Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 21May 08, 2009 12:07 pm Wish I had known how to actually read a plan, thought I did, but on many occasions throughout this build found out I didn't. And next time (if I ever do this again, I think of this as my practical house, not my dream house) I would definitely be getting an interior decorator or colour consultant, because the one with our original builders just wasn't a lot of help, and didn't seem to really care. I'm not good at bringing all the colours together. Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 22May 08, 2009 7:26 pm pinkfairymagic Not to use a broker, they are USELESS, well at least myn is, they cost you MORE time, than doing it yourself. Hey, we had the same experience, pinkfairymagic. Our broker recommended a loan that was so poor, that we didn't go with his suggestion, but found our own one directly - much better. To think that the broker would have received a commission for his poor recommendation had we not have done some checking. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 23May 08, 2009 7:57 pm Fiffaro pinkfairymagic Not to use a broker, they are USELESS, well at least myn is, they cost you MORE time, than doing it yourself. Hey, we had the same experience, pinkfairymagic. Our broker recommended a loan that was so poor, that we didn't go with his suggestion, but found our own one directly - much better. To think that the broker would have received a commission for his poor recommendation had we not have done some checking. I totally second this !!! You can use a broker for comparison but always check by yourself as well.. You'd be surprise how much you end up saving i.e. over 0.5% with just the first call...and even before negotiating! I think there may be a reason why they are called Brokers in the first place Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 24May 08, 2009 11:26 pm Helyn Quote: Buzz off hubby, I have saved my guts out for twenty years and you are not going to tell me what to put in my dream house. I cook, clean, work, take care of the kids and am expected to shag on demand as well! No more. Building together is such a romantic experience Hey, what happened to the original post? I shared it with my SO who had a good chuckle, but it has since disappeared. I hope that is not a sign of unfortunate developments in the relationship! Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 26May 09, 2009 3:38 am I wish i knew right at the start.... 1) That my council required a full landscaping plan, with plant varieties, accepted trees etc. 2) That landscaping costs about 10x what I had expected 3) That my council required all lansdscaping to be complete before they would issue an occupation certificate. 4) That my council required a positive & negative covenant to be added to the title (costing about 2K) for the water tank, before they would issue an occupation certificate. We are loving living in our new home ! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... &start=315 Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 27May 09, 2009 10:34 am Wow, your council is hardcore! I wish I had been told that my council required a $1600 security deposit for the crossover, cause it used up almost all of my prestart allowance! My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 28May 09, 2009 11:16 am I wish we had known that the council would be asking for the site contamination testing which cost us well over $25,000 Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 29May 09, 2009 9:41 pm annie.s Wow, your council is hardcore! They most certainly are... I think they are the worst in Sydney. We are loving living in our new home ! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... &start=315 Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 30May 10, 2009 9:44 pm Just found this forum its great!! We've built a few times now so have it pretty well sorted (but always get it wrong "somewhere" in hindsight still). We've always built with project builders so you have to understand the games they play and how you can push the rules. 1. Try and sort out as much of your brick/tile/PC item/Electrical requirements before going to tender, pretty easy if you work out who they use for suppliers and then choose from the relevant manufacturers catalogues. This way you'll have pretty good idea of costs and it shouldn't blow out too much. 2. Ask the stupid questions and never presume, I was caught with my first house when I added a carport that matched the house (bricks etc..), I presumed it would have a concrete floor, it didn't. 3. Research, research and research more, and look at as many "in build" similar houses as you can. This is where we've found you can see what works and what doesn't with modifications and colours etc... if you can find the owners around the site on the weekend ask them how its going, they'll love to chat about their house and will tell you of their dealings with the company. 4. If you ask to have something altered and they say no, ask what they will do. We were trying to build a floorplan in Sydney that a Melbourne builder was also using down there. They however had taken this quite a bit upmarket in Melbourne with a 30deg roof pitch whereas the Sydney designs had a 22deg. They refused the 30deg roof pitch, but after questioning would do a 27deg which we were more than happy with. 5. If they offer carpet etc... don't automatically discount it on the premise you can get it elsewhere cheaper. On our current house we saved quite a lot by going with the builder. 6. If you can use a building inspector of your own to keep them honest, last time I went through the house with a fine tooth comb and still missed stuff that I should have picked up. Try and stay on the right ride of their supervisors but don't let them smooth talk you into accepting things that aren't right. 7. Aspect is really important and the salesperson isn't an expert on this, actually the salesperson will disappear pretty quickly so never think they'll look after you through the build. Heaps more but that should help Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 31May 11, 2009 1:51 pm blessedpeople Fiffaro pinkfairymagic Not to use a broker, they are USELESS, well at least myn is, they cost you MORE time, than doing it yourself. Hey, we had the same experience, pinkfairymagic. Our broker recommended a loan that was so poor, that we didn't go with his suggestion, but found our own one directly - much better. To think that the broker would have received a commission for his poor recommendation had we not have done some checking. I totally second this !!! You can use a broker for comparison but always check by yourself as well.. You'd be surprise how much you end up saving i.e. over 0.5% with just the first call...and even before negotiating! I think there may be a reason why they are called Brokers in the first place My OLD broker was completly incompetent, hence me kicking his a*s to the curb and telling him to "F" off and go screw up your own life instead of other peoples. I am now meeting with a brand new broker tomorrow morning, who has a much better reputation, he is also completly disgusted with the way we have been treated, he is appaled that my old broker has dragged "brokers" names through the mud, when they arn't all bad... We shall see about that! 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: Things I wish I knew before I started... 32May 12, 2009 10:14 am All the best Pinkfairy..let us know you go...this may be the first broker who doesnt leave one broke... Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 33May 13, 2009 4:13 pm 10 things to know??? 1. Dont build with Clarendon 2. Dont build with Clarendon 3. If you do build with clarendon refer to points 1 & 2 4. If you cant get out of building with clarendon get contact with the relevant state manager as soon as possible as the misnamed "customer service officers" are useless. 5. Keep everything in writing and keep reminding them of the facts of their poor performance 6. Make sure you share your bad experiences with everyone you meet 7. Mention point 6 to the manager you hunted down (point4) 8. Build a strong reliable boat 9. sail it single handed without any support around the world a couple of times 10. when finished sailing come back and check on progress, you may be at lock up Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 34May 13, 2009 4:32 pm jarzme 8. Build a strong reliable boat 9. sail it single handed without any support around the world a couple of times 10. when finished sailing come back and check on progress, you may be at lock up Is it reall that bad with Clarendon?? I would prefer to stay close and monitor the progress, and keep hassle them rather than travel around the world.... Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 35May 13, 2009 4:38 pm yes it is really that bad, and they dont care about what you say so all that happens is you get frustrated. If you want more details let me know and i can give you the full list of incompetence Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 37May 13, 2009 5:44 pm 1. Don't assume your vendor will do full disclosure when you buy land 2. Don't assume that your solicitor will do any better 3. Don't assume that you'll be able to recover costs from them if they don't disclose 4. Check that you have a water connection 5. Check that you have a power connection 6. Check that you have a phone connection 7. Check that you have a gas connection 8. Meet (and be nice to) your neighbors 9. Talk to the council. Go there in person and ask a ton of questions 10. Be prepared to have a permanent telephone imprint on your ear. Trying this building gig one more time. Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 38May 13, 2009 7:12 pm virgin-builder 10. Be prepared to have a permanent telephone imprint on your ear. +1 I honestly can't believe how much time I have spent emailing or on the phone. Its almost like a second part time job. Building with PD - Regent 23 Cascades on Clyde Estate HomeOne Building Thread - PCI Completed - 28th August. Handover - 11th September. Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 39May 13, 2009 7:22 pm Seems to be alot of bad broker experiences on here. We used a broker for our loan and they have been absolutely fantastic! We have had stuff ups with so many people along the line but our broker has remained consistantly excellent! -------------------------------------------------------- Building in Highlands Craigieburn Status: Building the Laundryless 25.5: Slab Complete Re: Things I wish I knew before I started... 40May 13, 2009 7:24 pm jarzme 10 things to know??? 1. Dont build with Clarendon 2. Dont build with Clarendon 3. If you do build with clarendon refer to points 1 & 2 4. If you cant get out of building with clarendon get contact with the relevant state manager as soon as possible as the misnamed "customer service officers" are useless. 5. Keep everything in writing and keep reminding them of the facts of their poor performance 6. Make sure you share your bad experiences with everyone you meet 7. Mention point 6 to the manager you hunted down (point4) 8. Build a strong reliable boat 9. sail it single handed without any support around the world a couple of times 10. when finished sailing come back and check on progress, you may be at lock up Jarzme - obviously your experience has been an absolute shocker but good on you for keeping your sense of humour Very very funny post! Depends what you're current inclusions are, but we're not including wardrobes and will just use second hand ones until we can save later on to get them built. Also have a… 3 11595 Been in a similar position and we decided to let the builder go. Some of the PSA money goes to engineering so we at least got those documents and they actually refunded us… 2 6082 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17007 |