WA people building Homebuyers Centre

Hello to all,

Can any WA Homebuyer Centre people advise on the paperwork/contract with this builder. They are new to Victoria and we are seriously thinking of building with them. From what I can understand:

You sign a PWC - pre work contract and leave $1500 deposit
Then a contract is signed and you pay 5% deposit (how long before this happens e.g. weeks)

Then you go for your colour meeting (pre site meeting) - did you find items you wanted changed/included expensive? - it seems strange to me that you do this after contracts have been issued so you dont get to include this in your contract price.

Any advice appreciated.

hi there I am building with HBC and I gave them $1500 deposit but I never gave them another 5%.

With prestart I upgraded on a lot of things, some of the things were a little expensive but I got credited back over $2000 for the driveway so it made it a lot easier. There are a few HBC people on here, I have had a lot of trouble with them but others seem to have had a smooth ride. Good luck with your build
To go from the basic house to getting an upgrade with carpets and blinds cost I think around $20,000 more so if I had worked it out back then, I wouldn't have upgraded at all.

Thanks Lynne,
I have been tracking your progress since I did a search and yes you are right, some people are having an easier time. Thanks for replying and good luck with the rest of your build, I shall be following.

I just find this pre start meeting at the end weird, I even asked for a booklet with all their standard items etc in it (which I have received from other builders when asked) and they just keep evading the request (which has made me suspicious that the items are going to cost a lot)

Maybe it's just me.

Yeah they don't seem to like to give anything at all before you sign on the line. None of the items i upgraded had a price, the prestart girl just tells you when you ask. Electrical was the most expensive

Also another question - they have only opened here about 3-4 weeks ago and have display homes in 2 suburbs, the facade on the display homes although lovely, are an upgrade of around 10,000 mark, so we wanted to have a look at the traditional facade which is the standard with their homes. They do not have a picture or anything for us to have a look at (even their brochure they hand out at the displays has no facade options on it) - I find this weird - they have not got their website up and running and I had a look at the current WA website and they tell me they have different designs in WA.

They tell me they are doing some 3D drawings and should be able to send it to me to have a look at but that was 3 weeks ago and now they are pressuring us to pay the deposit so we can get their promo price without even looking at facade. Is anyone in Perth building with their Traditional facade and can post a pic so I can have a look at it - even if it will be different to Vic designs I can get an idea of what they are like.

Many thanks

hmmm I didn't know that they had a traditional facade All I can suggest is looking at the W.A website and maybe ringing HBC where you are and asking if any from W.A would be similar so you can get an idea. Don't be pressured into signing anything without looking first. Oh and if you want a garage make sure that's what you get...I asked for a garage and I talked to the salesguy in depth about why and how big and he gave me a carport! I presumed on the plans it was a garage...ended up costing me over $10,000 in the end

OMG - you would think if you ask for a garage that you would get just that.
I think they are totally different designs/facade to what they are building in WA.

It's frustrating as I told the Sales Guy I am not willing to pay a deposit on something I havent even seen yet. I do love the design of the house and it fits us perfectly. Now they have come back with there will be a price rise of 3% and will have to come in and sign the prel contract and pay the $1500.00 before Monday.

Don't go in and sign or pay anything until you've seen exactly what you'll be paying for.

Thats my little advice for the day

Best of luck to you, and I hope you get to build your home soon!!

I am building (and recently finished!) with HBC.
My advice is to NOT SIGN the preliminary agreement until you have:

1. seen the floorplan, AND have made any changes you might like e.g move walls etc
2. seen the elevation, we had a problem in this department.
3. Added anything you might need e.g cupboards to bedroom robes etc. ( I can post a list of things we upgraded/changed when I get home tonight).

I agree prestart at the end is stupid, BUT you can add a prestart allowance to your contract. Don't get them to do air/con, downlights etc becuase it is too expensive.

I don't know what the standard elevation is, but make sure you choose it BEFORE you sign the prelim. We were under the impression that we could do it later (from the sales rep) and this didn't really happen. Don't worry about the price rise rubbish

That's all I can think of at the moment! I am more than happy to answer any other questions you might have.

Good Luck