Browse Forums Building A New House Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 921May 30, 2011 7:53 pm ___________________ Initial deposit - 31 Oct 11 Signed Contract - Apr 11 Released to Construction - 03 Jun 11 Site Start - 05 Jul 11 (Advised) Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 924May 31, 2011 9:56 pm Hi all Having 'lurked' on this thread from time to time, I have often found some useful info and thought it was time that I actually contributed! My husband and I are building the Bronte 4 bedroom at Weston. I have heard good and bad things about MDJ but so far havent had too much trouble. We signed up in November last year and have finally been put on the construction list today! Is there anyone else out there building in our area? or building a Bronte? There are quite a few Brontes close by (plus the display at lochinavar) so we pretty much know what we are getting but I was just wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for once construction begins? We are first time home builders so any help would be appreciated. Thanks Bronte 4 Bedroom by McDonald Jones Homes Country Pavillion 'B' Facade Council Approval 06.05.11 Site Cut 17.06.11 Slab Poured 05.07.11 Frame and Windows 03.08.11 Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 925Jun 01, 2011 9:43 am Thats a very good news Hassibug. The kitchen plan is the one that we liked in Pinnacle as well as other rooms and open space...lol. A question to everyone here.. Has anyone used a private certifier for construction certificate and PCA for occupancy certificate followed by the Council development approval..?? What is/was your experience..?? Do builders ask for extra cost ++ for this..?? All comments welcome. Pinnacle Two - Zenith 4 Bed, 3 Bath, 2 Car Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 926Jun 01, 2011 10:21 am Castlevania Hey Ashy2323, What estate are you guys building in? We're in Waterford county, hopefully planning on getting on the construction list within the week . Ashtonfield! We looked at Waterford County but wanted to get moving quickly and not be the first house built (too much pressure!0 Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 927Jun 01, 2011 8:20 pm Hi Guys, We are thinking of building the Chesterfield Executive with the Balinese Resort Facade in Spring Farm (Camden) We are so confused about costing. People say to allow $100kl over the base price however we want to do driveway,landscaping,tiling/carpet and most of electrical after hand over. Do you still think i need to allow $100k over? Other than the pricelist they give out what other extras should i consider? Also dont want to spend too much at colours or electrical do you think its possible to not spend too much? Anyone else building a Chesterfield or any other home id be very interested to have a look at a completed MJHome that is not DISPLAY HOME QUALITY!! Do you guys know if there is anyway to see that? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 928Jun 02, 2011 9:48 pm okaayyyy... what happened to bmwf109 post lol? Built the Havana 3 by McDonald Jones Homes Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 929Jun 03, 2011 10:16 pm yeah, what happened? Is someone from MJ moderating this thread? kopite1892 okaayyyy... what happened to bmwf109 post lol? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 930Jun 04, 2011 5:53 pm I wonder what happened as well as I wanted to reply a bit later and then it was gone. Not much update on our build, Wed 01/06 got a call from site supervisor to say everything is ready and just waiting for weather to clear. It was nice and dry last 3 days but nothing happened. Went past our land this morning and nothing. A bit dissapointed. Hoping Monday will bring something. Planning to go tomorrow to clear some grass with my dad. Also, called the builder that dumped the concrete, who said they will clear it. And 'surprise', it's still there. Have now e-mailed council and 'dumping' builder again. I'm so furious. Hope everyone is going well. Building Havana Elite with side HT with MJD 20/04/11 DA approved by council 06/06/11 cut/fill 08/06/11 piering 20/6/11 slab 11/8/11 frame complete 18/9/11 lock up 28/11/11 handover booked Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 931Jun 04, 2011 7:51 pm Hmm yes very strange and he had some valid points i wanted to askk him about. Can i ask you guys how much(other than upgrades you choose) were you charged on top of your first tender, it seems that they try to suck you in and once they have your money they an add on whatever they like?? I was amazed that they quoted just over $10,000 to supply and fit a water tank...what the?? Other than that the house is perfect im just so worried about additional unknown costs! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 932Jun 04, 2011 7:58 pm I would hazard a guess and say that they were asked to remove it by Mcdonald Jones. I recall another post on the thread that contained some criticisms and I think they were contacted and asked to clarify what they meant in another post. Susiebunt..I can only speak on behalf of our experience so far and there have been no hidden nasties along the way. From our original tender to the final contract price the difference was $3000 and that includes what we spent n colours and electrical. They have never tried to hit us with any other costs. i know everyone's experience is different but we couldnt be happier. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 933Jun 04, 2011 8:00 pm $8610 for 3000L tank connected, It would have been around 1K more for 4500L tank. Initial tender price and final tender price were very similar for us. Just hope that there won't be any surprise costs once building starts. After somewhat frustrating tender process, I got more confidence in the builder as communication improved along the way. Building Havana Elite with side HT with MJD 20/04/11 DA approved by council 06/06/11 cut/fill 08/06/11 piering 20/6/11 slab 11/8/11 frame complete 18/9/11 lock up 28/11/11 handover booked Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 934Jun 04, 2011 8:18 pm Deryck Hi again folks, Yep it is great to see another MJH thread. We are building a modified Santorini in Ropes Crossing, for those who have forgotten or haven't read yet. I must say it has been a slow process thus far, we signed up in December and the plans are just coming out of council now. Don't be fooled by the sales people, MJH are a volume builder and no matter what you are told, they will not go any quicker. I don't know if it is any quicker than it was earlier in the year, but we have only just had our electrical appointment. In saying all this though, it has been a smooth process since then. Our rep has been the best and everything is answered in a timely manner. I just wish we were done and moved in! What happens when its there fault that you go over the tender period do they still charge you the extra? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 935Jun 06, 2011 3:27 pm susiebunt Deryck Hi again folks, Yep it is great to see another MJH thread. We are building a modified Santorini in Ropes Crossing, for those who have forgotten or haven't read yet. I must say it has been a slow process thus far, we signed up in December and the plans are just coming out of council now. Don't be fooled by the sales people, MJH are a volume builder and no matter what you are told, they will not go any quicker. I don't know if it is any quicker than it was earlier in the year, but we have only just had our electrical appointment. In saying all this though, it has been a smooth process since then. Our rep has been the best and everything is answered in a timely manner. I just wish we were done and moved in! What happens when its there fault that you go over the tender period do they still charge you the extra? susiebunt, you need to keep an eye on how the process is going and keep a list of everything that is causing a delay irrespective of whose fault. In our situation the DA was lodged two days prior to the original deadline so we negotiated an extension as it wasn't our fault but you then need to ride the council to get the DA through. The construction certificate is the kicker so make sure that is out of council by the deadline. Approval is the term in the contract but the certificate dictates start time so there can still be a request for a variation, if so then you will have to provide all the listed delays to support your argument for cancelling the variation. PM if you wish, saves space on the blog. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 936Jun 07, 2011 3:06 pm Hi all, A bit of news on the building front, our site has been cut yesterday and piering is due tomorrow. We don't know the end date yet, and not sure of official site start date, it seems to be 30/5 as 2 rain days have been claimed. Anyway, here are a couple photos. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Building Havana Elite with side HT with MJD 20/04/11 DA approved by council 06/06/11 cut/fill 08/06/11 piering 20/6/11 slab 11/8/11 frame complete 18/9/11 lock up 28/11/11 handover booked Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 937Jun 07, 2011 8:05 pm taki Hi all, A bit of news on the building front, our site has been cut yesterday and piering is due tomorrow. We don't know the end date yet, and not sure of official site start date, it seems to be 30/5 as 2 rain days have been claimed. Anyway, here are a couple photos. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ How exciting Looking great, hope things roll on nicely now Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 938Jun 07, 2011 10:00 pm taki $8610 for 3000L tank connected, It would have been around 1K more for 4500L tank. Initial tender price and final tender price were very similar for us. Just hope that there won't be any surprise costs once building starts. After somewhat frustrating tender process, I got more confidence in the builder as communication improved along the way. I was quoted $8450 for a 5000l tank. Lets say its a topic of debate at the moment ----------------------------------------------------------- Monte Carlo Grande Elite with McDonald Jones http://mdjatvermont.blogspot.com/ Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 939Jun 07, 2011 10:17 pm susiebunt Hi Guys, We are thinking of building the Chesterfield Executive with the Balinese Resort Facade in Spring Farm (Camden) We are so confused about costing. People say to allow $100kl over the base price however we want to do driveway,landscaping,tiling/carpet and most of electrical after hand over. Do you still think i need to allow $100k over? Other than the pricelist they give out what other extras should i consider? Also dont want to spend too much at colours or electrical do you think its possible to not spend too much? Anyone else building a Chesterfield or any other home id be very interested to have a look at a completed MJHome that is not DISPLAY HOME QUALITY!! Do you guys know if there is anyway to see that? Hi Susiebunt, My wife and I went to Colour Selections with a minimalistic approach and we still spent 30K+. After stripping it back to bare bones we ended up with just under 15K and that's with no carpet or tiling done. At electrical's we ended up at about 2.5K with most of that in double and triple switching. As for overall costs, our basic house price was about $194760 and now we are around $267000 and rising! ----------------------------------------------------------- Monte Carlo Grande Elite with McDonald Jones http://mdjatvermont.blogspot.com/ Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 940Jun 07, 2011 10:17 pm Thanks Patriot, I'll update again once piers are done, then hopefully slab will be done some time next week. Scotta_74, the tank price is $6950 and $1660 connection, very expensive I must say. Building Havana Elite with side HT with MJD 20/04/11 DA approved by council 06/06/11 cut/fill 08/06/11 piering 20/6/11 slab 11/8/11 frame complete 18/9/11 lock up 28/11/11 handover booked Hi AKG, We had a base tender of $592 for 31 squares from MC Donald Jones. It looks relatively cheaper than other builders. But I assume there are many hidden things that… 1 17551 Hi, Apologies - I know there is plenty out there on this but struggling to put together the puzzle. We're planning our garage/external laundry to master bedroom and… 0 12631 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 26685 |