Porter Davis homes

Oct 04, 2011
12:16 pm

Good news Rups,

Sounds like you guys have covered all angle of your build which is a good thing as there will be no suprises when building.
Come on titles office issue the damn title for Rups and Leanne.

Best tip about building is to save as much money as you can before teh build starts coz your gonna need it afterwards.

tstr1a

Oct 04, 2011
1:07 pm

My dad & mum went to the house and they are building our staircase today..........

I am sooooo happy. I can’t concentrate anymore at work, I wanna go and check it out.

Alpal

Oct 04, 2011
8:05 pm

Hi All,

Just wanted to provide an update... signed the contract yesterday...
The house was energy rated at 7.2 stars!!! Quite rare for a larger house I've been told.

To all that have not signed the contract as yet - make sure you read the fine print. There was a number of items I changed or requested to amended in this. It was mentioned by the BC the amount of people that do not read the fine print.
One thing that I was surprised with is that they do not have a copy of the maintainence specification - no idea what they cover in the defects period. Requested this and they could not provide a copy which is a worry.
As I read contracts everyday I know the devil is in the detail - just make sure you read this carefully.

now the fun and games really start....

JLD

Oct 04, 2011
8:20 pm

Alpal

Hi All,

Just wanted to provide an update... signed the contract yesterday...
The house was energy rated at 7.2 stars!!! Quite rare for a larger house I've been told.

To all that have not signed the contract as yet - make sure you read the fine print. There was a number of items I changed or requested to amended in this. It was mentioned by the BC the amount of people that do not read the fine print.
One thing that I was surprised with is that they do not have a copy of the maintainence specification - no idea what they cover in the defects period. Requested this and they could not provide a copy which is a worry.
As I read contracts everyday I know the devil is in the detail - just make sure you read this carefully.

now the fun and games really start....

Thanks for the heads up Alpal

Was it general things that you asked to amend or were they specific to your place?

Congrats on getting that little bit closer.....we'll be there in 3 weeks.

humble

Oct 04, 2011
8:30 pm

Alpal

Hi All,

Just wanted to provide an update... signed the contract yesterday...
The house was energy rated at 7.2 stars!!! Quite rare for a larger house I've been told.

To all that have not signed the contract as yet - make sure you read the fine print. There was a number of items I changed or requested to amended in this. It was mentioned by the BC the amount of people that do not read the fine print.
One thing that I was surprised with is that they do not have a copy of the maintainence specification - no idea what they cover in the defects period. Requested this and they could not provide a copy which is a worry.
As I read contracts everyday I know the devil is in the detail - just make sure you read this carefully.

now the fun and games really start....

I found the contract pretty good (also deal with contracts most days), care to expand on what you felt needed changing?

Alpal

Oct 04, 2011
8:39 pm

JLD

Thanks for the heads up Alpal

Was it general things that you asked to amend or were they specific to your place?

Congrats on getting that little bit closer.....we'll be there in 3 weeks.

Hi JLD,

I am referring to the contract specs - not the H1A as this is std. You really need to ensure your happy with the damages etc at the start of the H1A.
Some of the things I picked up (I picked up quite a few but this will give you an idea) under contract specs:

Item 2.3 Electricity - states they only provide single phase power (I need 3 phase for AC) - I requested to add "unless specified"
Item 22 Substitution - basically states that if they run out of materials your forced to pick whatever and be charged in way of variation. Have added that the variation fee (25% markup on start of HIA) will not be enforced on builder forced changes. Also they can claim an extension of time for subistution which is obsured - there fault they should pay if they are late..

Im hoping this gives you an idea... just ensure you read this carefully as it will always favour the builder...

Team PD

Oct 05, 2011
9:47 am

Rups

Hey there T,

Just posted an update on this over on the Saltwater thread, but we got a letter from our solicitor yesterday advising that the land had received council compliance and was now at the Titles office...! So, hopefully settlement will be scheduled somewhere in the next 2 weeks. The last 4 letters we've had from the solicitor have been to advise of delays, so this was very welcome and turned the excite-o-meter up a notch!

One of the advantages (and to some degree, a disadvantage) of being land delayed is the opportunity to scrutinise every option, selection and decision made and continually validate them. As painful every conversation my wife and I have had that started with "I've been thinking about...." or " I don't think I like the...", we're now 100% happy with the spec of our house, and our BC has been VERY accommodating of our many changes, although most of them have ended up with a lot more money in PD's coffers

Friends of ours are building a Churchill just around the corner, so their buid has been a surrogate build for us while we wait!

So... just need to complete settlement, get the council building permit and finalise the construction drawings and away we go... Bets on for a (concrete) slab this side of Christmas

Btw, your house is looking fantastic and is coming along at an incredible rate of knots!!!

Hi Rups,
Thou you might have had some delays with the land I totally agree with you that having this extra time you can be more certain about your selections and plans around your home. I’m pleased to hear you are happy with your BC. Along with tstr1a I’m also looking forward to seeing your land transform.

Cheers, Ebony

mak_

Oct 05, 2011
9:52 am

Question - I was contact by PD saying i no longer have me CSC and a new one will be appointed..we have only gone to Tender but don't want to go to contract and pull out all together...who am i supposed to contact???

Team PD

Oct 05, 2011
9:55 am

Alpal

Hi All,

Just wanted to provide an update... signed the contract yesterday...
The house was energy rated at 7.2 stars!!! Quite rare for a larger house I've been told.

To all that have not signed the contract as yet - make sure you read the fine print. There was a number of items I changed or requested to amended in this. It was mentioned by the BC the amount of people that do not read the fine print.
One thing that I was surprised with is that they do not have a copy of the maintainence specification - no idea what they cover in the defects period. Requested this and they could not provide a copy which is a worry.
As I read contracts everyday I know the devil is in the detail - just make sure you read this carefully.

now the fun and games really start....

Hi Alpal,
Congrats on your contract signing! That is a great energy star rating! It would be great if you could let us know what you chose to get to that. Hope all your amendments and requests get sorted, you are definitely on your way!

Cheers, Ebony

Team PD

Oct 05, 2011
10:01 am

mak_

Question - I was contact by PD saying i no longer have me CSC and a new one will be appointed..we have only gone to Tender but don't want to go to contract and pull out all together...who am i supposed to contact???

Hi mak,
We are making some changes and improvements across the business to help it be more effective, you will have a CSC who will be able to help, if you haven’t had a call from them please just let me know as this should have been done yesterday. You can send me a private message with your full name, lot address, who your CSC was and I can get this sorted for you. Cheers, Ebony

eli-kay123

Oct 05, 2011
1:21 pm

Hi all, yes I've been a bit slack on reporting here.

Bricks half done. Heating/aircon is up as well as insulation and soundproofing. Front door is in and so is laundry door and internal garage door. A bit of a surprise to see the front door up as I thought it would be the builders door that PD put up for the time being. So far we are happy with the quality of work. A bit of pink paint here and there showing we there are bows, looseness in the timber.

These pics were taken before the insulation and soundproofing were installed.

Front Door

Main bath

Message saying "Ceiling trims to every bay"

Laundry door with blinds in between glass.

humble

Oct 05, 2011
1:33 pm

Nice

I reckon I am about 5 days ahead of you.. Elec In and Gyprock arrived.

eli-kay123

Oct 05, 2011
2:24 pm

humble

Nice

I reckon I am about 5 days ahead of you.. Elec In and Gyprock arrived.

Great news about your Hawthorn bricks, Humble

You must have been a very good boy. Looks like someone upstairs likes you.

humble

Oct 05, 2011
2:30 pm

eli-kay123

humble

Nice

I reckon I am about 5 days ahead of you.. Elec In and Gyprock arrived.

Great news about your Hawthorn bricks, Humble

You must have been a very good boy. Looks like someone upstairs likes you.

I have a great SS i think.. he was straight onto it, and literally straight away rang me.

They look great too! More pics later today.

amit2777

Oct 05, 2011
6:35 pm

Cool, I was writing in Edenbrook estate about building my new home with PD
Building Francis26 [which no more exist on website]
Construction should be finished by first week of november...haven't seet supervisor yet...tried to fix appointments 3-4 times but his time and my time doesn't match...

Alpal

Oct 05, 2011
7:29 pm

Team PD

Hi Alpal,
Congrats on your contract signing! That is a great energy star rating! It would be great if you could let us know what you chose to get to that. Hope all your amendments and requests get sorted, you are definitely on your way!

Cheers, Ebony

Ebony,

Im not 100% sure how its worked out but I suspect the following helped:
Double glazed glass on all windows and doors
Wall insulation upgraded to 2.0 batts (1.5 foil will stay also)
Ceiling insulation upgraded to 3.5 batts
Electrical - half the lights downstiars are LEDs
Heating upgraded to 5.5 star system

Not sure what is taken into account? Does anyone know how its worked out?

Wateman

Oct 05, 2011
7:49 pm

Did anyone here do their finance through Choice? If so did u pay a reduced deposit with PD

I was under the impression this was a standard practice when going through Choice for a PD home, but today I emailed my BC and asked how much we had to pay on Tuesday (our contract signing finally) and she just said 5% of my quote. I thought it was bad she couldn't even give me the figure.
I mentioned to her I thought it was just $1,500 ($2,500 total Inc initial deposit) as I was told this byChoice originally. She said she doesn't know anything about this and asked me to show her in writing where i was told this.
I'm not too worried about this as I have the money to pay full deposits now but I'm just annoyed that it has had to become another issue. I am sure I've read on here other ppl saying it was standard to pay the reduced deposit when going through choice as it was their incentive.

Am I wrong about this?

humble

Oct 05, 2011
8:14 pm

Wateman

Did anyone here do their finance through Choice? If so did u pay a reduced deposit with PD

I was under the impression this was a standard practice when going through Choice for a PD home, but today I emailed my BC and asked how much we had to pay on Tuesday (our contract signing finally) and she just said 5% of my quote. I thought it was bad she couldn't even give me the figure.
I mentioned to her I thought it was just $1,500 ($2,500 total Inc initial deposit) as I was told this byChoice originally. She said she doesn't know anything about this and asked me to show her in writing where i was told this.
I'm not too worried about this as I have the money to pay full deposits now but I'm just annoyed that it has had to become another issue. I am sure I've read on here other ppl saying it was standard to pay the reduced deposit when going through choice as it was their incentive.

Am I wrong about this?

Your correct.. we did this too, mostly to protect our deposit.. no need to handover cash till you need too right?

mel_mox

Oct 05, 2011
9:03 pm

Nearly finished!
PCI not to far away! Hopefully at the end of Oct.
Can't believe a yr ago this month I was picking all my selections! Lol

It has flown from site start too!

Mel

Rups

Oct 05, 2011
9:07 pm

Ebony - you need to skip this post

We went though the process with Choice so we only had to pay $2,500 not 5%. We kinda did this knowing we weren't going to sign up with any of Choice's recommended lenders. We have a great relationship with our bank and one of their Lending Managers, and were going to take our new mortgage with them.

The main reason for this was that after paying for the land, we had to wait for the sale of our property before having enough cash to pay the 5% PD deposit, so it was easier to 'pretend' to go through Choice than look at other avenues to fund the 5%.

When the paperwork came through from Choice's recommended lender, we politely declined, having already organised unconditional finance through our bank.

So now all we have to do is pay the 5% minus the $2,500 already paid, at handover.

At tender, we were asked how we wanted to pay the deposit, but on advising that we were going through Choice, we got an "oh, that's fine then, just $1,500 is all you need to pay".

Later down the track when providing proof of finance, we mentioned to our BC that we had sorted our own funding, she didn't seem to care one iota.