Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Builder has not included details and wants signatures 2Oct 04, 2021 2:35 pm Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Builder has not included details and wants signatures 4Oct 04, 2021 4:59 pm Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Builder has not included details and wants signatures 7Oct 05, 2021 9:22 am Don't get too hung up on Bimboys comments, he's an alarmist and often suggests unrealistic courses of action to first time builders. Don't get overwhelmed by it. While there are provisions in contracts for increases (even in fixed price contracts), they aren't there as "gotcha" clauses for stooging you for more cash. Some builders have been known to use them that way, but I think you'll find most volume builders simply cant get away with that due to reputational risk and the fact that most lenders (if not all) predicate their lending on fixed price contracts. If you go the route of your own engineering and get three builders to quote, the risk of this happening is probably higher unless you're using a reputable custom builder. Now that that's out of the way; The general process is you sign that first piece of paper showing intention to use that builder. They'll usually take a small deposit of around 1-5k. This is usually non refundable. Most are doing around the 1-2k mark. That covers the costs of the work to come - i.e. all the communication, sales persons time, and usually a soil test etc. The soil test is so that they can provide an estimate for siteworks as part of your contracts. If you don't have 1-2k to spend at this time, youre in for a rude shock for the rest of your build. There's all sorts of costs that will pop up around the land transaction and conveyancing, inspections etc you haven't yet considered. A note on siteworks - The builder usually over estimates so the risk of getting some unforeseen extra charge related to siteworks is unlikely once they've done the estimate for fixed siteworks costs. Depending on your site, build and builder, these could be 5-80K (or more). You can get an idea of the site costs for the ear buy speaking to existing residents of the area you're building in or asking the builder what their costs have been in the area. Most flat blocks in new estates, with no prior construction are pretty simple and come with engineering notes from developers that give some indication of what's been encountered while building the roads and services (rocks, type of soil etc). SO that including your soil test on the block result in an estimate that can be pretty safe to be considered fixed, if they are labeled as "fixed". As a guide. 10-20k is standard on most greenfield estates in Melbourne. Don't agree to a provisional sum for siteworks as a newbie. You simply dont know enough about what to do or how to challenge the costs if they do get all used up or more is needed. The next stages should include a much more detailed breakdown of things you will want - structural changes, big ticket items etc. If you're well prepared i.e. you know their range of upgrades, you can specify these at this point. You will likely have to provide a provisional sum for your colour/studio session, electrical and cooling. These will all form a base figure that you will have to use in sessions that happen generally well after contracts are signed. It's in those sessions that you can either over spend or under spend and get a refund. This is perhaps the stage that you need to be most aware of being a possible way to blow out your "fixed price" contract. Unless you fall on exactly the dollar amount of those preliminary works, variations to the contract are created and the final costs drawn up. Be aware when you sign the contract, you will be expected to pay around 5% of the contract value as a further deposit. Most standard contracts will have a finance clause that could see a subjective "unused" portion of that 5% returned if you don't get finance. If you decide to cancel (i.e. not because of failed finance) after signing you could lose the whole 5%. Depending on how fast this all happens, you could have this before you go to the bank with a fixed price contract. If the lender has given unconditional approval for a specific amount before these sessions, anything that goes over the contract price will have to be covered by you before the lender even makes the first payment to the builder. If you come under, you will get the extra funds back after the final payment when you settle with the builder. These surplus funds are nice. so couple of things to consider
Good luck with your journey. It can be fun if you let it and don't allow yourself to be walked on. Don't get emotionally invested into it either, hard I know, but the moment you are, your decision making in the process loses objectivity. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Builder has not included details and wants signatures 9Apr 24, 2022 8:41 pm dfhtw13 My contract is not fixed price and my lender is refusing to even look at it. Is this normal behaviour for lenders. Thanks At the moment, in current market conditions? Yep Also assuming you have low deposit/high LVR. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Hi All, This is our second home build and first time with a custom builder. They are small builder and have built some houses with good quality. They tender and color… 0 613 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15284 hey there! 😊 so, it’s kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 20922 |