Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 15, 2008 11:33 am I am new to this forum, but so far I'm loving the simple interface and how easy it is to navigate around.
Well my name is Kimberley, and I am 20 years old but am seriously deliberating on whether to take advantage of the first home owners grant. I am not taking this decision alone, as my partner and I are having been discussing what options are available. We both work full-time, both have degrees and are already working in our chosen fields. My first question is, where do people like myself, who are wanting to get into the market begin!?! As stated above we are wanting to build a home, rather than a pre-existing home. We are located in the rural area of North-east Victoria (near the border of Albury & Wodonga) Some of the building companies located near us, are providing up to $42,000 grants. Second question, albeit it being a really silly question to ask is... if we are wanting to just buy land and build later on the year, would these grants be still applicable? One of our concern's being with the FHBG is just how long will they be made available? With today's economic crisis, my partner and I believe that this would be the first things to be decreased or be totally removed from federal and state governments budget. I was reading somewhere that these grants are contracted to last until mid 09? Is this correct? Your help is much appreciated! Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 2Nov 15, 2008 12:18 pm As long as you sign a building contract before June 09 then you will get the extra grant. Who knows it may even be extended.
So yes you can buy land now and then start looking at builders. I am from Wangaratta originally so I know your area. JG King have an office there in Wodonga and a display home I think. They are the biggest regional builder in Victoria so go and check them out. They do steel frames as well as GJ Lewis who are also in Wodonga but my in laws built in Rutherglen with them and they would not recommend them again. Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 3Nov 15, 2008 12:52 pm Funny you should say that, I am from Wangaratta too.
We are wanting to to build away from Wang, possibly Alb/Wodonga area. There are quite alot of house & land packages, in this region so were lucky in that sense. Thanks for your help! Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 4Jan 15, 2009 11:22 pm wakeboardandy I am from Wangaratta originally so I know your area. JG King have an office there in Wodonga and a display home I think. They are the biggest regional builder in Victoria so go and check them out. They do steel frames as well as GJ Lewis who are also in Wodonga but my in laws built in Rutherglen with them and they would not recommend them again. We are building through GJ Lewis and so far have found them to be fantastic, though we are in very preliminary stages. Our friends who also went through them and moved in just before X-mas couldn't are very pleased with their home and couldn't endorse them enough. May l ask what problems your in-laws had so as to feel this way? Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 5Jan 17, 2009 8:00 pm thorney We are building through GJ Lewis and so far have found them to be fantastic, though we are in very preliminary stages. Our friends who also went through them and moved in just before X-mas couldn't are very pleased with their home and couldn't endorse them enough. May l ask what problems your in-laws had so as to feel this way? With all builders you hear your good and bad stories. For them it was built very fast so they were very happy with that. It was after handover they have had their problems. The contract had in slab floor heating and they forgot to do it to half the house. Which is not easy to fix. It took them months to get them to admit to it and give compensation, and the compensation was no-where near the inconvenience of not having the heating. They also had some other internal problems with doors sticking and jamming which have still not been fixed. Also their colorbond roof started to fade after about 6 months in patches. But for every bad story like this there is probably another 100 good stories about them that you never hear about. And every office is different.. They built from the albury/wodonga office. Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 6Jan 17, 2009 8:37 pm Gday Kimberly,
We are in much the same situation as you guys, however a couple of years longer in the tooth. We are just about to start building. I will give my 2 cents worth if u have time to read. We decided to build because of the FHBG and that the time seemed right. The FHBG is contracted til mid this year, however it has been this way for the last few years. A lot of people strongly believe that it will be extended come June. It is a great time to build too because the interest rates are lower than they have been in a while and hopefully will be reduced further when the reserve bank officials next meet in Feb. lots to think about but I am sure that you will make the right decision in the end. Good luck. R Building Vancouver 33 - My Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=89689 Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 7Jan 18, 2009 7:32 pm wakeboardandy thorney We are building through GJ Lewis and so far have found them to be fantastic, though we are in very preliminary stages. Our friends who also went through them and moved in just before X-mas couldn't are very pleased with their home and couldn't endorse them enough. May l ask what problems your in-laws had so as to feel this way? With all builders you hear your good and bad stories. For them it was built very fast so they were very happy with that. It was after handover they have had their problems. The contract had in slab floor heating and they forgot to do it to half the house. Which is not easy to fix. It took them months to get them to admit to it and give compensation, and the compensation was no-where near the inconvenience of not having the heating. They also had some other internal problems with doors sticking and jamming which have still not been fixed. Also their colorbond roof started to fade after about 6 months in patches. But for every bad story like this there is probably another 100 good stories about them that you never hear about. And every office is different.. They built from the albury/wodonga office. Wow, forgetting to do half the house, now that is a monumental stuff up indeed and yeah virtually unfixable! We were toying with the idea of in slab heating initially (before we got a quote! and that idea quickly got canned, lol) anyhoo, we mentioned this to GJ Lewis as we wanted it in the contract and boy did they give us alot of reasons to do it through the heating company instead....and no wonder! the debaracle with your inlaws was probably very fresh in their minds!! lol. The fading roof would be a huge let down, but l see it more as a fault with Colorbond itself rather than GJ Lewis...but the sticking doors and jamming should not happen, especially in a steel frame home, so yeah l wouldn't be happy about that either. But your right, for every few bad experiences there are probably 100's of good ones. But it's always important when embarking on such a huge financial investment like this to know the good, the bad and the ugly....even though the bad and the ugly might never happen, just having that awareness is good. Thanks for sharing, l appreciate it Btw, we're going through the Wodonga office too, lol......so far so good though ...let's hope it stays that way! if your thinking about JG King homes ? think again 8Jan 20, 2009 5:32 pm just a note to anyone re jg king homes - I believe my self to be reasonably savee however JG King Homes have taken 10 months past the contract date, made 7 unwarranted claims, had 3-4 supervisors, given no responses in emails and should never be used even for a dogs kennel. Their management is arrogant and high handed and lie. BE AWARE- Google JG Kings - Consumer Affairs - or cut and paste this address for more …..
>> JG King Homes Home Builders VIC Reviews Australia www.jgkinghomes.com.au << on a site called www.productreview.com.au ........ And tell everyone you know. Ps of the only two positives about kings on this site- they were clearly written as responses from the salespeople to justify the horrifying & outrageous truths in relation to the handymen that they are !!! Be warned tell your friends and anyone who you see in their displays to do their homework unless you want to go broke. sorry to break it to you….. ps always check the liquidated damages figure in the contract schedule and change it if it suits you or negotiate it at least. Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 9Jan 20, 2009 5:53 pm As I said all builders will have their bad stories.. JG K1ng are no different..
but you will find the general population of this forum don't appreciate people coming on here and copying and pasting their first post into multiple threads slandering a builder. Please start a new thread and tell us about your story. Otherwise I will just assume you are another builder trying to slander another builder in a public forum. aplogies and point taken 11Jan 20, 2009 6:17 pm Unfortunately my experience with this builder has proven less than satisfactory and again apologies as I am new to forums, posts and threads having not had the opportunity or need to seek the same.
None the less I would be pleased to outline my story once I get the hang of it. So thx again for prompting me. I am not another builder just but a poorly treated client. I shall take a little more time to capture the main points and revisit when I have prepared a little better. Re: Where to begin when looking to build a new home? 12Jan 20, 2009 6:19 pm We would love to hear from you once you have all the details of your build at hand..
In the meantime could you please PM me all the names of the people you have dealt with so I can be prepared and not get the same problems you have experienced. Re: aplogies and point taken 13Jan 21, 2009 8:48 am JG King Homes stink Unfortunately my experience with this builder has proven less than satisfactory and again apologies as I am new to forums, posts and threads having not had the opportunity or need to seek the same. None the less I would be pleased to outline my story once I get the hang of it. So thx again for prompting me. I am not another builder just but a poorly treated client. I shall take a little more time to capture the main points and revisit when I have prepared a little better. I'll be looking into this post! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15539 Can anyone recommend a good/affordable retaining wall and fence builder that I can get a quote from located in Sydney? 8 45841 If you are in Victoria you have a statutory right to your own building inspector regardless of builder's consent. No negotiations are required. However the builder will… 1 2944 |