 years. You can probably show that homes have done that for the last 40 or 50 years. Whether you think that's sustainable or not, it doesn't change the facts and reality presented to us. I just went to an open house around the corner from our block, for a home 60% the size of the one we're building and it's 86% of the money we're spending (land+home+finish). So I still see building as far superior, finance wise, to buying existing homes. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5133Oct 26, 2013 11:27 am fliss+renee Also what are people doing about hanging heavy pictures/ tv's on the walls? We've been told to put a wooden board behind where we want to hang anything heavy. That way the scews have something to bite into. Has anyone done this? Any ideas on what you did? I would also love to know this! We asked about getting these put in during the build but was told it was only done with the tv mounting packages Building the Avoca with MJH in Ed Park - BLOG 18/10 Construction list 29/10 Pegged 21/11 Slabbed 27/11 Framed 14/12 Roofed 4/1 Bricked 18/2 Lock up Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5134Oct 26, 2013 12:31 pm Hello again, Just went out to bust our house and realized we don't have eves around our garage!! Grrrr... Something else that changed with the facade that wasn't pointed out to us. I'm so upset. I really like the look of eves all the way around the house. Has anyone built the metro A facade and added eves?? If so, can you please give a rough idea of the cost? Thanks heaps Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5135Oct 26, 2013 2:38 pm merrynamy fliss+renee Also what are people doing about hanging heavy pictures/ tv's on the walls? We've been told to put a wooden board behind where we want to hang anything heavy. That way the scews have something to bite into. Has anyone done this? Any ideas on what you did? I would also love to know this! We asked about getting these put in during the build but was told it was only done with the tv mounting packages We asked the carpenter to put some extra noggings in for us for some cash. I'm surprised mdj don't give people a proper option for this at colors as it comes up quite a bit with steel Frame house design. Building McDonald Jones Bronte Manor One Contracts Signed Dec 12 DA Lodged Jan 13 DA Consent w/BAL40 Apr 13. S96 Consent w/BAL19 May 13. Slab Complete Jun 13. Frame Brick & Roof Complete Aug 13. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5136Oct 26, 2013 5:19 pm scotty78 merrynamy fliss+renee Also what are people doing about hanging heavy pictures/ tv's on the walls? We've been told to put a wooden board behind where we want to hang anything heavy. That way the scews have something to bite into. Has anyone done this? Any ideas on what you did? I would also love to know this! We asked about getting these put in during the build but was told it was only done with the tv mounting packages We asked the carpenter to put some extra noggings in for us for some cash. I'm surprised mdj don't give people a proper option for this at colors as it comes up quite a bit with steel Frame house design. thanks scotty7&! so your SS didn't mind? did the carpenter supply the wood or did you need to source this? Building the Avoca with MJH in Ed Park - BLOG 18/10 Construction list 29/10 Pegged 21/11 Slabbed 27/11 Framed 14/12 Roofed 4/1 Bricked 18/2 Lock up Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5137Oct 26, 2013 5:34 pm I've got a great supervisor and checked with him first and all ok. You need to chat to the carpenter after the frame goes up. Building McDonald Jones Bronte Manor One Contracts Signed Dec 12 DA Lodged Jan 13 DA Consent w/BAL40 Apr 13. S96 Consent w/BAL19 May 13. Slab Complete Jun 13. Frame Brick & Roof Complete Aug 13. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5138Oct 26, 2013 8:13 pm Been a long time between posts here! RE the noggins, we got this done by the carpenter, SS was very helpful in organising. We were actually on holiday down at the snow and already live in Canberra and building in Newcastle and they did everything over phone and email and then he picked up the $$ from FIL in Newy. We had to go over the plan and provide heights of every noggin we wanted which was a tricky as we hadn't really thought much further aheaed than that we'd like them. With the TVs, if you plan to mount it straight away, I'd probably get the package as they'll do a cavity in the wall for the cables. We don't plan on mounting them straight away (still only have one big old flat screen and it's very heavy) and you can get little cable cover things from Bunnings to stick on the wall to hide it a bit too. RE the SS contact, ours calls maybe every 2-3 weeks. We're not super communicative ourselves and we can't just pop around and have a look but he calls often enough for our liking, has a chat about what has been done, who is on site and what is coming up. Always happy to answer questions if we have any. RE the Derby aircon, I'll do a review in 6 weeks We didn't bother upgrading cause we really don't think we'll use it that much, we've got great solar orientation, good ocean breezes and it doesn't get that cold there in winter either for the R/C. Can't think of anything else I wanted to comment on after reading through all that. Our build is powering along and we've only got the final progress payment left :O Thought I'd share some pics of our progress so far as I don't have a blog or build thread or anything. http://s208.photobucket.com/user/lise_2 ... ew%20house Password is 'homeone' Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5139Oct 26, 2013 9:34 pm MadamImAdam bradk romishem prices go up 4% every 6 months Any idea what other builders do? Thats way above CPI. I'd take comments on this forum with a grain of salt. But this is probably not far from the truth over the last 20 years simply because house prices have also outpaced CPI for the same period. To elaborate; 4% per 6 months is doubling every 9 years. You can probably show that homes have done that for the last 40 or 50 years. Whether you think that's sustainable or not, it doesn't change the facts and reality presented to us. I just went to an open house around the corner from our block, for a home 60% the size of the one we're building and it's 86% of the money we're spending (land+home+finish). So I still see building as far superior, finance wise, to buying existing homes. McDonald Jones told me they increase prices 4% every 6 months. They were straight up about it. And yes it is crazy and unsustainable but it is reality. The other builders pretty much do the same what i have heard. Existing houses are better value to a point economically, more to do with land values bigger blocks, but not neccesarily emotionally. You live in a home not an investment. Depends on whether you plan to stay in the house for a long period of time etc.difficult to measure. That is why you can depreciate a house 2.5% per annum when using for investment purposes.(100% over 40 years) People forget houses do depreciate. Land on the other hand goes up an up and up. Building Milano 4 16m at North Kellyville Deposit paid 5/2013 Colours 7/9/13 Contract Signed 4/09/14 Land settled 13/10/13 CDC approval 26/11/13 Electricals 04/12/13 Construction list 11/12/13 Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 5140Oct 27, 2013 10:11 pm MadamImAdam I think the facade price can vary if one has bag n paint / render and the other not. theflint; if you're talking purely the house price, that sounds right. Add driveway, fence, landscaping etc to that. I don't believe you can get it all done for 350k. PS: I'd love to hear anyone's reviews on the standard derby aircon. Re: Derby Aircon This is a little second hand but our good friends build with MDJ last year and got the Derby system as a bonus. Their review of it was not very complimentary saying it was very noisy. They said they will even replace it in years to come so and were glad they didnt pay for it. Im opting to put in a daiken system afterwards with an external provider. Quoted around $10k but im sure i can do better than that. Building Milano 4 16m at North Kellyville Deposit paid 5/2013 Colours 7/9/13 Contract Signed 4/09/14 Land settled 13/10/13 CDC approval 26/11/13 Electricals 04/12/13 Construction list 11/12/13 Hi AKG, We had a base tender of $592 for 31 squares from MC Donald Jones. It looks relatively cheaper than other builders. But I assume there are many hidden things that… 1 16793 Hi, Apologies - I know there is plenty out there on this but struggling to put together the puzzle. We're planning our garage/external laundry to master bedroom and… 0 11096 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 23467 |