Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 15, 2009 2:17 pm Hey,
I try to narrow down my search of the builders to the following because I love the designs of the house (in the display centre of course), not in any particular order: - M3tricon - S1monds - AVJ3nnings I put these 3 down just because the 3 designs I absolutely love are from these 3 builders ~ Out of these 3, who will you go for and why? I'm sure your insightful suggestion will give me a better idea (hence confidence) to make the final decision ~ Of course I could just bring the floor plan to a smaller/boutique builder, if you could share some wonderful experiences of yours Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 2Jan 15, 2009 2:32 pm Gday,
Just my two cents...it may not be worth much but I will relay our experience so far. We are just about to begin construction with M***** in country Vic. We chose to go with them because, like you, we loved their designs. The customer service so far has been outstanding and nothing seems to be too much. We are first home buyers, so we had a lot of 'gumbie' questions to which there was a 'please dont hesitate to ask anything, we are here to help' atitude. We are building close to an airport and according to our council, the house needed to have double glazed windows, upgraded plaster etc. to the value of over 25k! M*****'s response? The lowered the pitch of the roof slightly to make it so that we didnt have to upgrade all of this. They also refunded about 1k on the slab cost as we had to upgrade to an H-class slab. To be honest, if they had not mentioned any of this to us and just charged us, we wouldnt have known the difference. That is our experience so far and I honestly recommend them whole-heartedly. However, as you research this fantastic forum, some people have had problems with them. (I dont think that there is a builder that satisfies everyone). Sorry about the long message. I hope that your build goes well. Good luck with it all. R Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 3Jan 15, 2009 2:40 pm If it was me, I'd take what I liked out of all the designs and go to a smaller builder to do something custom (has anyone picked up we don't like the majors! ). Haven't had a lot to do with M, or AV, but S..., well we went to contract with S***** and every time we met them, or communicated with them, we walked away angry and $10k worse off (or so it seemed!).
I tend to like M***s designs, we just didn't go into it too much as couldn't afford them. Which design do you like from the three companies? Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 4Jan 15, 2009 3:51 pm l think l sound like a broken down record, but can't say it enough, each and every builder has its good and bad, its the risk with building! for us and $imonds, great, wasn't trouble free, but wasn't that bad that l wouldn't recommend them, l went for them (of course cause l LOVED the house we ended up building) BUT also cause of $$$ looked at similar houses with other builders $20,000+ more! Plus their standard inclusions were great (in our opinion) compared to others!
Need to work out whats important to you, perhaps get a quote from each builder and sit down and see what mets your needs more Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 5Jan 15, 2009 4:10 pm ICK If it was me, I'd take what I liked out of all the designs and go to a smaller builder to do something custom (has anyone picked up we don't like the majors! ). Haven't had a lot to do with M, or AV, but S..., well we went to contract with S***** and every time we met them, or communicated with them, we walked away angry and $10k worse off (or so it seemed!). I tend to like M***s designs, we just didn't go into it too much as couldn't afford them. Which design do you like from the three companies? I like the Santorini 29 from Mcon; the Milkpark 2800 from S1monds and the Piazza 250 from AV ~ I just love Alfresco Centred designs I am a first home buyer and hence whatever I can afford to buy, I'll probably have no $$ left ~ They all have FIXED cost contract, but from reading the forums, it seems a lots of people had experience an increase in $$$ even the contract is FIXED??? I would not have any $$$ for any extra $$$ if however they try to charge me more AFTER the contract is signed, and that's what I am worring about ... Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 6Jan 15, 2009 4:20 pm I've posted before about our hideous treatment at the hands of AVJ, so naturally I'd say don't bother with this builder Building our dream H3nl3y home together House: Cott3sloe Modifications: Extended ensuite, grand dining, grand rumpus, Bedroom 4 option, two plus garage Frame done, roof tiles are on, brickes start this week! Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 7Jan 16, 2009 2:18 pm Hello Wallacetai
please check these two links for AV jennings.... Not at all happy with them... https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0 Nexus is so very right ...do not bother wasting ur time and money with AV... they do not treat their customers right. We were also first time building like you, and were suppose to enjoy building... AVJ ruined it all... Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 8Jan 16, 2009 7:03 pm Hi, we are building with M. Our sales consultant was awesome-nothing too much trouble. The Head Office staff have mostly been horrendous-lazy, incompetent and rude. We are hoping the build is better. We are definetly doing inspections along the way as there is so many horror stories from all the big builders. Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 9Jan 16, 2009 8:38 pm anny We were also first time building like you, and were suppose to enjoy building... AVJ ruined it all... Yes, they really ruined our building experience for us too, a time that was mean to be exciting and wonderful (which thankfully it is again now). So much so, the letter they sent us had me in tears. Way to ruin Christmas 2007 too. Building our dream H3nl3y home together House: Cott3sloe Modifications: Extended ensuite, grand dining, grand rumpus, Bedroom 4 option, two plus garage Frame done, roof tiles are on, brickes start this week! Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 10Jan 17, 2009 9:06 pm wallacetai They all have FIXED cost contract, but from reading the forums, it seems a lots of people had experience an increase in $$$ even the contract is FIXED??? I would not have any $$$ for any extra $$$ if however they try to charge me more AFTER the contract is signed, and that's what I am worring about ... Be very wary of their 'fixed' costs, as they charge a premium to fix the price. We were due to start in Sept, they charged us $5k to 'lock in' the fixed prices for that date, but when we found out we'd been pushed out until Dec, it was going to be another $2.5k for each month we'd been pushed out. They tried to justify it by saying that we are still $500 better off because their prices had risen so much but we still weren't buying it! There are some real horror stories on here (I remember someone saying they were charged around $7,500 because they were building one month later!!) Needless to say our issue was going to blow our budget and that was the final straw to get out and find our own smaller builder! ICK So glad the building is over, never again. Loooove our house, but still not quite sure it was worth all of the stress they put us through! Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 11Jan 18, 2009 12:43 am Just came back home with a 7 hours chat with this consultant in the display home of M3tricon
He helped me to choose what to add on (upgrade) and what to take out to fit my budget ~ I've dealt with so many consultants in the past 6 months, and he was/is the first one to spend so many hours with me without even asking me to put down a depost ~ I think I will most likey go ahead to build the Santorini 29 from M3tricon just because of his exceptional service & helpful attitude; he has at least spend over 18 hours with me in the last few visit, and unlike other consultants from other builders, he never tried to push me to put down any deposit to "lock" the price ~ so I guess maybe choosing the person you deal with is easier than choosing the builder ~ BTW, on my FIRST visit, he gives me a detailed price breakdown and even help me to choose the upgrade and draw the floor plan in my block of land and suggest me where to put a gate, etc .... WITHOUT even asking my name! This wonderful M3tricon consultant (Angelo) is working in the Melton West office in case anyone want to experience what professional service should be! Will finalise my decision in the next 3 days or so Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 13Jan 18, 2009 6:26 pm Wallace.... I walked away from M3tricon... but Angelo was my consultant!!!
I have a few choice words to say about other people in the company but Angelo is the best!!! He is absolutely awesome. I promise you he will work so hard on your behalf and he honestly sees his role as to get the best out come for you! He is the best consultant I have ever come across. You won't go wrong if you stay with Angelo. Tell him Jo says hi! He will remember me! Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Any suggestion out of these 3 builders? 14Jan 19, 2009 7:42 am ICK wallacetai They all have FIXED cost contract, but from reading the forums, it seems a lots of people had experience an increase in $$$ even the contract is FIXED??? I would not have any $$$ for any extra $$$ if however they try to charge me more AFTER the contract is signed, and that's what I am worring about ... Be very wary of their 'fixed' costs, as they charge a premium to fix the price. We were due to start in Sept, they charged us $5k to 'lock in' the fixed prices for that date, but when we found out we'd been pushed out until Dec, it was going to be another $2.5k for each month we'd been pushed out. They tried to justify it by saying that we are still $500 better off because their prices had risen so much but we still weren't buying it! There are some real horror stories on here (I remember someone saying they were charged around $7,500 because they were building one month later!!) Needless to say our issue was going to blow our budget and that was the final straw to get out and find our own smaller builder! I'm just a little bit concern about this delay fee. I've signed the contract late May 07, haven't started construction yet as we are still finalising the variation cost. They gave me the first variation cost october last year and i complain because it was double the cost in the contract, then they came with other option and gave me the second cost last week. I responded to the cost with few questions a day after I received it (using email) but haven't had a response back from them. Are they going to charge me with delay fee? No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 9105 I have a really long hallway which is 1100mm W x 11500mm L I would appreciate if anyone can give suggestions to light it up with Linear LED lights that goes from wall to… 0 5587 Thank for yes basically what to remove and what to add, where to place them 2 1169 |