Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 05, 2023 10:00 pm With so many builders going bust (eg allura homes), its scary to build at this time. Even big builders like metricon is no longer honoring their fixed priced contracts. https://www.news.com.au/finance/busines ... 7ca6fcdee3 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/ ... /102629928 For custom floor plans, what do you guys think of fowler homes and king homes? Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 2Aug 09, 2023 1:32 pm Fowler Homes Fowler Homes Pty Ltd | ACCC Read your contract very carefully. While they've been forced to change this, if they were willing to do it in the first place, what other issues are you going to have? Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 3Aug 09, 2023 3:47 pm AJ1111 Fowler Homes Fowler Homes Pty Ltd | ACCC Read your contract very carefully. While they've been forced to change this, if they were willing to do it in the first place, what other issues are you going to have? what things in the contract a red flags? Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 4Aug 09, 2023 4:51 pm akuma69 AJ1111 Fowler Homes Fowler Homes Pty Ltd | ACCC Read your contract very carefully. While they've been forced to change this, if they were willing to do it in the first place, what other issues are you going to have? what things in the contract a red flags? how long is a piece of string? Its osunds like you should engage a profesional to help you with this. Its also worth noting Metricon have not bene honoring their fixed prices contracts for some time. Like ~1-2 years. You want to see the full breadth of their activities, join the metricon dissapointed homeowners facebook page. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 5Aug 09, 2023 6:28 pm ponzutwo akuma69 AJ1111 Fowler Homes Fowler Homes Pty Ltd | ACCC Read your contract very carefully. While they've been forced to change this, if they were willing to do it in the first place, what other issues are you going to have? what things in the contract a red flags? how long is a piece of string? Its osunds like you should engage a profesional to help you with this. Its also worth noting Metricon have not bene honoring their fixed prices contracts for some time. Like ~1-2 years. You want to see the full breadth of their activities, join the metricon dissapointed homeowners facebook page. Thing is i built one home before covid. With beechwood homes. Went smoothly. No extra costs at all. Built at the fixed cost. But many told me post covid things are different now. Builders putting alot of clauses to charge you outside the fixed costs. That's why I'm cautious now. Dont know which builder to go with. I seen several positive reviews for King homes here. https://www.productreview.com.au/listin ... -homes-nsw so it gave some confidence. But still unsure. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 6Aug 10, 2023 11:06 am Covid for sure did impact fixed price contracts and created a lot of issues with supply chains and labour availability. That's now passed in my opinion. I don't believe any builder worth their salt can reasonably argue supply/labour issues anymore. I'd be particularly cautious of how clauses around this are written. If entering a new contract now, builders have had plenty of time to manage their supply issues that arose during peak Covid. As Ponzutwo said, there's many things to look at, but you specifically noted the additional costs concern you so that's what I've mentioned. Look for any special clauses that restrict your rights, such as the Fowler/ACCC ruling. Unfair charges to you around delays to commencement, but overly favourable to the builder for delays/liquidated damages. Even rain days calculation has been an issue for some on the forum. Any red flags, spend the bit extra and get some proper advice on the contract. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 7Aug 10, 2023 11:52 am AJ1111 Covid for sure did impact fixed price contracts and created a lot of issues with supply chains and labour availability. That's now passed in my opinion. I don't believe any builder worth their salt can reasonably argue supply/labour issues anymore. I'd be particularly cautious of how clauses around this are written. If entering a new contract now, builders have had plenty of time to manage their supply issues that arose during peak Covid. that may be the case for future builds, but prices have increased on materials full stop. Its not like you can go back to pre covid/early covid prices as a baseline Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 8Aug 10, 2023 12:12 pm ponzutwo AJ1111 Covid for sure did impact fixed price contracts and created a lot of issues with supply chains and labour availability. That's now passed in my opinion. I don't believe any builder worth their salt can reasonably argue supply/labour issues anymore. I'd be particularly cautious of how clauses around this are written. If entering a new contract now, builders have had plenty of time to manage their supply issues that arose during peak Covid. that may be the case for future builds, but prices have increased on materials full stop. Its not like you can go back to pre covid/early covid prices as a baseline 100%, but the builders cost to build should be the contract price, which factors in their current build price. Akuma69 is talking about increases outside the fixed price contract. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 9Aug 10, 2023 1:10 pm yea what's scarying me is clauses like "we estimated best we could. if during construction we require more materials, this cost will be sent to customer". Because what if they just lie and say needed more a,b and c. No way for me to verify whether what they said is true or just extorting. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 10Aug 10, 2023 1:19 pm akuma69 yea what's scarying me is clauses like "we estimated best we could. if during construction we require more materials, this cost will be sent to customer". Because what if they just lie and say needed more a,b and c. No way for me to verify whether what they said is true or just extorting. too broad a clause. Without the ability to verify (due to fixed price contract) thats just a free pass to overcharge as they see fit. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 11Aug 10, 2023 2:09 pm ponzutwo akuma69 yea what's scarying me is clauses like "we estimated best we could. if during construction we require more materials, this cost will be sent to customer". Because what if they just lie and say needed more a,b and c. No way for me to verify whether what they said is true or just extorting. too broad a clause. Without the ability to verify (due to fixed price contract) thats just a free pass to overcharge as they see fit. exactly! there are few like that. Which is why it makes me more nervous. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 12Aug 10, 2023 4:48 pm akuma69 exactly! there are few like that. Which is why it makes me more nervous. right.....so what do you think is the natural progression or the smart thing to do from here.....? Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 13Aug 10, 2023 6:35 pm ponzutwo akuma69 exactly! there are few like that. Which is why it makes me more nervous. right.....so what do you think is the natural progression or the smart thing to do from here.....? show the contract to a lawyer, that I will do. But first need to decide on a builder first right. Which builder to go with? Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 14Aug 10, 2023 8:10 pm akuma69 ponzutwo akuma69 exactly! there are few like that. Which is why it makes me more nervous. right.....so what do you think is the natural progression or the smart thing to do from here.....? show the contract to a lawyer, that I will do. But first need to decide on a builder first right. Which builder to go with? Maybe. What if you choose a builder, spend months planning, pay deposit, get contracts and you don't like the clauses? I'd judges short listing some builders and getting coppi3d of their contracts special clauses for review if you're worried about the clauses. Re: So many builders going bust, how's King homes/Fowler hom 15Dec 14, 2023 10:41 pm akuma69 With so many builders going bust (eg allura homes), its scary to build at this time. Even big builders like metricon is no longer honoring their fixed priced contracts. https://www.news.com.au/finance/busines ... 7ca6fcdee3 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/ ... /102629928 For custom floor plans, what do you guys think of fowler homes and king homes? 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 them. They are pathetic with their customer service and you will end up losing patience. 1 17202 My partner and I went and saw one of their builds that was under construction maybe 18 months ago. They had just completed framing stage and honestly it was was one of… 2 5273 They already have two well known ones (HIA & MBA) that many new home buyers mistakenly think are regulatory bodies that Joe Public can complain to. 6 28029 |