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Hi All,
I signed a prelim contract for a House & Land package in Vale Estate, Aveley with Affordable Living Homes. I have had nothing but trouble since the day I handed over my deposit. They are trying to make me sign a HIA Contract and said nothing in this contract can be changed. Things like "The builder accepts no responsibility to any damage caused by the builder to the kerb, footpath, driveway or any other related property during the course of construction" & they also will not put that the contract is subject to finance of the full contract amount of the house & land...
I have asked them to amend some things and they said HIA do not allow changes. I called HIA & they told me that none of these clauses are in their contract & asked me if the contract has the HIA logo on it... nowhere on the document does it say HIA or have any logo other than Affordable Livings.
I have called the sales guy at Affordable Living & told him I am disappointed & he told me "that's fine, if you choose not to sign it I have lots of other people to sign up with me"
He has * to me the whole time I am now finding out, telling me the land was titled when the lang agent confirmed it wasnt. I have had trouble getting him to return calls & send me full copies of the documents.
I am not too sure where to go from here, as I have paid the land deposit & signed the offer & acceptance.
Has anyone had any similar experiences or can offer me any advice on what to do? I am really not confident with going ahead with this builder now as I have no faith in them & can't trust anything that comes out of this sales guys mouth - he has * to me from the start.. promised me the world until I signed away on the dotted line & now he hangs up on me & is very rude to myself & my father who has been trying to get this sorted.
Far out thats bad!
I should be recieving my contracts to sign today with Dale Alcock and they have been nothing but helpful, the land developer was the same. Always calling/emailing me to see how things are going etc. As for DA the sales guy has been simply awesome answers every question by email within minutes. Only problem is Dale Alcock is way more expensive than the cheaper builders but there's some horror stories out there, glad I'm paying more to go with them.
To be honest I went through an Affordable Living display home and the sales guy was VERY pushy and actually quite arrogant, didn't think anything of it to now, must be how they roll.....sad really.
The deposit you paid to Affordable Living, was it refundable?
Oh no, that's awful!
I'd say cut your losses and look elsewhere. You may not get your deposit back, but for the sake of $1k or $2k, these guys sound like they have no sense of customer service and your business is obviously not important to them, so I'd move on and quickly!
If they are trying to pass off a HIA contract as their own but with different clauses, this is not only unethical but I'm pretty sure the HIA would not look too happily upon this!
Look around, I'm sure there are plenty other builders out there who would provide 100 times better service. This is not a small thing you're doing here, buiding a house, its going to be part of your future, so I would definitely want 100% peace of mind if I were you.
Good luck!
Thanks guys!
I am trying to find out if there is a way that I can keep the land - as that is between Multiplex & myself, and the offer & acceptance has been signed. Then I can tell Affordable to get stuffed, get some equity in the land & then go with a different builder in 3months time - someone more reputable...
I have asked to speak to the sales guys manager but they wont give me his mobile number so I have had to leave a message.
This is making the start of the experience extremely stressful & disappointing I must say, when I told the sales guy he didn't have much to say about it except that's too bad for me.
Hi during the beginning of my house search time, i was looking at Affordable Living and we paid deposit too...being naive ($1500)
and after realized that we cant change things and also that for the same price we can go with a better builder who is more flexible (celebration homes - we are currently building with them)
the sales guy was rude once he knew we were not interested in signing hte conract with them. But we managed to get our $$ back after 2 month of calls and chasing them.
I would definitely not go with them even if meant losing deposit. Cos I have no trust in their contract or the quality of work.
I hope you can get your deposit back and build with someone better
Thanks for that - how did you manage to get your money back? I am thinking because I signed the prelim contract & now this contract is completely different maybe I could fight them over it & try, but if not, it's a lesson learnt that could be a lot more expensive if I were to proceed!
I had signed the prelim contract too..But i just told them they cant keep their promise and cant even give competitive prices. Plus I told them with their cost we will go over our loan amount and we were not going to settle for a smaller house with them.
Just kept bugging the sales guy and we got it back.
I dont see any problem for you to get your $$ back. Just be consistent and persistent
But are they just trying to get you to sign cos of FHOG closing? So how long till titles issued?
Ring their office and ask to speak to the manager of the sales people because you are having problems with your rep answering contract concerns you have. Write a list of changes and extras and get them written up as part of the contract before you sign. Make sure you bring up the issue with it not seeming like a legit HIA contract.
If you can pull out now - do! I went through a similar situation with another builder, but we had signed the actual contract and it cost us a few thousand in lawyers fees to terminate. Also, I don't think Affordable are a member of the HIA or any other building association...
I have left a message for the sales guys manager & spoken to consumer affairs.
Need to figure out how keystart will work if I just purchase the land now though... I am looking at Ross North Homes, Celebrations, Aussie Living & Scott Park homes - anyone had any good or bad experiences with these people? I am feeling very paranoid about all these builders after this experience. They have * to me about everything & added over 11k of variations in the contract they want me to sign.
Dont think you'll get a keystart loan for just the land. But if you have been preapproved for finance and titles are still a little bit away you should be ok to look for another builder, just you will miss out on the large FHOG as you wont sign a contract by the end of Sept.
What makes you drawn to the builders you mention? I'm with keystart and we got our land 1st then the house, and it is classed as a house/land package.
Oh I signed with them and the guy was a complete **** so, I got my money back and ran, their houses are cheap crap too! Oh my god you should see the 2 houses near where I am building they are so poorly made and I am soooo happy I ran away when I did! The guy was a complete liar and bully! RUN while you can!
I'm building with Aussie Building. So far no issues!! Everyone i've dealt with so far has been really nice and i've been kept updated on what is happening.
If i were you i'd buy the land still, but tell Affordable Living to bugger off.
Hi
Get out while you can. We signed prelim with them and cancelled they were so rude. They charge so much extra for every little change it was getting out of hand. Anyway 2 months on we are still waiting for our deposit back they sent us some paper to sign saying we agree to pay any work they had already done but had not mentioned what or how much. I said no way until I see a statement of costs but still waiting they are real scum.
Talk to the land sales people they are nice.
We are also building in Aveley and have gone with a different builder for a similiar house for $10,000 cheaper.
Good Luck
As per all above - do
not sign the contract if you have no faith in the company. It is a long ride and if you are already 'fighting' now, then it will be hell when you get to construction phase.
Cut your losses ($1-2k isn't much in the grand scheme of what you are trying to do) and move on to a more reputable builder - don't be rushed, there will always be other blocks of land, other houses, and so forth.
For reference, both of the builders I have used (Dale Alcock and Ventura) provided an official HIA contract (its green!) and both added some of their own clauses to the end (not modifying the text of the actual contract).
Good luck!
So sad to hear of these things. Only thing I can think of is that their website advertises "HIA lump sum fixed price contract" under the standard specifications page. If the contract is not a HIA contract then you can use this to get out.
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I have deleted my post for now as I await my deposit to be refunded.
Hi
I wonder if Tamaraj and I might of had the same rude sales guy. A young man with little experience. The must lose so many clients I think its time they change. I had found them rude right from front of house onwards. I should of known what was to come the minute I stepped in.
Gez85 I think Afforadable Living and Aussie Living might be owned by same people. But run by different people. Thought I'll just let you know.