Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 21, 2021 12:16 pm Hi everyone, First build here, I am starting a KDR in Cumberland council area with Clarendon and have chosen the Leaton for the floor plan. I have decided to narrate my story here if it can help anyone. First, I wished I knew about the referral program with Clarendon as I could have been contacted by Clarendon by a sales rep because one of my friend built with Clarendon about 2 years ago, she could have received a $1000 gift voucher. My land is only 12.19 m wide but about 40 m long, so I am limited with the floor plans. There was another floor plan with another builder but at the end we preferred having the stairs at the front part of the house. So the Leaton from Clarendon is our choice. There are a few modifications but nothing too extravagant, mainly extended by 1 meter the length ( 0.5 m + 0.5 m ). It took me a while to decide and a few visits of the display houses. Around December, the sales rep of the other builder tried to give a push by "giving" an extra discount, it was the initial promotion $45.000 plus another $15.000 but the different freebies were taken away ( outdoor BBQ, upgraded appliances including the fridge, washer, dryer etc ...) which we did not mind. Clarendon on the other hand did not budge about the price of the initial tender ... which was very disappointing but we still decided to go ahead and sign the initial tender. By the way, has anyone been successful with some price negotiations with Clarendon ? If so, what stage did you engage the negotiations and would you have any tips ? We have paid the initial deposit ( around $1500) so that they are willing to do a site inspection (some other builders do offer free site inspection). Now they have sent the contour surveyors for the site inspection and we have book an appointment for the tender presentation in March. NB: for the people which have just started to look into building, the "promotions" are always on ... my experience is builders always have some forms of promotions and I feel like the promotions are all kind of comparable, the only part that I would keep an eye on is that maybe they increase the price every year. Clarendon-Leaton-floor planLike ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Any tips are welcome, thank you in advance . I will keep on updating this post Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 2Mar 10, 2021 9:09 pm Hi everyone, I have my tender presentation next Friday, and I really cannnot wait !!! I am doing quite a bit of reading with these 2 lists https://1stbuild.club/ viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823&p=1863663&hilit=If+there+is+one+recurring+theme+throughout#p1863663 Any tip would be very welcome ! Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 3Mar 15, 2021 10:53 pm Hi everyone, I was wondering, once you get the tender presented, anyone took their tender contract to a solicitor ? Or did anyone of you ask for another opinion from (as an example) an architect ? I know that I will have 1 week to accept the tender so I wanted to get your advises Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 4Apr 04, 2021 1:58 pm Hi everyone, Continuing the story of my journey. I had my tender presentation a couple of weeks ago. The presenter was very comprehensive with his explanation of the tender document which is about 25 pages long for me. He presented the variations of the layout and as we were discussing, he had some very good ideas and suggestions to help making it more suitable to our needs. So the layout below still needs to be updated for our next appointment (contract ). So at the end, he gave us the final price of our built and also the report of the soil test. I will go back to the head office a few days to receive the final contract, which means that I won't be able to make any structural change otherwise I will be charged quite a bit amount from what I understood. Also, right now if I decide to walk away, I will "only" loose the $5000 deposit but once I have signed the contract, it will be much more involved. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 5Apr 04, 2021 10:46 pm Hi, Hopefully your site is straightforward-what did the soil test show up and what is the topography/condition of the site and surrounds. Nice and flat and all boreholes found similar soils at similar depths? Any cut/fill, retaining walls, underground services, trees or creeks in the area? Remember the soil report the builder will provide will normally the bear minimum required to meet regulations which may not be the minimum required to control site costs. Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 6Apr 05, 2021 11:15 pm Hi worldofmud, Thank you for bringing these questions up. I am reading through the soil report and I have to admit that I am finding difficult to understand. There is a bit of cut and fill but from what I understand it whatever is cut will be used to fill so it is evening out. There will be trees to be removed and some retaining walls to be built once the construction is done. The waste pipe is running along the side of the current dwelling near the edge of my land so it should not be a problem from what the presenter said. What do you mean by :"which may not be the minimum required to control site costs" ? Re: Journey KDR Clarendon - Leaton 7Jun 30, 2021 10:25 pm It has been a while since I last posted something. I have signed my contract mid May and paid the remaining of the required 5%. There were a few more structural changes before signing my contract as I did a few modifications with the tender presenter. Now I am looking for a demolition company. Clarendon has their preferred demolition company and they are sitting in the mid range in terms of price from the 3 quotes that I have received. I am still looking for 4th company and I might go with them. However I will need to do a bit more work as I will need to organise my own fence and arrange my own electrical abolishment, but it might still be cheaper than the 3 quotes I initially had. I had to apply to the council for the approval of the removal of 3 trees which are over 3 m tall, so the demolition company cannot get rid off it. One thing that I wish I could have done earlier is : looking for a demolition company earlier. Not that I could have changed much as time was not very abundant lately. Color Studio appointment was delayed because of Covid-19 and therefore the tiles appointment as well. (Tiles appointment has to come after the color studio) I have picked the Blackbutt brick from Austral which is included in the contract, but I really like the Bronze brick from the metalix range. However I am not sure it is worth the extra 10k which would be digging into the color studio upgrade budget. 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