Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 15, 2014 6:40 pm Hey guys, Looking for some quick advise from you experienced people out there. I have paid a holding deposit of $3000 (refundable) for a home+land package by CasaView homes in Schofileds. The next step for them is to come up with the Tender/Quotation (for the home) next week by when I have to pay another $7000. The land contract will be sent to my solicitor once I have paid the full $10,000 ($3000+$7000) which at that time becomes non-refundable. I don't understand why I'm being asked to pay $10,000 even before I'm given a copy of the contract. Could you please advise if this is a usual industry practice or whether I'm being too paranoid? My apprehension is from the fact that I'm at the risk of losing $10,000 in case I don't wish to proceed after I review the contract along with my solicitor. Thanks, A confused first home buyer Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 2Feb 15, 2014 8:05 pm For my build, I paid my $5000 pre-deposit after receiving a full tender and deciding to appoint the builder. Before this stage I had not paid a cent. After I signed the contract I paid the balance of my deposit. Build thread: here Land Nov 12, Contract 6/07/13, Consent 15/08/13, Start 20/09/13, Slab 25/09/13, Frame 4/10/13, Brick 21/10/13, Roof 2/11/13, Lock-up 17/12/13, Handover 3/3/14 Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 3Feb 16, 2014 1:25 pm sydneyuser32 The land contract will be sent to my solicitor once I have paid the full $10,000 ($3000+$7000) which at that time becomes non-refundable.I don't understand why I'm being asked to pay $10,000 even before I'm given a copy of the contract. As i say so often, who cares if it is industry practice? Is it unconscionable conduct is the question you should ask? Dont go along with anything just cos someone trying to get money off you tells you it is the norm! No way would I buy into that. The contract and its accompanying deposit is the binder. Tell them a deposit will be given upon full persual and agreement of the contract. If they dont like it, say c ya. You are the client, its your money, dictate what you want. Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 4Jun 16, 2014 3:52 pm We're building with Casaview and we paid similar deposit for our build. $1,000 for tender, another $4,000 for acceptance and the $5,000 when we are really sure we were going with them. By this time we had received all variation to the plan and so on. The contract is pretty standard for all builders. Its a HIA designed contract and Casaview has its own progress payment schedule which replaced the HIA one - no biggy. Our house is at the roofing stage and we have been extremely happy with the service from Casaview so far. Hope this helps. Neil P sydneyuser32 Hey guys, Looking for some quick advise from you experienced people out there. I have paid a holding deposit of $3000 (refundable) for a home+land package by CasaView homes in Schofileds. The next step for them is to come up with the Tender/Quotation (for the home) next week by when I have to pay another $7000. The land contract will be sent to my solicitor once I have paid the full $10,000 ($3000+$7000) which at that time becomes non-refundable. I don't understand why I'm being asked to pay $10,000 even before I'm given a copy of the contract. Could you please advise if this is a usual industry practice or whether I'm being too paranoid? My apprehension is from the fact that I'm at the risk of losing $10,000 in case I don't wish to proceed after I review the contract along with my solicitor. Thanks, A confused first home buyer Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 5Jun 17, 2014 11:35 am NeilP The contract is pretty standard for all builders. Its a HIA designed contract and Casaview has its own progress payment schedule which replaced the HIA one - no biggy. There is no such thing as a "standard contract". Your observation "Casaview has its own progress payment schedule which replaced the HIA one " proves that. The law does not obligate any group to offer the same contract word for word. What you are doing is trusting them to do it. For example - The Real Estate Institute Qld had a "standard" contract that most agents use, however there are a small % of agents who have boutique contracts with much more aggressive conditions. All legal. The OP asked why he should front 10K which is non refundable before seeing the building contract. Given what I said in the previous paragraph, its a dangerous position to put yourself in. Just because everyone goes along with it, doesnt make it right. Sheeple syndrome. Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 6Jun 17, 2014 12:31 pm Hi qebtel, Thanks for your comments, however, if you read my post again, it says “pretty” standard for all builders. I am in no way trying to suggest that they are all the “same” or am trying to give a legal advice. Pertaining to the progress payment schedule example I gave, it wasn’t extraordinarily different from any others I have seen (we have several friends and relatives who are either building or have built in the last three years). I am sure OP will run all issues by his solicitor, as I did and they would be able to advise him accordingly if anything is amiss. My solicitor was able to pull legal records on all three builders we had shortlisted and Casaview’s record was clean as a whistle, and one of the many reasons we chose them as our builder. qebtel NeilP The contract is pretty standard for all builders. Its a HIA designed contract and Casaview has its own progress payment schedule which replaced the HIA one - no biggy. There is no such thing as a "standard contract". Your observation "Casaview has its own progress payment schedule which replaced the HIA one " proves that. The law does not obligate any group to offer the same contract word for word. What you are doing is trusting them to do it. For example - The Real Estate Institute Qld had a "standard" contract that most agents use, however there are a small % of agents who have boutique contracts with much more aggressive conditions. All legal. The OP asked why he should front 10K which is non refundable before seeing the building contract. Given what I said in the previous paragraph, its a dangerous position to put yourself in. Just because everyone goes along with it, doesnt make it right. Sheeple syndrome. Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 7Aug 19, 2014 1:51 pm [quote="NeilP"]Hi qebtel, Thanks for your comments, however, if you read my post again, it says “pretty” standard for all builders. I am in no way trying to suggest that they are all the “same” or am trying to give a legal advice. Pertaining to the progress payment schedule example I gave, it wasn’t extraordinarily different from any others I have seen (we have several friends and relatives who are either building or have built in the last three years). I am sure OP will run all issues by his solicitor, as I did and they would be able to advise him accordingly if anything is amiss. My solicitor was able to pull legal records on all three builders we had shortlisted and Casaview’s record was clean as a whistle, and one of the many reasons we chose them as our builder. Hi NeilP, may I ask which builders you shortlisted before you decided to go with Casaview? Thanks 30/01/16 - Site works commenced 02/03/16 - Piering completed 19/03/16 - Slab poured 06/04/16 - Frames completed 15/04/16 - Fascia/gutter/roof rail installed 20/04/16 - Roof tiles completed Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 8Aug 19, 2014 1:56 pm We're building in an estate with 11 designated builders - Casaview, Lily, Firstyle, Allcastle, BlueTongue Homes, Bellmarch etc We shortlisted Lily, Casaview and Allcastle. Lily wasn't very forthcoming with details but Casaview and Allcastle had their standard inclusions online. jaxology NeilP Hi qebtel, Thanks for your comments, however, if you read my post again, it says “pretty” standard for all builders. I am in no way trying to suggest that they are all the “same” or am trying to give a legal advice. Pertaining to the progress payment schedule example I gave, it wasn’t extraordinarily different from any others I have seen (we have several friends and relatives who are either building or have built in the last three years). I am sure OP will run all issues by his solicitor, as I did and they would be able to advise him accordingly if anything is amiss. My solicitor was able to pull legal records on all three builders we had shortlisted and Casaview’s record was clean as a whistle, and one of the many reasons we chose them as our builder. Hi NeilP, may I ask which builders you shortlisted before you decided to go with Casaview? Thanks Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 9Jul 08, 2015 10:55 pm This year I believe Casaview's behaviour is the same ( if not worse ). We found land+house package (also in Schofields). We deposited $1000 (non-refundable). Then we are to be given 2 contracts: - building - land (essentially in DRAFT) Then we are to sign building contract and pay $9000 to meet "entry" requirement into the agreement (should be done within 2 weeks) And only then we will be given the final (?) land contract... (Which supposed to be the same as the above-mentioned DRAFT, but ... damn ... no guarantee it will be the same) Then we shall sign it and pay straight away 10% of land price I wonder if anybody went through this journey with Casaview? Am I a paranoid that I fear they may change something in the land contract once we get bound into their building contract? Or is it just the most simple way for them to exclude a case when I sign only land contract and tear building contract in pieces if I am given both contracts the same time? Thanks Building Casaview Denison 30 https://fortdenison.wordpress.com/about Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 10Jul 09, 2015 1:01 pm Usually there are two separate contracts for home and land packages which work a bit differen to standard you-own-the-land outright scenarios. As far as the building contract is concerned, this is how Casaview works and in our case was a good thing because they were almost ready to build when the land was registered (after a very long wait). But if the land is unregistered, you generally have a percentage to pay (holding). Casaview has probably paid this to the developer and is getting you to pay this back because the land will be yours upon registration (Casaview only secured this for you and made some profit in the process). Because this is a home and land package, I would not be too suspicious because end of the day it is yours. What you would want to find out is if the holding their paid was 10% and this is easily verifiable. xyz This year I believe Casaview's behaviour is the same ( if not worse ). We found land+house package (also in Schofields). We deposited $1000 (non-refundable). Then we are to be given 2 contracts: - building - land (essentially in DRAFT) Then we are to sign building contract and pay $9000 to meet "entry" requirement into the agreement (should be done within 2 weeks) And only then we will be given the final (?) land contract... (Which supposed to be the same as the above-mentioned DRAFT, but ... damn ... no guarantee it will be the same) Then we shall sign it and pay straight away 10% of land price I wonder if anybody went through this journey with Casaview? Am I a paranoid that I fear they may change something in the land contract once we get bound into their building contract? Or is it just the most simple way for them to exclude a case when I sign only land contract and tear building contract in pieces if I am given both contracts the same time? Thanks Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 11Jul 15, 2015 9:44 pm Thank you for reply NeilP. I like your blog, it proves that Casaview as a builder is (or was) very good, alas, their approach towards selling home and land package are very controversial and does not match their reputation. NeilP But if the land is unregistered, you generally have a percentage to pay (holding). Casaview has probably paid this to the developer and is getting you to pay this back because the land will be yours upon registration (Casaview only secured this for you and made some profit in the process). Because this is a home and land package, I would not be too suspicious because end of the day it is yours. What you would want to find out is if the holding their paid was 10% and this is easily verifiable. If they did the business this scenario, we would now have been discussing both contracts with solicitor and tomorrow we would sign and I would run to the bank as a sprinter. But what they want from us (and other people) is to sign building contract and to pay additional 9000$ (making in total $10000 non-refundable deposit). Only after that they will give a land contract to us. With "home" part of the deal all is clear -- it is more or less standard HIA contract with custom 5 stage progress payment schedule. But with "land" part we have no guarantee that the land contract will have the same price as it was promised... actually there is no guarantee at all that the Lot XX we choose will be that lovely strip of land we saw on the estate's master plan. We talked to other couple they are in the same position with Casaview and they have absolutely the same concerns: is it a pitfall? (builder's sales people threatening to return the properties to the market if $10000 is not paid within 1 week from receiving the house contract -- actually few days left) The situation is absolutely the same as happened to the topic starter with only one difference: they put 3000 and had to put 7000 upon signing the house contract w/o looking into the land contract. It is a pity that they did not tell whether they went with Casaview and how it was if they did. Building Casaview Denison 30 https://fortdenison.wordpress.com/about Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 12Jul 16, 2015 10:10 am Mate, in my experience I had paid $10000 before the land was registered and luckily Casaview was true to their words on every aspect of the agreement. But yours is a H&L deal, so am not qualified to comment. Having said this, I still don't see why both contracts cannot be signed together when they are ready. I can imagine the stress these things put on us and believe me you only get a relief when the house is completed to your satisfaction. Hope everything works out well for your family. xyz Thank you for reply NeilP. I like your blog, it proves that Casaview as a builder is (or was) very good, alas, their approach towards selling home and land package are very controversial and does not match their reputation. NeilP But if the land is unregistered, you generally have a percentage to pay (holding). Casaview has probably paid this to the developer and is getting you to pay this back because the land will be yours upon registration (Casaview only secured this for you and made some profit in the process). Because this is a home and land package, I would not be too suspicious because end of the day it is yours. What you would want to find out is if the holding their paid was 10% and this is easily verifiable. If they did the business this scenario, we would now have been discussing both contracts with solicitor and tomorrow we would sign and I would run to the bank as a sprinter. But what they want from us (and other people) is to sign building contract and to pay additional 9000$ (making in total $10000 non-refundable deposit). Only after that they will give a land contract to us. With "home" part of the deal all is clear -- it is more or less standard HIA contract with custom 5 stage progress payment schedule. But with "land" part we have no guarantee that the land contract will have the same price as it was promised... actually there is no guarantee at all that the Lot XX we choose will be that lovely strip of land we saw on the estate's master plan. We talked to other couple they are in the same position with Casaview and they have absolutely the same concerns: is it a pitfall? (builder's sales people threatening to return the properties to the market if $10000 is not paid within 1 week from receiving the house contract -- actually few days left) The situation is absolutely the same as happened to the topic starter with only one difference: they put 3000 and had to put 7000 upon signing the house contract w/o looking into the land contract. It is a pity that they did not tell whether they went with Casaview and how it was if they did. Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 13Jul 17, 2015 9:30 am NeilP Mate, in my experience I had paid $10000 before the land was registered and luckily Casaview was true to their words on every aspect of the agreement. But yours is a H&L deal, so am not qualified to comment. Having said this, I still don't see why both contracts cannot be signed together when they are ready. This is the main point, neither me nor anybody else including you could understand why sales people are pushing us and other people to sign building contract w/o land contract. This is astonishingly ridiculous. What would they like to hide? -- that named price was price of undeveloped land (and in reality it requires +50-100K just to make the land ready) ? -- unreasonable sunset date? -- wrong dimensions? -- a lot of risks on owner? -- something else that solicitors would not like... or something which banks would not like (which is even worse)? NeilP I can imagine the stress these things put on us and believe me you only get a relief when the house is completed to your satisfaction. Hope everything works out well for your family. Thank you for support, Neil, it is very true, we have been prepared that waiting for registration and construction itself could both be very nervous but I would never think that even getting into an agreement may be such an unpleasant process. (Especially after hearing so much great reviews about the builder ) Still have couple of business days, may be there is somebody who have gone thru this successfully ( or not ). We are still 50/50 in what we are to do. Building Casaview Denison 30 https://fortdenison.wordpress.com/about Re: CasaView Schofileds - Payment Terms? 14Aug 09, 2015 11:20 pm We decided to rescind because apart of unclear risks about land contract and its conditions there were to many other factors that finally cooled us off. However other couple buying in the same estate decided to continue with Casaview regardless any concerns. It is risk you should take it and you can win or lose. Or you can simply go and pay more for less risky option Building Casaview Denison 30 https://fortdenison.wordpress.com/about Has anyone built custom with Casaview in Sydney? What was your experience and anything you wished you had done to your build in hindsight? 0 1184 I believe that liquidated damaged should be amount of actual loss to the owner from the delays. The issue in all of this is building industry lobbying and contributing to… 5 3072 nothing to do with salespeole. you'd do well to read and ccomprehend the post before bashing away at the keys with some negative comment again. 4 5063 |