Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 2Mar 06, 2009 10:58 am You don't know - but there is never an absolute guarantees with building anyway.
We chose to go with a small private builder who doesn't even have any display homes. We felt the pros outweighed the cons. It has been a long drawnout process - longer then if we had of gone with a volume builder - however we are confident that we will end up with our dream home. Our pros were:- 1. We designed the home - not a standard home that the builder has designed to suit him. 2. We negotiated the price. 3. We could still look through some of his homes he had previously built. 4. We were able to purchase a lot of items directly rather then having to put up with their standard ranges. 5. We can use our own tradies for things - ie we are using a separate kitchen maker plus a separate stonemason - a lot of volume builders won't let you do this. Cons were:- 1. Very slow process - we started designing the home in November 2007. Fingers crossed site prep should start within two weeks. 2. No display homes to check things off against. 3. Have had to confirm and reconfirm things a number of times as there is no recourse for errors. ie walk-in pantry was supposed to be designed one way however when we finally looked through plans it still hadn't been done to spec. Then they tried to charge me a variation fee to fix. Luckily I have every email I have ever sent plus we had sent a mailed copy of 3 pages of issues - so they backed down on this one. 4. In our case there were extra costs involved with our slab due to its size. You have to be prepared for the worst I think - then pray for everything to work out. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 3Mar 06, 2009 11:10 am What kyton said! Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 4Mar 06, 2009 12:55 pm we are going with a smaller builder
i checked the hia and master builders websites, if the builder is a member (they better be) you can pull up information on how many property's they have built, if any offical cases have been lodged against them etc we also checked in with some people who had built with him our builder was more flexible than a volume builder however, and quicker so it all depends on the builder your looking at Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 5Mar 06, 2009 1:59 pm A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y - I love small builders - I wouldn't change my builder for the world! Builders going bust is an issue irregardless of size, Wincrest wouldn't be considered a small builder, and it happened to them. Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 6Mar 06, 2009 2:53 pm ICK A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y - I love small builders - I wouldn't change my builder for the world! Builders going bust is an issue irregardless of size, Wincrest wouldn't be considered a small builder, and it happened to them. and Beechwood certainly isn't a small builder. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 7Mar 06, 2009 9:25 pm i went with a small boutique builder, Marshall Baker, and i was a bit nervous, i loved their houses but didnt know anything about them. i was nervous handing over $40 g deposit so i gave them a bank deposit bond which they accepted, which is just a guarantee from the bank that the deposit is there, cost me $500. House got to lock up, noone on site for 3 months, company went into liquidation. i was lucky, i didnt loose much about 3 grand. but lots of people lost more, deposits not lodged, contracts not lodges with hia. Nightmare stuff. I would never go with a small builder. Too much risk. Builders are not known for their integrity. Re: Would u go with a smaller, not well known builder? 8Mar 07, 2009 9:44 am I'm so sorry to hear about that 4186anne, what a shocking experience that I wish noone has to go through!
But you did say builders are not known for their integrity, this goes for all builders, big and small. I've been duped by majors, and have had a wonderful experience with a small builder. Building is such a huge minefield, I often wonder why there isn't a watchdog with actual powers over the industy. It's possible but a soak well is usually much larger. Your 'soak well' only holds 424 litres when full. What is your soil type? Soak wells need sandy soils. 10 9001 Finally got the Soakwell at my house sucked out. Now I’m looking for ideas on how to hide it as it’s a bit of an eye sore. I’m thinking I’d like to turf over the… 0 3268 The HIA contract, in the term & conditions section states that "Commencment" is deemed when the drainage is started or the piers are dug or the slab is formed up (incase… 2 6176 |