Building Doom and Gloom

elle · Mar 18, 2013 4:05 pm

Has anyone else had the worst time choosing a builder?
We are first time builders but this will be our second home.
I have been flicking through some threads and Ive noticed a large percentage of them have had negative experiences...some minor and some quite major.

I was discussing with a friend of ours because I thought I had found a builder finally and he said "don't go with them they are lousy and you'll regret it". Normally I would take it with a pinch of salt but he worked in the industry and told me they do poor work.

Its not only the negative experiences putting me off by the unwillingness by builders to give accurate quotes because they “don’t know what it will cost until they go to site”. I can understand a small amount of flexibility needed and they have no idea what they might encounter once onsite but sometimes these costs can be tens of thousands!
I'm finding it hard to sleep at night

How does anyone sign up a contract without feeling slightly worried about what they are really in for?

tarsha678 · Mar 18, 2013 10:48 pm

That's the whole fun of building... We are first time builders and were very lucky to find a sales guy that we were extremely comfortable with and who helped us every step of the way. That is the first place to start.
Find someone you are comfortable with and who is helpful and you'll be on the righ track
Good luck with your search

TeamZC · Mar 18, 2013 11:06 pm

I know what your saying everyone I speak to seems to have horrible experiences. We are first time builders, however, have lots of friend and family who have built in the last 5 years. Upon listening to everyone's feedback people seem to have issues with bigger builders. The people that we know who have had a positive experience are often with a smaller builder. We are in SA and went with clairville homes as they build 2 family members homes and they were fantastic and have been amazing for us. I could not recommend anyone better.

All you can do is shop around and compare who will be better for your wants and needs!

rex777 · Mar 18, 2013 11:47 pm

If you are worried about Site works which really is the only unknown have a good look at the block. Sandy levelsites are the best and then it gets more expensive from there. More clay and more slope means $$$.

Agape · Mar 19, 2013 1:56 pm

It is very rare that we hear the 'good' experiences ....

Both myself and my neighbors built with large volume builders, they had issues of the gas pipes not being connected to the appliances and gas simply going into the wall behind their bedhead

However 5years on they still love their home and would build with the same builder again (where as I think, I would never risk that)
I built with a different volume builder (twice) and although I was happy with their work, many other people aren't ... I think it comes down to personal experience

This time around we are going with a smaller builder, and yes we have had some big issues already - and we are only up to tender stage - but we love the flexibility they have offered.

I think it is really important to go thru as many dispay homes and sales centres as possible and get a feel for the companies that you do and don't like.

elle · Mar 21, 2013 10:40 am

thanks to those of you that gave helpful responses!
I just feel like as soon as we settle on a design we like someone pipes up with their bad experience with that particular builder. Its a very big investment so getting it right is important- apparently its just a gamble that we will have to take.
I'm okay with small problems or issues- that happens!

and no Akashra, not all builders give a set price on everything... as I said a lot of them tell me until we sign the contract and they start the process they cannot give accurate pricing. Going elsewhere does not solve the problem because they all seem to have the same policy.

jasons girl · Mar 21, 2013 11:34 am

We have had lots of positive and negative feedback given to us as well when we were looking at builders. We went with the theory that all builds are going to have something wrong. Hopefully just something minor. However the important part to us was wether or not the builder was happy to fix it without any complaints. Maybe try to filter the feedback you are getting by that. So far we have been very happy with our builder. There has been a couple of minor errors but all have been fixed without issues as soon as we let them know. We understand that everyone makes mistakes and are happy as long as they fix it.

Also be aware that you will hear negative experience way more than positive. And really there will be twice as many people happy with their build than unhappy. People are just more inclined to complain if something is wrong than praise something being right. Choose the design you love with a company you feel comfortable with. If there is any quality issues they can be fixed but not having the design you love can't be.

As for builders not giving quotes until they get a deposit. Yep I agree with you. It makes it difficult as a buyer. However I also tend to think if you hit rock with one builder you will hit it with another. A lot of builders will give you a rough idea of what they think it will cost to complete the house. I would suggest adding $20k. If it still fits into your budget you should be fairly safe. We hit everything you could think of; rock, highly reactive soil, clay and it only went up $20k. Hope this helps.

akashra · Mar 21, 2013 12:01 pm

elle

and no Akashra, not all builders give a set price on everything... as I said a lot of them tell me until we sign the contract and they start the process they cannot give accurate pricing. Going elsewhere does not solve the problem because they all seem to have the same policy.

I said volume builders.

elle · Mar 21, 2013 12:13 pm

Majority are volume builders...... makes no difference

Thanks jasons girl- sounds like the sort of approach we are going to take. I am interested in a particular builder that seems to be very good with customer service and has some good feedback

so we will be exploring that further!

DeeMM · Apr 03, 2013 8:40 pm

Choosing a builder is definitely a tricky thing. This is my 2nd build, my husbands 1st. My 1st build was in WA with a company that no longer exists. At that stage I was totally driven by my own ignorance and a very tight budget. I ended up with a house and land package and just went with "what they told me". Luckily for me nothing went wrong but then the house was so small and the only upgrades I made was to a nicer standard of bricks and a wall in the loungeroom to make a little entry way (1m x 1m) - so there wasn't much that could go wrong.

This time around we had much more choices, but surprisingly were still just as ignorant. We did get some recommended builders from the developer on the estate we bought in, which was useful as we needed a builder who would do a custom design on a sloped block and he had a list of these. Apparently many of the project builders won't do a custom design or modify for slopes.

We settled on a "known name" long standing company as it "felt" safer. The issue of bad reviews is definitely of concern. I did not explore this until after we had signed up and initially gave myself a bit of a scare as there had been a number of bad reviews against our company but I soon realised that this was specific to certain franchises in other areas and our franchise actually had a good reputation (thankfully).

The other thing I did find interesting was how much sub-contractors are willing to comment about the different companies, both positive and negative - given this I think one thing I would consider in future would be to ask subbies in the estate I was building in what they thought of different builders. Given these guys know the standards that the companies set and would also have to deal with issues like delays etc I think they would be a good source of information.

elle · Apr 23, 2013 10:24 am

Thankyou,
I have selected a builder I'm pretty happy with and has a few good build experiences on here...also the service I received from the sales person was much more what I had expected!
I was trying to initially choose a builder on design but I soon learnt a flexible, upfront builder was much more important because they can change any design to suit.

animal · Apr 23, 2013 11:20 am

sound good elle,

I've got my own coding system to keep me amused. I'm really happy with my builder, but the whole industry works in a different time frame than the rest of society, it's like they are all stuck in a tardis or time warp or something:

So when I hear the following, I do a conversion in my head, and that way I'm not dissapointed!

:):
tomorrow = next week at best
this week = sometime after this fortnight
next week = next month at earliest
will look at that next week = might look at that sometime in next few months

:)

Good luck with your build!

donna61 · Apr 23, 2013 11:39 am

animal

sound good elle,

I've got my own coding system to keep me amused. I'm really happy with my builder, but the whole industry works in a different time frame than the rest of society, it's like they are all stuck in a tardis or time warp or something:

So when I hear the following, I do a conversion in my head, and that way I'm not dissapointed!

:):
tomorrow = next week at best
this week = sometime after this fortnight
next week = next month at earliest
will look at that next week = might look at that sometime in next few months

:)

Good luck with your build!

Wish I'd learn't your coding system a few months ago!!

elle · Apr 23, 2013 12:09 pm

animal

sound good elle,

I've got my own coding system to keep me amused. I'm really happy with my builder, but the whole industry works in a different time frame than the rest of society, it's like they are all stuck in a tardis or time warp or something:

So when I hear the following, I do a conversion in my head, and that way I'm not dissapointed!

:):
tomorrow = next week at best
this week = sometime after this fortnight
next week = next month at earliest
will look at that next week = might look at that sometime in next few months

:)

Good luck with your build!

AHAHAHA that's the system I use with DH when he works away for when he is coming home!

therussianvillage · Oct 13, 2013 12:32 pm

We are first home builders, we have had problems along the way I think that is quite typical of building a house.

I would definitely go with a small builder. The builder we chose currently have approximately 25 house under construction and are rushing every one of them and still building beyond the contract date.
To make things worse there is only 1 site supervisor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things to look out for-

Houses rarely get finished by contract date, what animal said in previous post is very true, every stage of our build was delayed.
A friend of ours at contract stage added "liquidation compensation" which means if they go over contract time they get compensated. Which may end in the builder rushing the job to avoid being financially penalized.

The saleman/women's job is to sell you their product, of course they are going to be helpful/nice/understanding, just remember once you sign that contract they will move onto the next customer and you will be dealing with the site supervisor who in most cases is not as accommodating.

Check on the progress of your house as often as you can, all the faults with ours we have found ourselves and have had to get into contact with our SS to bring it to his attention, even then we had to fight for a few of those to be fixed.

Definitely get a building inspector, during the build and just before handover time.

It has been our experience as well as our friends and family that the SS will lie, cover up mistakes and make you feel as if you are too picky.

Someone on the same street who went with the same builder complained about a few things and the SS response was "what do you expect with a cheap build?" Her terrace home cost approximately $250,000.

I hope this hasn't turned you off, just don't take for granted that who ever you choose to build with, will build your house with integrity. I'm sure there are some builders out there who do, I've just personally haven't had that experience.

All that said I wish you the best of luck with your future home.