Building with Montgomery Homes

Hi all,


Long time lurker finally starting the building journey.

We have a decent size parcel of land but it also comes with about 3-4 m rise from the road to back boundary.
We originally wanted to go with McDonald Jones but they didn't really want to build on the land, we didn't want to compromise on the land as it was in an already established area close to shops etc etc, not in a new sub division.

We then decided on Montgomery as they appear to be one of the better volume builders for sloping sites.

So far they have been pretty accommodating with requests but we are only just going to tender stage. There's been a few out of the box requests I've asked for like raked celling for the back living area and a proper bulkhead and soundproofing provisions for the entertainment room which they have resisted. Also the build price is getting quiet high (close to $600k)

Anyone have any experience with Montgomery? Would I be better searching for a more custom builder? Does anyone have suggestions in the Newcastle/Maitland area?

J.

Hey jga,

I'm currently building a Montgomery Home - I've had a really good experience with them so far. I had a few upgrade requests which they easily accommodated, including soundproofing and bulkhead to home theatre - though I removed bulkhead in the end as it made the room too narrow.

i think im getting good value for money overall on the inclusions and build quality despite a few upgrades. Once i moved from my initial tender i had a better opportunity to get some of the upgrades request into tender.

Cheers

Hey scowo,

Yeah nice... I'm trying to get them to do a proper soundproof room in room scenario which they aren't keen on. Also the bulkhead I'm trying to get in has a recessed part for LED light strip. We have our tender meeting in a few weeks so see what happens then.

Where abouts are you building and what design did you go with?

J.

We asked our builder to add bradford soundscreen R2.5 to place on walls between rooms for sound insulation.

Hey Leona33,

I'm thinking this is the route I will have to follow. I'm hoping the insulation will be reasonable enough...
I'll see if they can put it between the lower and upper floors too...

J.

Hey jga,

Have you considered/is it possible to get the work done after handover? If they've ticked the box on most of your requests but unable to accommodate a few minor things on your list it may be worth considering what you could get done yourself. Going to a custom builder could get pretty expensive.

I'm building the Newport 270 in Lake Macquarie.

Cheers!

Nice pick!

Oh yeah Ive considered to do after handover, just trying to see if I can get it done during frame up... less for me to do later haha

So far we've had no issues with special requests from Montgomery, especially the soundproofing. We are also approaching the $600k mark for Riviera 2.

Yeah at the tender meeting it’s been pretty much “yeah we can accomodate that” just comes down to how much we want to cough up lol

We’re just under 590 ex electrical and selections… so I’m gathering we will be nudging 600 in the not too distant future … although it will be a pretty kitted out home so pretty good value. I’m kinda glad the prices seem similar makes me think not over the top lol

It'll be interesting to see how the electrical and selections pans out, we've been advised the electrical will probably cost us more but the tile choices etc we have indicated will likely come within the proposed price.

We have gone for the Riviera 2 293 and then expanded the dimensions significantly, increased window and sliding door sizes, modified the entrance to the master en-suite, gone for the open riser stairs, added an extra ensuite on the ground floor, increased ceiling heights to 2.58m, replaced the windows with sliding doors on the back rooms, awning windows elsewhere and a few other minor modifications.

We are doing a knockdown-rebuild in Eleebana, so have to also factor in the knockdown costs and will probably need to do a fair bit of landscaping along with the driveway afterwards. We've also been caught with a few unexpected costs like a $400 pre-demolition hazardous materials report (asbestos) and over $400 to disconnect the electricity, which all start to add up.

I've had a look at a fair few Montgomery homes, I've found a number of Riviera's in Billys Lookout (Teralba), Eleebana and one in Floraville that we had a nosy during an open home when it was for sale. We have been largely impressed by the quality, whilst the sales service so far has made things very easy.

Yeah I’ll find some time to go for a drive then see if I can see what others have built we are in east Maitland and there’s a could of rivieras in the street along with some carolinas.

We’ve gone the 303 with retro facade then increased ceiling heights 2.5, 3rd garage, open risers, increased insulation, alfresco, it doesn’t look like much but it’s certainly added up… 15 here 11 there 11 here hahaha
I’m hoping our flooring allowance is on point… I’ll be making contact with thynk to suss it out. I’ll be doing a heap of electrical after handover, mostly adding the lights and fans

I'll take a drive around the new estates in East Maitland next week to have a look, it's always good to get some inspiration. The third garage is something that I've thought a lot about and I have a feeling I might regret having not gone for it. It'll be interesting to see what happens at Thynk, they did suggest we could choose tiles from elsewhere, but I'm not sure if I misunderstood on that point. The electrical after handover sounds like a good idea.
The open riser stairs was a non-negotiable after seeing the show home... It's cruel that they even make it an optional extra.

Yeah look they put it in the tender but I'm not sure if I want open risers on my lower floor as well, I really only want mid to upper. No point looking at a blank wall.

I've also got a friend who works for a carpet company in the area... he's giving me a quote for carpet and underlay so I can compare. After trawling this forum for sometime there are a few savings to be had with after handover jobs.. just depends on what works out best.

I have a specific wood look tile from Beaumont's I would like... but its over the $33/m2 limit by double lol so ill just have to wait and see when we get to the pointy end.

Hey, I am building with Montgomery homes in Terrigal. I am on insta @sonnyandreggie. It's slow going especially with lockdown.

our insta build....

@build_riviera1_montgomeryhomes

We've gone around other tile and carpet places and have an idea of what we should be paying for what we want, which hopefully will give us some negotiating power when we go to Thynk. Our open riser is just middle-top level, we've put a cupboard in under the closed lower stairs.

It'll be interesting to see how soon we can commence building, understandably they are very non-committal due to the numerous variables and uncertainties.

oh thats a great idea, they quoted us lower to upper and i figure a lower to mid is useless ... no point staring at a blank wall..

Yep. Out of curiosity, how much did they quote you for the third garage and the raked ceiling?

3rd garage was just under ~14k


raked ceiling was a funny one... they suggested I go 3m to 2.5 to achieve the result but was getting too expensive as I would need to do 3m through the whole mid level ... I canned the idea as we are trying to fit to the budget... if I win lotto between now and then I might change my mind hahahaha

I'm going to put 2x 1130x1140 skylights in instead, once I get some drawings to check measurements of roof lines etc to confirm the size of the skylights.

The skylights sound like a great idea, so you’ll do that after handover?

The 3rd garage price seems reasonable too.