First time building, Opinions on Coral Homes

Hi,

We have just purchased a block of land. It will be the first time that we are building. We are considering going with Coral Homes and really like the Capri 25. We viewed their display home at Port Macquarie today (I think it was the Grange?). We had consulted another local builder in Forster NSW where we live and the price differences are $100k. The houses were reasonably similar so obviously we are considering going with Coral. I would love to hear from anyone who has built with them though regarding any issues etc you may have had as I just want to make sure we are doing the right thing going with them. Its a massive saving but I am not sure if this is one of those get what you pay for situations. Thanks and looking forward to reading any comments.

Check out the coral homes forum and my forum - don’t do it

Hi Manda we are currently building the Grange with Coral in Newcastle. There’s an awesome Coral general build thread on here to gather information. At the end of the day I think it really comes down to your SS & trades they use as there are definitely people that have had terrible experiences (esp NSW) & others ok. We have been really lucky without too many dramas (hope I’m not jinxing myself) Admin for us was a nightmare & took longer than most but our build hasn’t been too bad. We are building in a new Estate & have heard good and bad with a lot of builders there. If you really want to go with Coral my advice would be to read the thread so you are aware of things to look out for there’s quite a few Capri builds on there & they have their own threads too. I’m so thankful that I found H1 as we’ve saved so much $ and learnt so much before signing contracts Happy to help with any questions. We chose Coral due to the Grange plan, the value for $ for inclusions & our neighbours built with them as well as a couple of friends & they had good builds without too many dramas. We also hired a private inspector to oversee dif stages & help rectify any errors which has been done right away, plus they provide photo evidence & reports in case you need it in the future so worth the $ goodluck with deciding it’s a huge decision

Do you have a link to that forum?

Put Coral homes general build thread in search bar

We are building with coral in Port Macquarie. We have finalised and signed contracts, booked our colour and tile selections and our plans go to council this coming week. I had heard and read the admin stage can be a bit of a drag but we have been super impressed with everything so far. Looking forward to the more exciting stages of selections and seeing progress as our house grows from the ground in the near future! Please bare in mind everyone’s experiences are different and vary based on many different factors. Good luck on your first build and enjoy the ride!

We built with Coral in Macksville about 9 mnths ago. We had no major dramas. The build took 6 mnths. We built a Noosa 26. We think we got good value for money compared to other builders in the area. We found communication to be the most frustrating thing, site supervisor was very busy and often did not return calls/emails. You need to be on the ball and checking over things to make sure all goes to plan. It seems that the more changes made to the original plan and contract the more chance of issues. Thats a great house plan, it came out just after we signed our contract otherwise i probably would have built that design. Good luck

We are building with Coral and our house is due to start next month. We have had the best experience so far with the sales consultant, tile appointment, colour appointment, electrical appointment, signing mounds of paperwork and administration. We have had no problems with getting answers on things and should get our start date in the next day or so.
Just remember that the starting price doesn't really mean anything. Our build will end up being $90K over the Elegance start price due to soil tests (E - very bad), wind ratings (N3 - bad as well), facades, upgrades, making the house bigger by 20m2, finishes, outdoor alfresco, rendering, electrical budget, security screens, and the list goes on.
So, don't take much into the start price, check the list of inclusions.

What were the costs involved for hiring a private inspector if you don’t mind me asking?

Can’t remember exact amt but around $400 per inspection I think but well worth the $

we had an exceptional experience with Coral, it really helped we invested in an independent building inspector and were available for any questions.... be involved and you will get a good build

we had an independent building inspector it was $1200 for 3 inspections the first was at frame up, second was at lock up and the final was the day we did the walk through. well worth the investment

Coral Homes-Stay away-We buillt the Bahama 50 Corals flagship home. Brickwork and mortar attrocious! Site supervision non-existent-The worst $500k rippoff on the planet.......Any one wanting to see what you get for your money....Contact me....Only too happy to help save you from making the same mistake we did.....

Hi I am planning to build with coral homes and I was thinking to go ahead with baham 37 , I actually had a look at Bahama 50 and the price seems to be too high , what’s your suggestion and advise on building with coral homes , thanks mate

How did you go with the build?

How has your build progressed? We are considering Coral in the Port Macquarie area too.

Has anyone built with Coral recently ? I am looking at building a Monash 27/29. Seeing these reviews here is scaring me a little.

I do understand and they are a volume builder so it totally depends on the site supervisor etc, but overall does the build turn out good enough. Also how much more $ would be needed from the advertised price. for example if their website says 200K, should a 50K buffer suffice? Or does it go to 75 or 100K over the quoted price assuming no major hiccups.

Would be really good to get any information. Thanks guys

We built in 2018 in North Brisbane. Happy with everything and still happy. If I was to build again, I would go with Coral.
As to pricing, it really depends on what you want. If you go with Elegance, you get the extras. You still need to add on for upgrades to slab based on soil type. And all the little extras you want. If you are happy with the plan - 50K will be sufficient.

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Do you mean an additional 50K without any extras and upgrades or 50-60K including all the little extras and their luxury inclusions, slab/soil type upgrades etc.

When we built, we started at $196000 and ended up with $272000. However, this was due to increasing the house by 20m2, creating a bigger façade. Our site costs were around $25000 because we had H2 soil and N3 wind rating. We also added sarking in the roof, 2.7m ceilings and lots of extras in the kitchen.
If you are happy with the plan and include the extras that they already offer under Elegance, then 50K is more than enough as Elegance includes tiling, carpet, 2.55m ceilings, airconditioning, extra lights, etc. A lot of the extra money can go into the slab which you don't even see.