Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 23, 2009 7:27 am As this is our first time dealing with a builder I'm after a few tips on what to look for when selecting a builder. Should I be doing any follow up research on them to make sure they are legit? Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 2Apr 23, 2009 5:48 pm I'm going through the same thing I just can't make up my mind. I'm getting really confused because each builder offers different things so its hard to work out the best deal. I have one up high on my list and now I'm just emailing different builders with a list of the things that I want. And then I compare the prices. I'm kind of relying on my gut feeling and my heart strings. I'm hoping that will help me make the right decision. Doing a search on here for each builder your interested in too can help a lot. I have scrubbed one builder off my list purely from what I've read. Good luck! Lorree Deposits paid 29/4/09 Land settlement 12/08/09 Build contract signed 24/08/09 Colours done 28/09/09 BLOG-http://www.eljaysbuild.blogspot.com/ Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 3Apr 23, 2009 6:08 pm Absolutely do your research! This is a good place to start. I would first decide on what you want & need in a house before you decide on a builder. Once you've got the right size/design in mind, go and visit as many displays as possible !!! From there you can physically see what you like and don't like in a floor plan, how you'd like your house to flow, and feel, what rooms you like where, etc, etc, and then you can see who builds houses that suit your needs & style, and you can narrow it down from there! Good luck - oh, and remember, you're going to hear good and bad about every builder, that is inevitable with such a large group of people, and such an emotion charged life decision !!! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 4Apr 23, 2009 7:57 pm bozzabonnici As this is our first time dealing with a builder I'm after a few tips on what to look for when selecting a builder. Should I be doing any follow up research on them to make sure they are legit? In my honest opinion ask for references of past clients. The references will tell you straight up about the builder, and the quality of the home they build, ask the referees can you have look through there home aswell. All display homes are built to perfection, have a look at the work at a non display type environment. Best off Luck. Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 5Apr 29, 2009 9:26 am Thanks guys, I will definately keep in mind what you guys have said. How many quotes do you recommend getting. We have spoken to 3 builders so far and only one has come back with a quote (he's a friends brother so I guess kinda had to) but the other 2 are taking their time with quotes. We were meant to have the quotes back by end of last week and nothing so far..... how slack!!! Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 6Apr 29, 2009 9:38 am Customer service during the whole process is very important to us personally, because it is so stressful we need to get along with our builder and know they will be available when we need them to be. For a builder not to get back to you on an initial quote, well, that isn't exactly a great start is it? Its fine not to do the quote, but what about a courtesy call? Anyway, at the end of the day, build quality is what you want, and not just display home quality. I like previous suggestions to ask to see a finished home, or a home under construction, don't just take a testimonial on a website as gospel (Joe Bloggs from Melbourne isn't a real person!! ) The other valuable thing we did in our initial stages was pick up the Herald Sun display home magazine which was available at the time (not sure if it is still). Every builder in there had a 'base price' and 'price as displayed' value for each home they had in the mag. It was very eye opening and showed us just what sort of value you get with their base prices. ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 7Apr 29, 2009 12:32 pm As well as what's already been said (especially the past experience of others), we also looked at flexibility and being reasonable to if we wanted to change something during the plan stages. That mattered to us. Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 8Apr 29, 2009 12:47 pm Hear hear , all good sound advice. You could also start a post with the names of each company and let us rip into them haha Try asking them what their liquidated damages are ($ value) I advise minimum $50 per day, and get them to use a contract from your lawyer (ie dont use theirs unless your lawyer says its okay) trust me, this could pay off later when you want to make variations to the tender document. Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 9Apr 29, 2009 5:46 pm I like using google... "Builders name" then complaint..... You either get nothing or some interesting hits ! * Are we there yet ? Demolition has come and gone ! yippeeee..hang on that was months ago !! come on Mr Builder, dig a hole at least Finaly ! Hole Dug ! well done darren 20/06/2010. Slab is down ! Framing is complete 20/10/2010 we are progressing like a snail on heat - excited and determined but very very slow Steveo Re: What to look for in a builder - how to decide who to use 10Apr 29, 2009 9:58 pm Just bear in mind that builders rely on their contractors. Some are good, some are not so good. So, one customer can be very happy with the quality (good contractors built the house) and another customer can be unhappy with the quality (not so good contractors built this house). So, IMO some level of monitoring is important ... unless you pay a bit more and go with a very good (not volume) builder where the SS is very good (working as if they're building their own homes). Chris I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6615 No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. 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