Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 14, 2009 11:32 am I know there is no definite answer to this, but can you experts tell me whether it is cheaper to build through a builder or get one of the display home companies to build for us ? Please help me with these questions ? 1. With builders we can select a wide range of products as compared to Display home builders ? 2. Use better quality material ? 3. We can design our own house ? 4. How / What does the builder quote us for ? Labour / material ? Am so confused right now ... but we have just bought a plot in the Gold Coast. Any suggestions would be like words of wisdom. Thanks Dream ...... and act on it. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 2Jun 14, 2009 11:56 am Hi nastaar - a little confused...are you trying to decide between a volume builder and a smaller private builder? 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 3Jun 14, 2009 12:30 pm Nastaar 1. With builders we can select a wide range of products as compared to Display home builders ? 2. Use better quality material ? 3. We can design our own house ? 4. How / What does the builder quote us for ? Labour / material ? 1. Most builders (both volume & custom) tend to have a set range of things you can choose from. They sometimes let you get your own stuff, but that requires cajoling, threatening or other means of persuasion. Ask around on the forum - some people seem to get more out of builders that others. Generally I'm in the group that tend to get less out of them 2. Which material are you referring to? All the builders I've spoken to were willing to upgrade to better bricks, tiles, bench tops, appliances, whatever as long as you handed over some cash 3. Depends on the builder. Volume builders generally allow only small alterations on their plans. Smaller private builders will built whatever you like but you pay for the privilege. I've heard JG King will also build custom plans. 4. Builders quoted us a base price per square meter and then added additional costs for upgrades like higher ceilings, ducted heating, etc. etc. etc. Trying this building gig one more time. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 4Jun 14, 2009 12:40 pm It is really hard to compare both. Bit like how long is a piece of string..... We chose a smaller builder and our plan was drawn from scratch. We also have a difficult site to build on. I have noticed that a lot of people building with larger volume builders refer a lot to upgrades which were standard for us. Our builder has been extremely flexible with whatever we have wanted to do. Now that our site cut has commenced they have also been incredible with their attention and professionalism. They have constantly been in contact and have been liaising with Council, engineers, excavators, building suppliers etc to ensure the best possible outcome for our house. You need to do your research and do what you best feel comfortable with. JL Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 5Jun 14, 2009 1:20 pm Building with Coral 2009 Hi nastaar - a little confused...are you trying to decide between a volume builder and a smaller private builder? That is correct. Dream ...... and act on it. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 6Jun 14, 2009 3:02 pm Project builders will generally be cheaper than a small builder becasue they build a larger amount of homes and can purchase their materials in bulk, so to speak they have more buying power. You need to decide if you will be happy with a design from a project builder - if not you will need to work with a builder to develop your own plans. This is all going to depend on your land, style of house you want and of course $$. We have spent the last 12 months looking at display homes and ended up choosing a local builder because we couldnt find any designs that we were happy with. Good luck! Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 7Jun 14, 2009 3:34 pm Hi, We have gone with a sm - med builder. He builds display homes for Laurimer but is doing our extension/renovation on the side. So he's well connected with the tradesmen he needs but without the inflexibility of a large company. The difference we found was in the fixing stage (cornices, tiles, kitchens etc). Some only have a small range to choose from but we knew what we wanted and most of this wouldnt be included in display home companies (more traditional look). We also became unstuck when the cornices we chose were way more expensive than the standard. So its probably good to know what you want and make sure it is included, dont wait until they say "go and pick your tiles". But if you are happy with their standard range then its easier and probably cheaper with a display home as they buy in bulk. But if you want something outside of the standard then perhaps your own builder might be the way to go and have him include it. Our problem was we should have picked all of the fixing things and got him to include/quote additionals and put them in the contract we would have then stayed within budget better. Probably easier said then done. Good luck with your decision.. http://roxburghreno.blogspot.com/2009/05/beginning.html Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 8Jun 14, 2009 6:43 pm The biggest difference between a Project Builder and smaller builder is to some extent the intimacy of the whole operation. Generally speaking with a project builder you have several points of contact and eventually end up with the supervisor. With a smaller builder you will deal with boss. Price will generally be in favour of the Project Builder due to the much larger volume buying. A boutique builder won't obviously get those discounts. However for the boutique dude to have a shoe into the building industry he will generally be accepting of your own plans and tackle a lot of different types of projects. The reason why big builders do so well is the fact that dollar for dollar, house for house he will blow the boutique guy out of the water on price. The choice is really simple if you want a lot more freedom and have the money to go with a boutique dude I would definitely head in that direction. However the likes of metricon and clarendon have beautiful homes and take great care in the final products. Have fun choosing! Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 9Jun 14, 2009 7:17 pm WARNING Dont click on kymvass link. I did and my laptop went crazy and 100 of his sites popped up everywhere Might not happen to everyone, but Id rather warn people anyway. Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 10Jun 14, 2009 7:45 pm Bam Dont click on kymvass link. I did and my laptop went crazy and 100 of his sites popped up everywhere Might not happen to everyone, but Id rather warn people anyway. You sure it was kymvass? Looks like an innocent blog to me. Popup blocker didn't even bat an eyelid and it works fine in Firefox & Chrome. Trying this building gig one more time. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 11Jun 14, 2009 8:18 pm Bam, It worked fine for me as well. You might consider running a spyware removal program or two, just in case its soemthing on your end. www.spywarewarrior.com has some very helpful information, and maybe visit their forums if you do. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 12Jun 14, 2009 8:38 pm D&SG You might consider running a spyware removal program or two Or just make the switch http://www.ubuntu.com/ Trying this building gig one more time. Re: Display homes v/s Builders ?? Who is cheaper 13Jun 14, 2009 10:00 pm Never happened before, and Norton didnt pick anything up.... Had to restart the computer! Aplogies if Im wrong, but still better to warn and be safe Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105617 First time poster long story short we are planning knocking down rebuilding a house in Wavell Heights We are thinking to go with Omni built homes as they are but flexible… 0 16287 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74717 |