Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 12, 2008 4:32 pm Has anyone had any experience with building through Masterton? Have you built or are currently building?
Thanks! Re: Masterton Homes 4Feb 07, 2009 8:35 am Hey EmoH
I'm not sure what thread you are talking about but I am actually building with Masterton. Just waiting to get the final sign off to put plans into council. So far my experience has been excellent. Re: Masterton Homes 5Feb 07, 2009 8:57 am LOL i think it only you and us here baby..
But you already know what we think of them. We have nothing but gratitude towards Masterton they have been wonderful. and the craftsmanship so far has been A1. We have had the best people to deal with Bob and Renaye at Goulburn. and then Mark our project manger they are great people. they really eased your worries when we started and have made it a really smooth transaction John, Tarin and the Kids Built and moving in to the Regent Grande with Masterton homes http://thebrownsaremovingtothecountry.blogspot.com Re: Masterton Homes 6Feb 07, 2009 11:42 am My experience with the Goulburn office is something that I will be taking up with their National Manager and is the reason we are not building with Masterton.
We were a couple of changes away from putting down the deposit and we had advised them of such, Goulburn went silent on us many months ago. That is, they never replied to the e-mails and as you might have guessed followed up why we did not chase them up. It must be great to have so much business that you can choose who you want as a client. Cheers, Teddy Bär Re: Masterton Homes 8Feb 07, 2009 12:03 pm I'm sure they didn't do it intentionally!
they are very apologetic even if they miss something. all i can say is our experience so far has been excellent. John, Tarin and the Kids Built and moving in to the Regent Grande with Masterton homes http://thebrownsaremovingtothecountry.blogspot.com Re: Masterton Homes 9Feb 07, 2009 12:43 pm Hey Teddy Bear... what a great name ...we built our second house with Masterton and had enormous problems... our 2 subsequant homes were built by McDonald Jones Homes who I think have probaby got one of the best portfolio of affordable single storey architectural project homes in NSW at the moment... they also build with steel frames included... no termite probs...according to their web site they now build on the South Coast/Goulburn and are just moving into Sydney in the Ponds and Camden... my son is talking to them at the moment for a home in Sydney . Their web site says they are the largest builder in the Hunter Valley/Newcaste region (where we built) and the 4th largest in the state... they claim their business has grown over 100% in the last 12 months building around 400 homes... we are very happy with our home in Fern Bay.... out of a subdivision of about 60 blocks here they have built over 60% of the homes.... best of luck finding your builder and i hope everyhing goes well for you Life is an enjoyment, enjoy it Re: Masterton Homes 10Feb 07, 2009 1:29 pm EmoH BADH : Are you dealing with the Kellyville office or Warwick farm? I read just over 4K for moroka is a pretty good price. This is where it gets a bit complicated.... I am in a suburb of which not many builders like dealing with the council. Because of this Masterton outsource sales, tenders and DA prep to another company. So whilst Masterton do all the drawings etc my sales rep & customer service to this point has been with a contractor and his company. Once the DA has been approved it's then handed over to Masterton. In saying all that any information or service that I have required directly from Masterton has also been exceptional. Just like John&Tarin. And honestly considering the size of the company and comparing to other large Sydney builders Masterton has barely a negative word said against them. Re: Masterton Homes 11Feb 07, 2009 3:03 pm First of all, Like to say what a great site this is, wealth of information especially for those new to the business of trusting their life savings to building companies.
BADH:ahh thats complicated and the house you are building from your avatar is the Tempo elite? Very nice house and the most expensive too. Masterton just increased their prices in January 17, bugger! and the discount aircon is no longer the same price. Hope you got in before the rise. Sorry for some stupid questions but if anyone can answer it would be great. So how does the process work? You finalized your variations then pay deposit 4k, then get the plans drawn and if all is in order, sign off to put through to council? ( any penalties for last minute changes?) Do you also need to apply to council for demolition of the old house on the land? does that take long to approve? and once the DA is approved you got 180 days to sign otehrwise you may be subject to price inceases? Thanks buildingadreamhome EmoH BADH : Are you dealing with the Kellyville office or Warwick farm? I read just over 4K for moroka is a pretty good price. This is where it gets a bit complicated.... I am in a suburb of which not many builders like dealing with the council. Because of this Masterton outsource sales, tenders and DA prep to another company. So whilst Masterton do all the drawings etc my sales rep & customer service to this point has been with a contractor and his company. Once the DA has been approved it's then handed over to Masterton. In saying all that any information or service that I have required directly from Masterton has also been exceptional. Just like John&Tarin. And honestly considering the size of the company and comparing to other large Sydney builders Masterton has barely a negative word said against them. Re: Masterton Homes 12Feb 07, 2009 3:38 pm We are building the Villina with the Nouveau facade - same facade that the Tempo has on display.
We locked in our price back in November but if our tender does go over (we negotiated 201 days because of the Christmas break) our house has only gone up $2k. Basically after we accepted the tender we paid our initial deposit and it took about 4 weeks to get our first round of drawings in. We had them over the Christmas break and approved them with a couple of minor changes (moving a door and a gas point) and are now waiting for the DA to be submitted. We organised our demo DA ourselves but that took a while to get through council - about 8 weeks (but that's a bit above average - just some issues with our council delayed it). The council DA will hopefully go in in the next week or so (fingers crossed) and we have until the start of June for our tender to be up. Re: Masterton Homes 13Feb 08, 2009 3:13 pm EmoH So how does the process work? You finalized your variations then pay deposit 4k, then get the plans drawn and if all is in order, sign off to put through to council? ( any penalties for last minute changes?) Do you also need to apply to council for demolition of the old house on the land? does that take long to approve? and once the DA is approved you got 180 days to sign otehrwise you may be subject to price inceases? Thanks Hi EmoH, I have split your questions into three sections: - Initial Process, - KDR (Knock Down Rebuild) - 180 day Repricing Initial Process. 1. Firstly you receive your first set of 'Presentation Plans' named 'Presentation Plans A'. You are allowed to make one suite of changes, meaning you can change many things around, but you only can do this once. 2. Then you will receive 'Presentation Plans B' incorporating all of your requested changes, of course if they misinterpret or forget something they will fix it without charge to you. They are cool in this respect. In fairness, people would be making variations forever if there were no charges. 3. Then you Sign the paperwork to submit to Council. It is from now you will have to pay $1000 bucks for variations if initiated by you, meaning if you then decide at this stage that you want a double roller door instead of two singles you will have to pay the Variation Fee ($1000). This fee is charged per change too so beware! You will also pay your $4000 Initial Payment. We were Beechwood Homes customers so this Initial Payment was waived. Now, if the Council insists on changes like dropping the garage floor level to reduce the driveway gradient then this is a 'No Charge Variation', but there is usually other costs like extra brick courses, etc. But, if the Council says "make that window smaller" or "reposition it" then there is no overall charge as the cost would be negligible. 4. Then your stuff goes to Council after a few weeks of Council Planning, BASIX assessments, Statement of Environmental Effects, Site Surveys, heaps of stuff happens prior to lodgement. 5. Then your stuff comes out of Council and the process continues and you eventually get your Building Agreement, which shows all of your progress payment information, etc. 6. Once you sign the Building Agreement and return it (with your deposit) they then start your build within, but usually on, 20 days (they put the ATF fence up and get a port-a-loo which constitutes "Starting"). KDR (Knock Down Rebuild). Yes you do need to apply to demolish the existing dwelling, and if Masterton is doing this for you (the most efficient way) then it will all be taken care of for you. The council just wants to now how you are going to knock it down, will there be traffic considerations for bulldozers and earth movers?, when will the electrical company arrive to disconnect at the pole/underground?, when will the water provider do the same, will there be recycling of any items?, what did you have for brekky, etc, etc As far as how long to approve, it may take a little longer if part of the Masterton KDR process, I expect that the entire approval process will take maybe an extra couple of weeks at the most. 180 day Repricing. Once you have completed the steps as per the initial process you have 180 days to sign the Building Agreement and pay your Initial Deposit (5%). 180 days is a fair amount of time and you will be right if you keep in contact with your Construction Co-ordinator at Masterton Homes and turn around any of their requests without delay. Beechwood Homes had 90 day Repricing, there is no way on earth you would ever have the process completed in 3 months, then they have you hooked, then reprice your contract which was a rip off, no wonder they went broke (sucked in). Feel free to get me to clarify any of this and feel free to ask more about the process...sorry for the long-winded response, I just wanted to be clear. John John, Tarin and the Kids Built and moving in to the Regent Grande with Masterton homes http://thebrownsaremovingtothecountry.blogspot.com Re: Masterton Homes 16Apr 13, 2009 7:38 am Hi. We're building with Masterton Homes too. So far our experience has been great. Our Sales Consultant has been attentive and very helpful. I'm a bit concerned about the 180 days though. We got our final tender in February, paid our deposit on 21 Feb. We had our meeting last week to go over plan changes and now we're waiting for Presentation Plan B. If that takes another month, and our council takes over four months to approve (which apparently for our council is quite likely) then we'll have gone over the 180 days easily. Fingers crossed that if our prices rise it won't be too much. Masterton Santorini Grande 23/01/09 First Tender 17/11/09 Contract signed 25/01/10 Slab 27/03/10 Frame 7/5/10 Bricks 1/07/10 Roof 9/7/10 Lock up 24/8/10 PCI 16/09/2010 KEYS! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16418 Re: Masterton Homes 17Apr 13, 2009 11:18 am lizzy stardust Hi. We're building with Masterton Homes too. So far our experience has been great. Our Sales Consultant has been attentive and very helpful. I'm a bit concerned about the 180 days though. We got our final tender in February, paid our deposit on 21 Feb. We had our meeting last week to go over plan changes and now we're waiting for Presentation Plan B. If that takes another month, and our council takes over four months to approve (which apparently for our council is quite likely) then we'll have gone over the 180 days easily. Fingers crossed that if our prices rise it won't be too much. 180 is working days or calenda days Re: 18Apr 13, 2009 11:23 am JohnAndTarin I'm sure they didn't do it intentionally! they are very apologetic even if they miss something. all i can say is our experience so far has been excellent. JohnAndTarin May I ask you a question? What's the difference between Regent 38 & Regent grand if I choose the Prestige facade? Except for the price difference I can't find any other big difference. Re: 19Apr 13, 2009 11:25 am buildingadreamhome We are building the Villina with the Nouveau facade - same facade that the Tempo has on display. We locked in our price back in November but if our tender does go over (we negotiated 201 days because of the Christmas break) our house has only gone up $2k. Basically after we accepted the tender we paid our initial deposit and it took about 4 weeks to get our first round of drawings in. We had them over the Christmas break and approved them with a couple of minor changes (moving a door and a gas point) and are now waiting for the DA to be submitted. We organised our demo DA ourselves but that took a while to get through council - about 8 weeks (but that's a bit above average - just some issues with our council delayed it). The council DA will hopefully go in in the next week or so (fingers crossed) and we have until the start of June for our tender to be up. May I know why you do not choose Masterton's demo? Is it too expensive? How much for you to demolish your existing house? We'll have to do the same thing. Our house is an old one. Re: Masterton Homes 20Apr 13, 2009 1:39 pm My understanding is Masterton no longer do demolitions. We originally spoke to them a couple of years ago but just before going to plan stage we found out we were expecting Baby #2. At that time, the tender included demolition. This time around, we were told that they no longer do demolition but recommended someone to us with whom they normally work (presumably the contractor that used to do demolitions for them). We also got our own quotes and the Masterton recommended demolition co was around $2,500 more expensive. So it's worth shopping around. On the 180 days, I'm pretty sure it's calendar days... so, around 6 months. Masterton Santorini Grande 23/01/09 First Tender 17/11/09 Contract signed 25/01/10 Slab 27/03/10 Frame 7/5/10 Bricks 1/07/10 Roof 9/7/10 Lock up 24/8/10 PCI 16/09/2010 KEYS! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16418 4 16558 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74220 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105134 |