Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 09, 2009 10:18 pm Hey guys, my name is Greg.
I'm new to the forums but I have been looking around for a little while now. My partner (gf) and I have just purchased a block of land in Point Cook, Victoria. 644sqm's, 18m frontage bla bla bla. The land is set to be settled in June. We were really interested in the Atrium 36 from Porter Davis although I'm not 100% happy with the hidden extras, that are very well hidden (eg. I have to constantly refer back to these forums to find what the next question for the sales rep should be). I just wish that the options and extras were laid out in front of us. That said, we have now gone back to the drawing board and we're now not 100% sure about the Atrium 36. In my words, I think it's a little "wanky" in some areas and I really don't know where 36sq's is? From there... We have found a building company called *Inspired Homes* = http://www.inspiredhomes.com.au/ There are quite a number of different options with their floor plans which we really like, and from there, we can choose what we want, with endless possibilities (not always the best thing, but none the less we're not restricted if there's something that we really really want) The prices seem very reasonable (36sq house for around $210-215,000 with a fair few inclusions standard). We are budgeting for around $300,000 all up for the house and we are flexible but hopefully that will be enough. I suppose the advantage to going with a large operator is that if things go wrong, there's always a higher authority to go too. If we encounter problems with the smaller builder, and/or there are delays, where do we go and how much is it going to cost us? We're going to go look at the Inspired Homes display home on Sunday and I suppose we'll go from there. Any advice, suggestions and so on? Thanks in advance. Greg Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 2Feb 10, 2009 7:16 am Welcome Greg, we're first time builders too and we're building with Eden Brae. PD is the sister company of EB in NSW but I think PD have better designs than EB. I wanted to build with PD I've only checked their website but their homes all look so good. Which plans are you looking at with Inspired Homes? Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 3Feb 10, 2009 7:30 am hermyleen Welcome Greg, we're first time builders too and we're building with Eden Brae. PD is the sister company of EB in NSW but I think PD have better designs than EB. I wanted to build with PD I've only checked their website but their homes all look so good. Which plans are you looking at with Inspired Homes? Here's the house design we're looking at: The only difference is that we wouldn't want a powder room at the front of the house so we'd just extend the garage out that little bit more. My partner is a graphics designer and she does some work from home so we'd use the rumpus room for her setup (until the kids come). Comparing the overall size with the Porter Davis Atrium 36, everything is bigger on the floor plan with Inspired Homes and I think it's still going to come in cheaper than Porter Davis. There's alot of room for just the 2 of us, but we're talking about having kids in 5 years or so (we're only 22/23 now but have been together for quite a few years). Greg Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 4Feb 10, 2009 7:53 am love the design, it seems to flow quite nicely; love the position of the kitchen with the bifold doors, love the storage in the garage and the rumpus enclosed and not in the open. The laundry looks huge too. So many great things with this plan - you can extend the alfresco up to bed4... Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 5Feb 10, 2009 8:05 am Hi
I haven't been to the "Inspired Homes" display, so cant comment on it, but nice floor plan Just want to say welcome to the forum and welcome to point cook.. !! Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 6Feb 10, 2009 8:08 am Thanks for the welcome.
I love everything about the plan! On Sunday we're going to price everything up and see how we go. We really know exactly what we what and what we don't want. In terms of building with a smaller builder, how can we find out about them? HIA? ACCC? Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 7Feb 10, 2009 8:31 am Not sure, may try consumer affair and see if anyone making claims or complain Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 8Feb 10, 2009 8:48 am How do I find out if a builder is reputable?
Here we go: http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256EB5 ... #reputable Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 10Feb 10, 2009 9:44 am I can't seem to find any information at all.
There's no ABN on their website, I searched the ABR (Australian Business Registry) and couldn't find them on there (although the ABR database isn't 100% complete). Any other ideas? Greg Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 11Feb 12, 2009 9:13 am The plan looks great! You may want to step out the sizes of the rooms (particular bedrooms) as they look a little small? Our non-master bedrooms in our current house are 3.2 x 3.8m (one of which doesn't have any built-ins) and while they are fine for a 1 year old, they would be pretty small for a teenager. Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 12Feb 12, 2009 2:34 pm Chuq The plan looks great! You may want to step out the sizes of the rooms (particular bedrooms) as they look a little small? Our non-master bedrooms in our current house are 3.2 x 3.8m (one of which doesn't have any built-ins) and while they are fine for a 1 year old, they would be pretty small for a teenager. I absolutely love the plan! I thought the room sizes were quite good. On the Porter Davis Atrium 36 (the other plan that we did like) the rooms were all 3x3 except for the Master. The plans can be altered with Inspired Homes but I really did think that they would be large enough. Any other opinions? Greg Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Hom 13Feb 21, 2009 1:36 pm GSK Hey guys, my name is Greg. I'm new to the forums but I have been looking around for a little while now. My partner (gf) and I have just purchased a block of land in Point Cook, Victoria. 644sqm's, 18m frontage bla bla bla. The land is set to be settled in June. We were really interested in the Atrium 36 from Porter Davis although I'm not 100% happy with the hidden extras, that are very well hidden (eg. I have to constantly refer back to these forums to find what the next question for the sales rep should be). I just wish that the options and extras were laid out in front of us. That said, we have now gone back to the drawing board and we're now not 100% sure about the Atrium 36. In my words, I think it's a little "wanky" in some areas and I really don't know where 36sq's is? From there... We have found a building company called *Inspired Homes* = http://www.inspiredhomes.com.au/ There are quite a number of different options with their floor plans which we really like, and from there, we can choose what we want, with endless possibilities (not always the best thing, but none the less we're not restricted if there's something that we really really want) The prices seem very reasonable (36sq house for around $210-215,000 with a fair few inclusions standard). We are budgeting for around $300,000 all up for the house and we are flexible but hopefully that will be enough. I suppose the advantage to going with a large operator is that if things go wrong, there's always a higher authority to go too. If we encounter problems with the smaller builder, and/or there are delays, where do we go and how much is it going to cost us? We're going to go look at the Inspired Homes display home on Sunday and I suppose we'll go from there. Any advice, suggestions and so on? Thanks in advance. Greg Hey Greg, I just saw your post, im in the process of compiling a post of my own in regards to Porter Davis. We are also building the Atrium 36 and are now just about in our lock up stage. I don't have time to go too in depth with this now as i only have a few minutes and to be honest i am going to wait to see what the outcome is after we have our meeting with the PD State manager Monday morning. In a nutshell we were lead to believe we were getting a certain set of 5 leaf bi-fold doors on display at the Atrium in Pt Cook. We pretty much have built our entire house on that display (colors, doors, staining, everything) we were always saying from when we were first looking, to the sales quote through to the tender process how much we loved it and told every PD staff we spoke to "same as display thanks" Part of the promo we got when we signed up in October included a free set of bifolds, when i initially asked if they are the same as the display i was told yes and was pretty excited. Our next visit proved differently as it was explained by someone else that it was only the 4 leaf in the promotion and they were not the same height as the ones in the display. So, we said we still wanted the shorter ones (cos they were free in the promo) and we moved them to the rumpus/elfresco entry. We still wanted the big 5 leaf ones in the display and when we asked (ricky) the salesperson said they are about $5500. At first i thought it was expensive as i didnt know jack about bifolds but after calling up Stegbar (where PD get these doors from) they told me that those bifolds were $4770 for the doors only (no fiitings etc) so i thought that wasnt too bad considering ans we immediately asked to put those doors into our option list. (so much for not going too in depth with this now hey?) Anyway, so we got the quote put in there and it came to $5445 which was about right from the original quote.....now fast forward about 6 months and we are (as i said) now at lock up. I was at the house earlier this week (Wednesday 18th feb) and noticed our bi folds being delivered. I also noticed there were 9 seperate doors all the same size. I thought this was a bit odd as 5 of them were meant to be the big ones (just like the display) I immediately called, told them what happened and asked why this was the case....they told me that this was correct and its in your contract...sure enough they were right...the salesperson (ricky) and the girl that did our tender(jasmine) both wrote down the wrong thing so here we are stuck with something we did not want. We had no idea what the size of these doors were when we saw them (we are not builders) we did ask on at least half a dozen occassions with 3 PD consultants if they were the same as what we saw in the display and each time we were told yes and not to worry....yeah good! So, now they want to sting us $13,500 to fix it....like f***! so after yelling and screaming enough we got this m,eeting on Monday with some head honcho. I might add that after i told them Wednesday morning to stop all work on the bifolds and not to fit them because there has been a mistake.....low and behold i go back there Thursday afternoon and there are 2 guys there fitting the bifolds....i asked them if anyone had told them not to do it or if they had anything and they said no. After literally 5 more calls that day i still didnt hear anything back until yesterday (Friday 20th Feb) saying "oh we cant return those bifolds now because they have been fitted" aaaarrrrggghhhhhh!!!! frustration was an understatement at this stage.... anyway, im gonna stop there but there is way more....any comments please i would like to hear.... please make sure you check everything...i thought i did but when you put trust in 2 different people and you tell them what you want and they stuff up and put it down wrong, what do you do? okay, im going now... thanks for reading Doug Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 14Feb 21, 2009 6:08 pm Thanks for the info Doug.
We got notification last week that the prices of Porter Davis homes has been increased. That said, we've already decided on Inspired Homes and signed up today with them. We've made some changes to the plan and all up, we've got 44 squares. We're really happy with the price even with all our extras. We won't be starting until around July/August as our land won't be titled until June. I'll be sure to start a blog once we get started on the house. cheers, Greg Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 15Mar 01, 2009 7:37 am Hi all,
I'm new to this but also thinking about buying the Atrium. I think the price for the replica of the display is a little dear. Can someone please tell be the ball park of how much they have been quoted. I really love this house but dont want the heart to get in the way of the mind. thanks. Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 16Mar 01, 2009 8:05 am ACTNOW, I'm not sure of the price, but I have a little bit of info that may interest you. The Point Cook Atrium display closes today. The new Point Cook display wil open on 7th March (I think).
There will be a new design in the displays. It is basically the same as the Atrium but the minor bedrooms are to the rear and the master to the front. The name of the design escapes me, but I think it begins with O. the Atrium plan will still be available. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 17Mar 01, 2009 9:22 am GSK, congrats on selecting Inspired! They were on our shortlist when it was down to 3 (from about 100!!). I still dream about having their home theatre just the way it is in their display - maybe for the next home. Two reasons we didn't end up going for them was because of size and our budget, we could only afford a smallish house with them and while the walkway between family and meals is amazing and huge etc, it was just space we could've used elsewhere. Note, the price wasn't the worst we've seen.
I still don't understand though how it can be a profitable exercise for them if they basically subcontract out the building to other bigger builders and use all of their subbies. Is this common? Having said that, we loved so many aspects of the plans they have, you've made a great choice! We always said if we could afford it we'd go with them for our next house on a 1/4 of an acre but we're dreamin!! Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 18Mar 01, 2009 9:29 pm Thanks alot joles. There's a new PC display ? where ? Wonder if that means they've sold all the displays there on Dunnings Rd. Might call them.
It's an interesting change in design you mention, one I would perhaps prefer..I'll keep an eye out for it. Had a look at all the PD homes but cant see one beginning with 'O' currently. We love 90% of the all that comes with the Atrium (Asian Zen style). The display we found lacking in natural light. I were very close to buying the actual display. I think a lot of the Atrium's appeal has to do with the furniture. One could really spoil the whole effect by building a house and then putting in furniture that just doesn't do the house any justice. any way, thanks again. If anyone has any info on good primary schools in PC please send it my way. I'm looking at moving the family back from interstate in the next 3-4months. Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 19Mar 01, 2009 9:39 pm Won't be on the website for another week I'd say when they open.
All the homes on Dunnings Rd are sold I believe. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Building our first home in Point Cook, Vic. Inspired Homes? 20Mar 01, 2009 10:44 pm joles ACTNOW, I'm not sure of the price, but I have a little bit of info that may interest you. The Point Cook Atrium display closes today. The new Point Cook display wil open on 7th March (I think). There will be a new design in the displays. It is basically the same as the Atrium but the minor bedrooms are to the rear and the master to the front. The name of the design escapes me, but I think it begins with O. the Atrium plan will still be available. Joles, seriously, ASIO is worried about you, it is clear you know too much! lol PS: where do you get this stuff, I gotta have your source!!! Annie A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ I have posted this before: We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports… 2 4518 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi All, We have a fall from road to garage front. But we cannot put a drain/grate because no discharge point put by the builder. Now they complain not enough space for… 0 9246 Hi, I have this sewer inspection point sitting in an odd spot in the rear of my yard: https://imgur.com/ghLI98q What I'd like to do is put a firepit in that corner of… 0 6533 |