Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 21, 2009 6:09 pm Ok so we've come to a point where we can now sign our contract as our builder has changed their processes. (Initially we were due to sign after the DA was approved). Problem is though that until we have our DA approval our builder is unable to give us a final price due to our stormwater drainage system which is going into council land etc (it's all rather complicated). We honestly have no idea if it's going to be anywhere from $1000 or even $10,000. Essentially we have a 10600L underground rainwater tank where overflow will go to the drainage reserve next to our property. It's pretty full-on and the stormwater analysts have already had to change the specs from which our tender was priced on. All we know is the cost of the tank and the cost of the plan but none of the plumbing or site works. It could way exceed our budget. Being so up in the air and having ZERO idea of cost.... should we sign having no idea of the final price?? Do you think they could be trying to lock us in knowing how expensive it might be in case we want to back out? Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 2Apr 21, 2009 6:18 pm buildingadreamhome Ok so we've come to a point where we can now sign our contract as our builder has changed their processes. (Initially we were due to sign after the DA was approved). Problem is though that until we have our DA approval our builder is unable to give us a final price due to our stormwater drainage system which is going into council land etc (it's all rather complicated). We honestly have no idea if it's going to be anywhere from $1000 or even $10,000. Essentially we have a 10600L underground rainwater tank where overflow will go to the drainage reserve next to our property. It's pretty full-on and the stormwater analysts have already had to change the specs from which our tender was priced on. All we know is the cost of the tank and the cost of the plan but none of the plumbing or site works. It could way exceed our budget. Being so up in the air and having ZERO idea of cost.... should we sign having no idea of the final price?? Do you think they could be trying to lock us in knowing how expensive it might be in case we want to back out? If you had a pretty good idea of cost I would say go for it. But not knowing the cost IMO i wouldnt sign. You are running a high risk. What if it came back being 13,000. could you afford it??? you would be locked in at that stage..... up to you guys of course, but for myself I could never do that Living in Caloundra Thread****** Lovin my house all finished!!! Now tackling the HUGE task of the Garden- viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14782 Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 3Apr 21, 2009 6:20 pm Hi building, Dont sign yet. There will be a number of conditions that need to be complied with once you get your DA (assuming you get an approval). Sometimes this involves altering your architectural plans, landscape, stormwater etc. You should have all this information in hand and get the builder to quote on all these updated works in their tender prior to you signing it. Then you can decided if you want to source things elsewhere or get the builder to do it. Remember that the builder will put a margin on everthing they do (usually 20%). Although I understand you want to get things moving asap, take a bit of time here to make sure you have as much as possible included in the tender. If you have construction finance, the lender will generally only lend on the contract. If you incur a stack of variations, you may not be able to borrow on them either. Be patient ! Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 4Apr 21, 2009 6:23 pm marlton Hi building, . If you incur a stack of variations, you may not be able to borrow on them either. Be patient ! Thats true!! Our lender stated in our loan offer that any post contract variation had to be paid to the builder out of our own funds and could not be added to loan Living in Caloundra Thread****** Lovin my house all finished!!! Now tackling the HUGE task of the Garden- viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14782 Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 5Apr 21, 2009 6:33 pm Hi BADH, Firstly, is there any benefit to you signing before you receive DA approval? ie are you close to your 201 day deadline and will therefore avoid the price rises? Secondly, is there any way they can give you a maximum price guide? We were wanting to upgrade our M class slab to more closely resemble the Australian Standard (long story). They couldn't give us an exact price so they have told us it will cost "no more than $3000" based on some rough calculations. We will get the full price details later (prob $2,999.99 ) If there isn't a substantial benefit to you I'd hold out as long as you can! Cheers Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 6Apr 21, 2009 9:17 pm MrsRose Hi BADH, Firstly, is there any benefit to you signing before you receive DA approval? ie are you close to your 201 day deadline and will therefore avoid the price rises? We are about 6 weeks away from our tender expiring - I see it as a foredrawn conclusion unfortunately. It just seems that since they changed their processes we could be locked in by having to sign the contract now as opposed to after the DA and all it's conditions (which was the way it was going to be until we got notification from Masterton yesterday that things have changed as to when you sign the contract). These conditions relating to the stormwater and the pricing of it could totally stuff things up. I'm going to speak to them tomorrow and see if they are happy to stick to the old process and if we can sign AFTER we get the DA and the quotation for the stormwater. mellybuilding If you had a pretty good idea of cost I would say go for it. But not knowing the cost IMO i wouldnt sign. You are running a high risk. What if it came back being 13,000. could you afford it??? you would be locked in at that stage..... up to you guys of course, but for myself I could never do that Yeah this is what I am struggling with - having NO ball park figure at all so if it's more what we've budgeted at what point do we say well that's just too much and we have to suss out other options BUT if we've signed the contract it's too late. Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 7Apr 21, 2009 10:57 pm Ah, caught between a rock and a hard place! Is there any way of approaching another company (I'm assuming a plumber?) to quote on the stormwater based on your current plans? It might at least give you a ballpark figure - although no guarantee as to what Masterton will charge you. It may help you make your decision/budget.... because it sounds like you're going to need the stormwater done regardless of who you build with. If you're going to go over tender its probably better to go with your known price rises and wait for the unknown stormwater costs & DA before signing. You could always argue that you want to continue with the old way/timing and see how that goes... We haven't heard about the new changes to the timing of when you sign... So I assume I will hear from them soon... Good luck! Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 8Apr 22, 2009 9:00 am MrsRose We haven't heard about the new changes to the timing of when you sign... So I assume I will hear from them soon... Good luck! Interesting. What stage are you up to with them MrsRose? Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 9Apr 22, 2009 9:16 am We were told by Masterton that they had changed the order they do things, i think it was because of the FHOG expiring in 30 June? which suits us fine, cause our da won't get thru council by 30 June, so the new way we can get a building agreement signed in time to apply for the grant. Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 10Apr 22, 2009 9:24 am homemaker We were told by Masterton that they had changed the order they do things, i think it was because of the FHOG expiring in 30 June? which suits us fine, cause our da won't get thru council by 30 June, so the new way we can get a building agreement signed in time to apply for the grant. That's what I figured too. I just wanted to be sure they weren't trying a shifty on us knowing how $$$$ our stormwater hydraulics might be and worrying we wouldn't sign when we find out. Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 11Apr 22, 2009 8:21 pm Hi BADH, We've received out presentation plans and have finalised our variations we're now waiting for our revised tender/council ready plans - we're hoping to go through the complying development process and avoid having to go through Council. Our sales consultant is on holidays which might explain why we haven't heard anything about the changes to the timing of signing off!! Its a very exciting time! We're building the Fernleigh which is almost identical to the Villina but the B version which has the upper lounge at the rear - we're hoping to build a deck later and aim for some tree views. Never argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level & then beat you with experience - Dilbert View Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19733 Contract signed 14Sept Slab 30Sept Bricks laid 1Dec Lock up 26Feb Keys 10Jun Re: No final price yet - sign contract? 12Apr 22, 2009 9:07 pm Jinx MrsRose! Just saw your post here about the plans! Fingers crossed you can get through the CDC. We were all excited about to go through with it but we missed out by one tick box - we aren't containing our fill by drop edge beams but padding it out on the surface. We were soooo disappointed because as we expected our neighbours objected to our DA which they wouldn't have had the chance if we used the CDC! Hopefully you'll get your plans soon. If you do get through the CDC you'll probably start before us!! 1 1343 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 8 2234 So AFAIk the outcomes of the BAL ratings form part of a clause that allows them to pass these costs on to you. However the more relevant detail is how did it go from 19… 1 844 |