Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 09, 2010 8:51 pm My partner and I are nearing the end of our first build. Like everyone we have had many ' I wish I'd known or thought about that earlier!' moments, and also things we are definitely glad we did. So with the benefit of hindsight here's what we'd do if we were starting over: 1: Beware of how much you are spending and whether the bank will recognise the added value when they do the valuation. Don't get carried away with promotions until you have checked whether the $25,000 of inclusions for $10,000 for example is really worth it for the quality of product you are getting. Eg it may be better value to get some of your carpet, curtains, fancy light fittings, aircon, flyscreens, etc from someone else after handover. 2: Ask questions until you get answrs. Be on the ball and call your builder so you know what's going on and timelines haven't slipped without your knowledge. Our site start got pushed back without us being told (builder knew about land delays we didn't). If we hadn't pushed for a contract appointment we probably would have been waiting a month longer for it as the slots would have booked up. 3: Do your homework before colours selection. We had been in a few times to look at combinations and had most of it worked out so we weren't rushed on the day. Know what your choices are in the standard range and whether you think it is worth upgrading certain things to get a better range. Go to suppliers display centres and display homes to see what whole walls of particular bricks look like for example 4: Work out your electrical plan in advance. Walk through your current home thinking about what powerpoints, tv points, phone points etc you have in each room, whether there is enough of them and whether they are in the right places. Eg we found we needed more powerpoints on the kitchen bench, phone points in more rooms for phone or internet with powerpoints next to them. 5: Think about where you might need extra plumbing, eg sink in the garage to wash up after working on the car/ do you want an outdoor kitchen for your bbq area/ do you want a fridge with an icemaker that needs plumbing etc/ will you want to be able to use your greywater on the garden? 6: Get the builder to explain your plans to you before you sign the contract so that you know you are getting what you thought you were, and it is not too late to change it if you thought you were getting the same as in the display home but aren't. For example where are there windows and doors, which ones open and how. 7: Read your contract throughly so you understand it before you sign and know how much you need to not be out of pocket if the build runs over (liquidated damages). 8: Get an independent inspector who knows what they are talking about and stick to your guns to get anything which isn't done properly fixed. 9: Visit your site as often as you can and take plenty of photos. The people working in the office can be pretty removed from what is actually going on or forget to tell you. Write down which tradies are on site, what has been done that day and what the weather was like. 10: Don't pay your invoices until the work that your contract states has been carried out. What key learning points do others have to share? Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 3Apr 09, 2010 10:14 pm Keep ALL your paperwork in a folder. Every freakin little scrap!! You'll need it! Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 4Apr 09, 2010 10:23 pm Get any changes in writing and print out all emails from the builder. If something is discussed on the phone, ask that a confirmation email is forwarded to you. Try not to put yourself in a position where you have to get out of your existing property (eg end of lease or settlement date) before the house is fully finished. Make sure everything is of a satisfactory standard before handing over that final cheque without any pressure to have to move in sooner. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 5Apr 10, 2010 1:11 am great info guys Im actually going to print out a copy of this so i can keep it in my house folders so I remember to check all of this stuff as I got through the project of building a house once we start ARIANA "Put an offer on land in Piara Waters march 2010 RIVA Estate" titles June 2011 Site works 7 July 2011 Our slab is down, walls are up and roof is tiled, electrician in 26/9/11 Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 7Apr 10, 2010 8:14 am Great tips! We just had our site start yesterday, so these will come in handy. Cheers! Stefan Building the M3tr!con Liberty 42 at Stonecutters Ridge. The New Build Blog - "Life, In Progress." Stonecutters Ridge Community Website | My photos Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 8Apr 10, 2010 9:13 am I think this is an extension of a couple, let your SS or builder know you are fussy. If you are too relaxed from the start, they will try and get away with as much as possible. If you are organised and stay on top of things, they are less likely to try and pull the wool over your eyes. The other side to this is to pick your battles. You do not want to be fighting over every little detail of your build. No matter how many times you build, you will probably never get the "perfect" house. The stress of worrying over little things will put a big strain on you. so maybe if you see something wrong, think about how it looks, how its going to affect you, is it easy to fix, when you have been in your home for 6 - 12 months will you even remember it, then decide whether you want to pursue it. And another point on the colours, once you have locked them in, stop looking Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 9Apr 10, 2010 9:16 am Ms Builder And another point on the colours, once you have locked them in, stop looking Yes... good point - I think everyone has the tendency to second guess themselves!!! My husband had to grab me by the shoulders and say "What are you worried about - we chose our colours - they look good - NOW STOP LOOKING!!!" So now I use the excuse - "I'm just admiring what other people are doing!" Sleven Moved into our Atlantique MkII 36 by Carlisle Homes Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 10Apr 13, 2010 11:49 am Hi, are there any questions i should be asking a builder about the construction of the new house on a rear subdivided block that would not be explained well or hidden in the contract? These are a few that i have lined up already: 1)Does earthworks include everything such as soakwells for new and OLD house 2)Regarding bathroom, does it have exhaust fans and a separate shower. (we we don't want a shower inside the bath tub) 3)Is courtyard brick paving and a letter box included? Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 11Apr 13, 2010 2:08 pm Devise a budget - either learn how to use Excel or keep an exercise book and keep it up to date. Inevitably the budget might blow out a bit, but try to be as thrifty as possible and recognise that the more items you do under budget, the more funds you have to do other items better and/or do more overall. Investigate and identify what items you can co-ordinate yourself after handover as early as possible - concrete, curtains/blinds, carpets, dry area tiles, lights, water tanks - normally the builder's margin is at least 20% on these items and eliminating this can greatly assist with sticking to the budget. Get ball-park quotes on these items (try to provide the same brands/models for the closest comparison) so you can identify where the builder is making their money and where you can save it. Don't under-estimate costs associated with landscaping - pergolas, decks, paving, concrete paths, clotheslines, pools, retaining walls, fill, sheds, topsoil, fencing, plants, grass etc often are not cheap and don't get given the budgetary consideration they require. If you fall in love with a particular display home, get a quote to build it as presented, with itemised individual items and list/cost of upgrades to the standard plan. If building a double-storey, remember that there will be extremely limited access to the ground floor ceiling cavity post-build, so consider getting the builder's electrician to do everything during construction. You don't want cutting, patching and painting of the ground floor ceilings or walls whenever you want an extra power point or TV point. A number of "insignificant" items get overlooked or presumed that they are included - ask if door-stoppers, toilet roll holders, soap holder are standard/included or "upgrades" ? Don't unnecessarily upset yourself if you spot something amiss during construction - after endless months of tweaking your dream house, chances are you know your plan inside-out and backwards. Your Site Supervisor might have up to 15 houses on the go at once and isn't as "across" your plans as you are, so follow the right channels then let them fix it. Built a Tribeca 44 with the Big M Sales Accept 15/06/09, Contract Signed 24/09/09, Site Start 23/11/09, Slab 11/12/09, Frame 12/01/10, Roof 20/01/10, Lock-up 30/03/10, Fixing 30/04/10, Handover 27/08/10. Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 12Apr 13, 2010 2:13 pm Celebrate every single little milestone with a drink, a dinner out, comfort food, whatever. Not only does it add to the excitement it helps keep the stress levels at bay. I've never had so much to drink...LOL. Colour selection - drink - set an appointment for something - drink - made a phone call - dinner - hahaha. Keep yourself sane!!!!! Life is; then you tell yourself a story. Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 13Apr 13, 2010 2:32 pm 1. Not only keep track of the budget, but keep track of deposits paid and how much is still outstanding. Don't get caught out at the end when all the little things add up and have to all be paid at once. 2. Insist on approving the batch of tiles used (note - I don't know if you can even do this). Our actual bathroom tiles are quite a different colour to the samples we chose, but of course all our laminate colours were based on the samples, and now look odd against the tiles they actually put in... 3. Take a photo from the same spot once a week from the time the block is cleared. Create a "flip-book" at the end showing the house going up. Coolest thing. Don't, however, line up the back fence as your main point when you start, as when the bricks go up, you won't see it anymore. 4. Don't be too fussy with the first big clean when you move in if you haven't got landscaping done. Be prepared for the sand. So much sand... If we're put on this earth to help others, what are the others here for? Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 14Apr 13, 2010 2:44 pm Quote: Celebrate every single little milestone with a drink, a dinner out, comfort food, whatever. Not only does it add to the excitement it helps keep the stress levels at bay. I've never had so much to drink...LOL. Colour selection - drink - set an appointment for something - drink - made a phone call - dinner - hahaha. Keep yourself sane!!!!! If you buy unregistered land, be aware that the developers concept of time and your's are VERY different. If developer says "4 - 6 weeks unti land is registered", change the weeks to months and you will be closer. Nic. Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 15Apr 13, 2010 3:13 pm ~Nic~ Quote: Celebrate every single little milestone with a drink, a dinner out, comfort food, whatever. Not only does it add to the excitement it helps keep the stress levels at bay. I've never had so much to drink...LOL. Colour selection - drink - set an appointment for something - drink - made a phone call - dinner - hahaha. Keep yourself sane!!!!! If you buy unregistered land, be aware that the developers concept of time and your's are VERY different. If developer says "4 - 6 weeks unti land is registered", change the weeks to months and you will be closer. Nic. is that for real mate? was that your experience? geeeeeeesssshhhh Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 16Apr 13, 2010 3:23 pm Makes me wonder how people got time during the weekdays to do the followings: Camping to get land Tiles appointment Applicance appointment Electrical appointment Carpet appointment Brick appointment Taking pictures of their slab, progress of their homes in afternoon weekdays Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 17Apr 13, 2010 3:37 pm BUDGET! BUDGET! BUDGET! Budget and cost research of upgrades etc is a must. Budget not only house costs but mortgage and living costs etc factoring in allowances for rate rises, holidays, new car or repairs, those extra expenses you dont have when renting like rates etc etc. When budgeting and deciding on upgrades do 3 Lists - Must Have, Wants, Realistic. Get the price for all your wants and cut them out then, don't rule it out because you think its going to be expensive wait till you actually know. Saying I can do that after handover and actually doing it after handover are 2 seperate things, make sure you are honest with yourself about whether or not you will actually do it after handover otherwise you may be left with an unfinshed dreamhouse. Sorry but I am an accountant, so budgeting is a way of life for me, and something people I think need to do more of Tempura - I took sickies and have a boss who let me work flexible hours ie I took a weekday off to do the tiles/carpet etc (so much easier with less people in the stores) and worked the Saturday instead. Didn't to camp to get the land and take all my pictures after work - helps when your only 10 min drive from work Building "DOMAYNE" through COMMODORE HOMES in Pearsall WA Slab down 15-01-2010 Handover 16-06-2010 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=29049 Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 18Apr 13, 2010 4:38 pm Great tips and hints for building a hosue... From my perspective, I would query and correct the builders if I see they doing something wrong as once the house is built, I don't want to have something at the back of my mind that there was a mistake...although hidden.. Agree with Ms Builder... Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 19Apr 13, 2010 4:51 pm Good point Linor....dont be afraid to ask the builder a question. If you think its wrong ask, if it is wrong they can fix it if its not wrong they will hopefully explain to you why its done that way. Always a good idea to get someone who knows about building (friend/family/home1) to give you their opinion just to make sure the builder isnt pulling the wool over your eyes. Remember to Ask Questions at all stages? Building "DOMAYNE" through COMMODORE HOMES in Pearsall WA Slab down 15-01-2010 Handover 16-06-2010 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=29049 Re: Top 10 Tips for first time builders 20Apr 13, 2010 7:44 pm Quote: If you buy unregistered land, be aware that the developers concept of time and your's are VERY different. If developer says "4 - 6 weeks unti land is registered", change the weeks to months and you will be closer. Nic. is that for real mate? was that your experience? geeeeeeesssshhhh Yep - bought the block in June last year, told by the developer it would be between 4 - 6 weeks... land was registered in November, but by that stage they had dumped a huge pile of dirt (wider than our block an at least one storey high) on our block so we still couldn't get our builder on site to get the soil tests done and refused to move it till the next stage was started as they didn't have any where to move it to till then... funny part was they actually expected us to settle on the land with the dirt there as the land was registered. Needless to say, settlement was delayed. We have only just got our plans into council and have been advised there is up to a 12 week turnaround to get approval. 12 weeks is mid June, so will be more than 12 months since we bought the land... Nic. Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 Thank you so much. This has been very helpful. We definitely wish to settle and get these people out of our life. They are trying to charge us interest on late… 7 14187 Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 8933 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27046 |