Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 04, 2009 7:08 pm Hi, I've just stumbled across this forum and wished I had found it ages ago! My wife and I are just about to purchase a block of land in NW Sydney, so now we are looking at builders. We have seen a display home from a company called Cavalier Homes North West, which my wife (aka 'she who must be obeyed') really likes, as do I. I think it appears to be an independent franchise - so we would be dealing with the one person. The main thing that is worrying my wife and I is going with such a small builder (essentially a one man band). Do you think we should be worried about this? What sort of questions should we be asking the builder? Any suggestions/feedback would be greatly accepted. Thanks Nervous Nellie! Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 2Sep 04, 2009 10:08 pm You'd only be speculating as to the difference's, for instance you could say that a one man band may have trouble accessing trades, on the other hand he may have trades on the go ready because he's smaller. You could say he may do a better job because he may pay more attention to your particuler build, but again you'd probly be wrong most volume home builders at the moment have one supervisor for under five homes, who have 100% of there time devoted to those homes, the one man band may have paperwork/OH&S issues trade issues etc and have 20 on the go supervising himself.... It's all purely speculation. Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 3Sep 06, 2009 10:15 am I built with ****** homes ( Gippsland ) I had no end of trouble with them . They were 6 months over contract on building the house. I am still waiting to get defects from the handover defect list repaired ( 12 months) . The 6 month defect list was given to them in January and there are still about 40 defects to be repaired . I have to send 3-4 emails to get someone out to fix 1 or 2 defects . They have now started ignoring my e-mails . Your franchise you are dealing with has the ****** name and a different builder running it so it may be better for you. All I can say is ask them for a list of satisfied clients and see if you can ring them and have a chat to them and go look at some of the houses they have built , Ask them if you can have a look at some houses that they are building and look at the quality of workmanship. Remember the display home is just that, they do the best job they can on the display home . Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 4Sep 22, 2009 5:44 pm Hey there, Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but after we found our local builder, we will never build with a large project home builder. We were going to build with one of the bigger builders and they didn't want to know us when we wanted to make changes to their design. Iv'e heard that they sting you for any changes made after the contract is signed, so be careful if you do decide to go with them. We even met with the council who also said that the larger builders take forever to get there plans through council. I feel that going through a large project builder you are treated more like a number as they try to punch out homes through volume Our local builder has advised that he does not make any money on extras, even forwarding us the quotes he received from his suppliers. I believe that there is a thread re Cavalier homes and so far these people are quite happy with the progress made. Find out how many homes they have on their books and request to see a finished one to see if you're happy with it. With respect to buying power for a smaller builder, we have found that the building cost for our home is very competitive. Good luck with your choice, it can be very stressful but at the same time quite satisfying! Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 5Sep 22, 2009 7:07 pm Smaller builders are more likely to go belly-up or walk away from a project that has become unprofitable. That said, building with a big builder ain't to much fun either Trying this building gig one more time. Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 6Sep 22, 2009 7:49 pm We struggled with whether to go with a smaller builder or with a large company. we ended up choosing to go with a small local builder - he was upfront about costs from the very start, was clear on what we would get, he passed on any discounts he got from his suppliers etc. We bought our block from the developers and designed our own build. Sim0nds had a house and land package on our block for about $40,000 more than our total price - smaller house, way less features (air con, heating, smaller garage, no alfresco etc). It was just WAY better value for money for us to go with a smaller builder, and we're confident we'll have a great home. I think smaller builders will give you a better quality build - they are usually local people who put their names to their products. Builders for Sim0nds or M@tricon etc can try to hide their ** work behind the big company names. Re: What are the pitfalls of building with a small builer? 7Sep 22, 2009 8:56 pm We are building with Cavalier Homes Macarthur & so far they have been great.The thing we love the most is dealing direct with the builder & they only charge what they get charged for any extra upgrades...they have also shown us price lists.Their price was competitive with another bigger project builder...it was actually cheaper as the other builder's extra site costs & upgrades were a lot more. We did have our reservations at first because of a few bad reports on other Cavalier builders in different states but we did our homework...spoke to previous customers & checked out some newly completed homes of theirs. Please check out our thread & blog for more info. Good luck...I know it's not an easy decision Loretta Built The Jenmark with Cavalier Homes Macarthur. http://camdenacres.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17870 We are in - front landscaping begins Hi all, We are looking to build a new two storey house in western Sydney. Can anyone recommend a smallish builder to go with? We are trying to stay away from the big… 0 12042 consider putting in wall WC instead of robe in the same bedroom, then it might be doable to hook up to the existing piping. 4 6602 Hey, I am wanting to add a second toilet to my house, bit we have limited room. There is a hallway/entry that is never used, so was thinking this could be an option. Only… 0 4672 |