Building first home with Burbank

Hi Guys

Well this is my first time using these forums and i've just signed the preliminary documentation with Burbank to build my first home, i've been reading through various posts and found it all rather interesting. Thought i might take the time to write a weekly post on my building experience from start to finish.

Over the past 6 months i've been looking at buying an existing home and found it all to hard, never really found what i was after and the prices were rediculous!

2 weeks ago i decided that building might be an option, i was aware of some good blocks of land at a reasonable price. I dropped into a Burbank display home whilst at work and the salesman was very helpful, he explained what i should look for in purchasing land and to be weary of slope / fall on the block as this could heavily effect site costs for construction. After a few beers a decided i may as well buy this land and worry about the builder later.

I visited Burbank, Dennis Family homes and Rivergum constructions. All were very helpful and very approachable but in the end it came down to price, inclusions and the time frame in which to get everything rolling.

The salesperson at Burbank gave me a checklist of what i needed to do and i was on to it imediately. After a few days i had chosen my ideal house and laid a deposit on the land.

Over the following week i spent many hours with the sale bloke who drew my land to scale and we finalised how the house would sit on the block, made some minor changed and added some extra's eg/ Eves, Panel lift garage door, and mirrored the front of house. I then signed the preliminary documents and it was all sent away to head office. In total this took less then 2 weeks. Freaky. Now i just have to sit and wait until they call me for final contract signing and my Edge apointment.

So far so good!!

I'm also building my first home with Burbank.

They've been great so far. I've completed contract and color selection. My land titles in about a month, so just waiting for that now!

hi p1peth

We are also building with burbank now just waiting for the work to begin .

Hi,

I am also building with burbank. SO far everything is really good .... We had a look on Ascent 2500 and really liked the plan. We went for a display in Tarneit and the sales guy there was really helpful. He did everything from explaining everything in detail, changing few things, bit of change in the design to how this plan will fit on our block of land.

We paid the deposit and now waiting for our appointment at EDGE and the contract. So far so good ...

Good to hear everyone is happy with them so far, my only concern is that hopefully they can cope with all the first home buyers and get my contract through before the end of december. Im building the Ascent 2500 also.
The only thing i dont like about the house is the fact there is no door on the ensuite which is rather revealing and i didn't realise this until after my paperwork had been sent away, worst case scenario i might just have to get one installed after the build.

Has anyone done the "Edge" appointment as yet?? Am very curious what that will be like, i'm planning to set myself a budget to spend on upgrades before i get there.

Cheers

Fear not, I added two doors at my Edge appointment. One to the WIR and one to the Pantry.

We did a few upgrades, did worry much about carpet and tiles upgrades as we have 3 boys and replace one day when they ALOT older.

congratulations on the new build.

We are building through Burbank. We are into our 3rd week of the defect fix and hoping that we get the keys this week. Fingers crossed otherwise I will own 2 homes and be not able to live in one.

Just a word of warning about burbank. Don't expect things to happen quickly. It took us 6 months to get to our contract signing.
I know it might not have taken everyone that long, but it did for us and it was a very frustrating time where you wonder what the hell they are doing. I guess with the influx on first home buyers things are getting slower to push through.

Its not to late to get the dorrs added, when HO contact you, just get them to add it for you.

Anyway I hope you enjoy your experience.

Gee thats a long time? Was there any reasons for the delay?? How long has it taken everyone from time of signing preliminary documents to signing final contract??

I was told my paperwork has been placed in the first home buyer queue and would be signed before december 31st, hoping i haven't been fooled.

Don't worry, it will be. But just in case, call them before 23rd December, they close then until 12th Jan for Christmas.

have a read of my experience with the pre build stage.
http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17112&p=263536#p263536

Basically they spent 4 weeks drafting the plans, then came back to me saying that there were height restrictions in my area. which they knew about months before hand.

It was a really painful process for us. still is.

However we are almost finished, should ge the keys on friday.

Goodluck with your house. Keep in constant contact with them to ensure that they are doing their job.

[quote][/quote] PieMan.
• Expect the unexpected. And they will cost you $$$$$ We spent $46k above the initial price.

Thats a significant increase in $$!!! Was this due to all the extras you chose to put in or purely due to problems with your council restrictions??

Im on a dead flat block and the only restrictions i had were a reduction in roof pitch by 0.5 degrees.

I was told the site costs should be less then $6000 but allowed $10,000 just in case.

In terms of extras id like to add:

* Upgrade Oven & stove top to 900mm, upgrade rangehood
* Add Flyscreens
* Ensuite Door
* Microwave spot
* Double water tank size

The only other area i'm concerned about is lighting, having difficulty finding an image of what the Ascent 2500 standard lighting looks like.

Does anyone know what the estimated cost of adding downlights might be to the ascent 2500.

Standard lighting is absolute minimum. And I mean absolute minimum. Ie - in our huge living area there were 2 batten lights spaced appropriately.

Adding downlights... in our 22sq home it was around 3.5k easy. Think carefully about downlights. They look nice in the displays but just are'nt all that practical and don't light all that well unless you have ALOT of them.

To provide 58no internal light points to dwelling $2900.
900mm cooker oven rangehood $1800
fly screens $520
microwave space $260
our 4500l water tank was an extra $280

Expect to spend a bit of money at Edge. The cat1 items are quite basic however functional. As I am building my dream home I have spent a lot on variations. I have however chosen basic carpet because it is quite easy to change

My word's of advise are, be patient once your file goes to the administrators keep on top of it, get all pricing and discussions regarding variations and cost in writing, be aware of the 6 months for contract signing or they may ask you to pay any increased cost for the build. Keep a diary, so if you do go over the 6 months you can demonstrate to them you have not been waisting time

My build has had some very large site cost such as $15K for restricted site access and $50K site costs as my land was classified 'P'.

Quote:

pinkdiamond

To provide 58no internal light points to dwelling $2900.
900mm cooker oven rangehood $1800
fly screens $520
microwave space $260
our 4500l water tank was an extra $280

Thanks for that info, has been super handy!

I unfortunately didn't get to request the tank upgrade before my paperwork went in and am hoping i can adjust that at the Edge.

What is the average amount people are spending at the edge???

We went about $2200 with upgrades at edge.

Upgraded exterior brick work to cat 2 austral with offwhite mortar
Upgraded bathroom vanities to the square basins as we didnt like the big mixing bowls that come as standard
Upgraded the toilets
Added an extra outdoor dbl power point
Added flyscreens

Does anyone know what the go is with Alfresco areas, Is it true that they only lay a concrete surface as standard?

what are peoples thoughts on Timber decking vs Tiles or Concrete??

Also keen to hear average money people spent at edge?

We upgraded some things prior to our Edge appointment, like the stove/oven, water tank (req for Botanic Ridge) and the smart wiring. We were originally going to have microwave space but I thought it would to low for little ones, instead had power point put in the WIP .


yes

Timber decking is something we plan to ourselves. I did like what they had done in the Display Home.

Dannie