Browse Forums Building A New House Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11141Jun 07, 2015 8:54 pm We met with our SS on Friday, and yep we have brickie delays also so wonder if we are going to be before or after you Gardenretreat- you seem to be in a close by area! He did say that he would be doing the roof in the mean time tho so that's a positive! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11142Jun 08, 2015 10:14 am HarryV Hi All, We are considering building with MDJ, Milano two 15(single level). Got the below quote and was hoping if we could get some help with figuring out total cost of the build, including everything. The consultant has given us the following: Base price + site costs + Below mentioned inclusions = $ 278,000 Above price estimate includes Steel frame, H1 class slab, Stacker doors for Alfresco, 2700 High ceilings, high internal doors, Ducted air con, Alfresco and SMEG appliances 900mm. Below are NOT included in the price estimate MDJ gave us (I could get a rough cost after browsing through the forums): Driveway ($ 10,000) Flooring throughout the house + alfresco ($ 16,000) Electricals - ($ 14,000. But what does this mean? What constitutes electricals?) Window fly screens ($5000 may be? not sure) Fencing - Happy to skip this for now. Leaving out the upgrades, which will be a personal choice, Appreciate if any one could shed some light on the below: 1. Are the costs I have gathered above for the non included items approximately correct? 2. Am I missing any other items that I should be considering? 3. In the above list, what does Electricals mean? Does the cost of electrical mean the wiring for the entire house, bulb holders, tube lights, plug points, etc? Is it not usually included in the quote provided by MDJ? 4. Is the estimate of 278,000 provided my MDJ a sweet one? They offered the impressions package, upgraded appliances and ducted Aircon as free and I have seen, on the forums, almost all of the people getting them as such. 5. As required by MDJ, is it worth paying $3000 to lock in this price? My land will not be registered until Jan 2016. Thanks for the help! - Harry Where abouts are you going to be building? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11143Jun 08, 2015 11:47 am Yarborough HarryV Hi All, We are considering building with MDJ, Milano two 15(single level). Got the below quote and was hoping if we could get some help with figuring out total cost of the build, including everything. The consultant has given us the following: Base price + site costs + Below mentioned inclusions = $ 278,000 Above price estimate includes Steel frame, H1 class slab, Stacker doors for Alfresco, 2700 High ceilings, high internal doors, Ducted air con, Alfresco and SMEG appliances 900mm. Below are NOT included in the price estimate MDJ gave us (I could get a rough cost after browsing through the forums): Driveway ($ 10,000) Flooring throughout the house + alfresco ($ 16,000) Electricals - ($ 14,000. But what does this mean? What constitutes electricals?) Window fly screens ($5000 may be? not sure) Fencing - Happy to skip this for now. Leaving out the upgrades, which will be a personal choice, Appreciate if any one could shed some light on the below: 1. Are the costs I have gathered above for the non included items approximately correct? 2. Am I missing any other items that I should be considering? 3. In the above list, what does Electricals mean? Does the cost of electrical mean the wiring for the entire house, bulb holders, tube lights, plug points, etc? Is it not usually included in the quote provided by MDJ? 4. Is the estimate of 278,000 provided my MDJ a sweet one? They offered the impressions package, upgraded appliances and ducted Aircon as free and I have seen, on the forums, almost all of the people getting them as such. 5. As required by MDJ, is it worth paying $3000 to lock in this price? My land will not be registered until Jan 2016. Thanks for the help! - Harry Where abouts are you going to be building? The MJH build is simply a house, Concrete floor, walls, roof, windows, doors, insulation, and painting. 1 power point per room and 1 light per room. Basic kitchen. No floorcoverings. Not exactly what you see in the display homes. On average, it will cost another $50,000 - $100,000 to make that "house" into a "home". You would not get an occupation certificate from a council, without adding flooring, driveway, fencing etc. It does not include driveway, fencing, landscaping. When they talk about electricals, they mean things like adding extra lights, powerpoints, TV antenna, phone line, data ports etc. It's a pity they don't show you images of the house they build without the extras so you know exactly what you are paying for. MJH can supply all of the above, but you will pay extra for it. You therefore need to look carefully at your finances, and have a thorough understanding of what is and isn't included. Even if you look back through the images on this blog, I think you would find it very hard to find a photo of a house which has not had additional money spent on inclusions, even before the keys were handed over. Talk to the salesman, and ask them to accompany you though the display home and ask them to point out all the 'additions' from the actual standard build. btw, the practice of displaying a dressed up home is not unique to MJH. They all do it, unless you buy a house which is already built, and you can see the end product at the outset. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11144Jun 08, 2015 3:54 pm baldy-79 We met with our SS on Friday, and yep we have brickie delays also so wonder if we are going to be before or after you Gardenretreat- you seem to be in a close by area! He did say that he would be doing the roof in the mean time tho so that's a positive! Hi Baldy79, Where are you building? we are in Moorebank (Georges fair development). The brickie team are working on a house further up out street at the moment (and its nowhere near finished) then they will be going to a 2 storey house then to us . We have no idea where this two storey house is - is that your house? Building the Garden Retreat One with MacDonald Jones http://buildingthegardenretreat.blogspot.com.au/ Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11145Jun 08, 2015 7:59 pm gardenretreat1 baldy-79 We met with our SS on Friday, and yep we have brickie delays also so wonder if we are going to be before or after you Gardenretreat- you seem to be in a close by area! He did say that he would be doing the roof in the mean time tho so that's a positive! Hi Baldy79, Where are you building? we are in Moorebank (Georges fair development). The brickie team are working on a house further up out street at the moment (and its nowhere near finished) then they will be going to a 2 storey house then to us . We have no idea where this two storey house is - is that your house? Hi:) we are building at Gledswood hills at the Hermitage on Camden Valley way, relatively close but not same estate. I live close to morebank now - at Revesby. We're building a single story , it's the Monte Carlo. We were told about 3,weeks wait for the brickies. Will they start on your roof while you wait? Pia. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11146Jun 08, 2015 7:59 pm gardenretreat1 baldy-79 We met with our SS on Friday, and yep we have brickie delays also so wonder if we are going to be before or after you Gardenretreat- you seem to be in a close by area! He did say that he would be doing the roof in the mean time tho so that's a positive! Hi Baldy79, Where are you building? we are in Moorebank (Georges fair development). The brickie team are working on a house further up out street at the moment (and its nowhere near finished) then they will be going to a 2 storey house then to us . We have no idea where this two storey house is - is that your house? Hi:) we are building at Gledswood hills at the Hermitage on Camden Valley way, relatively close but not same estate. I live close to morebank now - at Revesby. We're building a single story , it's the Monte Carlo. We were told about 3,weeks wait for the brickies. Will they start on your roof while you wait? Pia. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11147Jun 08, 2015 9:10 pm gardenretreat1 Wow Jo. Looks good. You are flying along. Is that urban one pepper? We are just still waiting to hear from our site supervisor. Did anything get done on your block before you heard from your site supervisor initially? We are 2 hours away from our block so it is not something we can go and see easily to see if anything has happened yet. CathyLeigh[/quote] Hi CathyLeigh, Not sure if it's the same for all areas but we had a slab supervisor who looked after the site until slab was finished , then we got allocated a site supervisor when the frame was ready to start and he looks after the job until the end. The slab supervisor called us to say we are going to scrape on such and such day .... and it was probably the day before the site got scraped.[/quote] Hi Gardenretreat1 Thanks for your response. I probably meant to say we are waiting on our slab supervisor to call, not site supervisor. I am a bit ahead of myself. Hopefully he will keep us updated when something is going to happen as we are 2 hours away. Hoping on a phone call this week and maybe a start. Fingers crossed. CathyLeigh CathyLeigh Building the Monte Carlo Executive with rear activities with Balinese Resort Facade, Salt Water Beach Estate, Wallabi Point Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11148Jun 08, 2015 10:07 pm Hi everyone, First time posting here my partner & I are building the Miami 16- any others out there? Would love to see colour choices, anything really! I'm hoping someone is also putting in a fireplace as we need to decide where it best goes! Thanks! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11149Jun 09, 2015 6:21 am Femma1412 Hi everyone, First time posting here my partner & I are building the Miami 16- any others out there? Would love to see colour choices, anything really! I'm hoping someone is also putting in a fireplace as we need to decide where it best goes! Thanks! Hi Femma, We are going to be building Miami 15.. Just waiting for our colours appt. We are planning to put a fireplace in too, in the void between the TV recess & the dining recess. Having it widened & centered to fit. Just waiting on MJH quote for it.. We are also getting a sliding cavity door that goes into the HT wall to section off the living areas to save on heating / cooling costs... Where are u thinking of putting yours? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11150Jun 09, 2015 6:22 am Femma1412 Hi everyone, First time posting here my partner & I are building the Miami 16- any others out there? Would love to see colour choices, anything really! I'm hoping someone is also putting in a fireplace as we need to decide where it best goes! Thanks! Hi Femma, We are going to be building Miami 15.. Just waiting for our colours appt. We are planning to put a fireplace in too, in the void between the TV recess & the dining recess. Having it widened & centered to fit. Just waiting on MJH quote for it.. We are also getting a sliding cavity door that goes into the HT wall to section off the living areas to save on heating / cooling costs... Where are u thinking of putting yours? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11151Jun 09, 2015 9:36 am gardenretreat1 cwiseman So the Tilers are working like Trojans while hubby does the lawn today- am so in love with my floors, am so glad we went with tiles. They look amazing. #gettingexcited what kind of tiles did you go for ? We are starting to look at tiles now and are considering the timber look tiles, has anyone used them? or anyone know of any recent display homes that use them so we can see them on a big floor? I went to the home show the other day and there were loads of them. Casa view homes in Edmondson park the village I think have them. That's where I fell in love with the idea. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11152Jun 09, 2015 9:36 am gardenretreat1 cwiseman So the Tilers are working like Trojans while hubby does the lawn today- am so in love with my floors, am so glad we went with tiles. They look amazing. #gettingexcited what kind of tiles did you go for ? We are starting to look at tiles now and are considering the timber look tiles, has anyone used them? or anyone know of any recent display homes that use them so we can see them on a big floor? I went to the home show the other day and there were loads of them. Casa view homes in Edmondson park the village I think have them. That's where I fell in love with the idea. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - Client Liaison Issues 11153Jun 09, 2015 3:06 pm Hi All, Just wondering if anyone else is or has had issues with their Client Liaison Officer getting back to them? I am finding it a little bit concerning that we haven't even started building yet and I can't seem to get any answers to the things I really need to know before we go to colours this week! Not sure what to do! Any advice is appreciated. Thanks AJR Re: McDonald Jones Homes - Client Liaison Issues 11154Jun 09, 2015 4:50 pm AJR Hi All, Just wondering if anyone else is or has had issues with their Client Liaison Officer getting back to them? I am finding it a little bit concerning that we haven't even started building yet and I can't seem to get any answers to the things I really need to know before we go to colours this week! Not sure what to do! Any advice is appreciated. Thanks AJR Hi AJR, Are you going for the preliminary colour appointment? if so they will provide you all the information there. They will give you a big folder with cost of upgrades and etc. And no, we don't have any issue with our CLO. Our's have been fantastic. Our McDonald Jones Cordova Two Build - http://cordovatwomjh.blogspot.com.au Re: McDonald Jones Homes - Client Liaison Issues 11155Jun 09, 2015 5:11 pm AJR Hi All, Just wondering if anyone else is or has had issues with their Client Liaison Officer getting back to them? I am finding it a little bit concerning that we haven't even started building yet and I can't seem to get any answers to the things I really need to know before we go to colours this week! Not sure what to do! Any advice is appreciated. Mine seems slow at times, but maybe I am just impatient. There seems to be a lot of paper work to be done, once you get to the stage of submitting the DA to council. Once the land was register, for us, it looks like it will take two months to get on the construction list Where is your CLO based? Thanks AJR Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11156Jun 09, 2015 6:51 pm baldy-79 gardenretreat1 baldy-79 We met with our SS on Friday, and yep we have brickie delays also so wonder if we are going to be before or after you Gardenretreat- you seem to be in a close by area! He did say that he would be doing the roof in the mean time tho so that's a positive! Hi Baldy79, Where are you building? we are in Moorebank (Georges fair development). The brickie team are working on a house further up out street at the moment (and its nowhere near finished) then they will be going to a 2 storey house then to us . We have no idea where this two storey house is - is that your house? Hi:) we are building at Gledswood hills at the Hermitage on Camden Valley way, relatively close but not same estate. I live close to morebank now - at Revesby. We're building a single story , it's the Monte Carlo. We were told about 3,weeks wait for the brickies. Will they start on your roof while you wait? Pia. Hi, No they said with our house design we have to do the bricks first. bit of a bummer since it's such great weather sad to waste it. We are having a colorbond roof I don't think it makes any difference though. Well at least you will have some progress with a roof, are you doing colorbond or tiles? post a pic when it's going on so we can all see progress, it helps us through the waiting. Yes I know the Hermitage - near the display homes. Revesby is just down the road from us too. Building the Garden Retreat One with MacDonald Jones http://buildingthegardenretreat.blogspot.com.au/ Re: McDonald Jones Homes - Client Liaison Issues 11157Jun 09, 2015 7:25 pm Jazz926 AJR Hi All, Just wondering if anyone else is or has had issues with their Client Liaison Officer getting back to them? I am finding it a little bit concerning that we haven't even started building yet and I can't seem to get any answers to the things I really need to know before we go to colours this week! Not sure what to do! Any advice is appreciated. Thanks AJR Hi AJR, Are you going for the preliminary colour appointment? if so they will provide you all the information there. They will give you a big folder with cost of upgrades and etc. And no, we don't have any issue with our CLO. Our's have been fantastic. Hi, No! This is our actual selection! Hence my annoyance. We did our pre plans and i wasnt happy. Im still waiting for a reply which i should of had last week. At this stage i am ready to pull the pin and go elsewhere. Hopefully someone calls me back tomorrow. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11158Jun 10, 2015 11:08 am Our clo doesn't understand email protocol ...... I am always chasing. The thing is mjh has the design we want so there is no choice. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - Client Liaison Issues 11159Jun 10, 2015 1:28 pm AJR Jazz926 AJR Hi All, Just wondering if anyone else is or has had issues with their Client Liaison Officer getting back to them? I am finding it a little bit concerning that we haven't even started building yet and I can't seem to get any answers to the things I really need to know before we go to colours this week! Not sure what to do! Any advice is appreciated. Thanks AJR Hi AJR, Are you going for the preliminary colour appointment? if so they will provide you all the information there. They will give you a big folder with cost of upgrades and etc. And no, we don't have any issue with our CLO. Our's have been fantastic. Hi, No! This is our actual selection! Hence my annoyance. We did our pre plans and i wasnt happy. Im still waiting for a reply which i should of had last week. At this stage i am ready to pull the pin and go elsewhere. Hopefully someone calls me back tomorrow. Hi AJR I can understand your frustration. We nearly pulled the pin on the whole thing a while back too. My partner was prepared to walk away from the $3,000.00 deposit but I really liked the design of the house and talked him around. We are on the construction list now and work could start any day on our house. I am really glad we decided to go ahead in the end and so is he now. We didn't really have any problems with any of the staff members, our frustration came about when we got a tender document off them and decided to go ahead and after we paid our $3,000.00 deposit then got a Consolidated Tender for $15,000.00 more. That definitely hurt a bit and was the reason we nearly walked away. For any queries I had in relation to the colour selections I emailed our colour consultant direct and she was great in getting back to me almost instantly every time I emailed her. My advice for the colour selections, try and be as organised as you possibly can. Try to have a lot of your decisions made before the day. My only criticism is that I think, when you are spending as much as we all are, you don't get enough time to make your selections. It is such a big decision making the selections for your new house and then if you decide down the track you want to change something they want to charge you $1,000.00 per change which I think is a bit over the top. I think they need to be a bit more flexible towards people in this regard, especially if they haven't even started building your house yet. After all, we are spending all this money with them and if we want to make a slight change to our selections they should be more accommodating and not hold us to ransom with more cost. Hopefully it will all work out for you in the end. I think they are a quality builder so I am really hoping on a quality product. CathyLeigh CathyLeigh Building the Monte Carlo Executive with rear activities with Balinese Resort Facade, Salt Water Beach Estate, Wallabi Point Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 11160Jun 10, 2015 4:16 pm I must admit we've found it hard to get accurate and timely information from McDJ, post contract signing. We've generally needed to make contact and chase them for updates. Like CathyLeigh we're confident it's a quality product they sell, which is why we've continued. We've likewise been very close to walking away at times. We considered a custom build by a few builders before we went to McDJ, and they were no more confidence inspiring. I try not to post much detail about our grievances here because I know it's monitored quite closely. But we have certainly been patient and I think it's only fair to criticise where it is due. So, yes – communication is the one area they really seem to fall down. BRONTE // DEPOSIT: 07.14 / COLOURS: 29.08.14 / CONTRACT: 18.09.14 / LODGED: 10.10.14 / DA: 31.03.15 / CC: 25.06.15 / BUILD START: 23.07.15 Hi AKG, We had a base tender of $592 for 31 squares from MC Donald Jones. It looks relatively cheaper than other builders. 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