McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread

Bizzie Mummy · Jun 01, 2010 10:13 pm

Hi everyone,

I have no idea what happened to the other thread Building with McDonald Jones Homes.

I still haven't had any word from the moderators on what happened to it. So I've decided to start a new thread rather than wait and hope for the old one to reappear. Please don't be shy and join in and share your experience and knowledge within the guidelines of the forum.

For those that don't know.

We are building the Parklane in North Western Sydney. So far our journey has been a calm and enjoyable ride. Communication with MJH has been nothing short of excellent. We are extremely impressed with their reponses to any of our requests. ::lol::

Today we finally had some action - a portaloo! :z:

My sister was with us when we drove past this afternoon and couldn't work out why I was so excited to see a dunny! :oops:

For anyone considering building with MJH or wanting to read my experience head to my blog for my info.

riccathome · Jun 02, 2010 1:53 pm

Hi BM,
not sure what happened but good to see the thread is back... ::smile::

Riccathome ::smile::

Bizzie Mummy · Jun 03, 2010 10:53 pm

Hi Riccahome,

Still no word on what happened to the other thread.

How is your build going?

Yesterday afternoon we drove past our block and a couple of blokes were there photographing it and putting in the red stakes.

riccathome · Jun 04, 2010 8:42 am

HI bm,
We are progressing very slowly, just waiting on amended plans now.
Photos and pegs is all they could do in this weather, hope you get a break in the weather to get a start .. very exciting .. good luck.

Riccathome ::smile::

vpeewee · Jun 04, 2010 4:39 pm

Hi Folks,

I'm new to the forums but we have just signed with Mcjones today! We put the $3000 deposit down to start the process for our Tenterfield Jacaranda to be built on 1 acre in outer western sydney. I've been happy with McJones so far (onyl at the very beginning though) but I'm getting a bit sick of visiting Homeworld at Kellyville. i've been there every weekend for the last 5 weeks!

Question for you, how long did it take to get your colour selections appointment? We hve just been informed today that we have to go to Maitland for it and we wanted to speed the whole building process up as fast as we can. We have been told taht we can ask if anyone has cancelled but we have an 11 month old and will have to organise to leave with a Grandparent for the day/night. I just can't imagine trying to keep her entertained for several hours while picking colours for everything!

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you all!

woodduck · Jun 04, 2010 6:31 pm

Hi all,

Glad someone started another McJones thread. We also have had excellent dealings with MJH. Had our electrical appointment today, all went well, only went $500 over our budget.

vpeewee, like you we also wanted to speed up the process and get an earlier colours app. Ring the office and get your name on a waiting list, we did this, and got in 4 weeks early. But be prepared with your choices. We had plenty of notice (to get baby sitters etc).

Good luck.

Woodduck

Deryck · Jun 04, 2010 7:28 pm

Hi again folks,

Yep it is great to see another MJH thread. We are building a modified Santorini in Ropes Crossing, for those who have forgotten or haven't read yet. I must say it has been a slow process thus far, we signed up in December and the plans are just coming out of council now. Don't be fooled by the sales people, MJH are a volume builder and no matter what you are told, they will not go any quicker. I don't know if it is any quicker than it was earlier in the year, but we have only just had our electrical appointment. In saying all this though, it has been a smooth process since then. Our rep has been the best and everything is answered in a timely manner.

I just wish we were done and moved in!

Xiphias69 · Jun 05, 2010 7:13 am

Hey all....and thanks BM for the new thread!

And totally understand your excitement about the portaloo....was the same for us when it appeared!

We will be going for a look today, hopefully the tilers have been during the week. The carpenter was finishing on Sunday last weekend (architraves and skirtings) so looking forward to seeing the changes.

It seems to be small steps now. After the big advances with the slab, frame and brickwork, it seems things have slowed a bit now that the internals are happening, not sure why. But we are getting there!

Bizzie Mummy · Jun 05, 2010 8:39 pm

Well today we popped into Oran Park for a look at some of the display homes. We checked out the MJH on display and both were really nicely decorated. The home theatre in the Havanna was soooo cool! I've never seen anything like it before. We also looked at a couple of other builders displays but overall we decided the parklane design is going to best suit our needs. I did like the floorboard looking tiles I saw in one home very nice.

Welcome Vpeewee - We paid our deposit just before Xmas and were told it is roughly a 5mth paperwork progress before we would start building. Given the fact that everything shut over the xmas period MJH were pretty close to the mark. We got our colours folder in Feb and were originally given an April appt which the head boss then moved to March as he though April was too late. See blog for more details.

I was told that they are preparing a new colour selection studio at Bella Vista that is due to open in August. They are suppose to be training staff now. We went to Maitland and took our then 11mth old with us and left our 2 year old with the in laws. Mainly because bubs refuses the bottle so we had no choice but to take her. But it would be much easier with a babysitter as we kept having to chase her around the colour selection rooms. Luckily we had most of our choices decided on before we arrived.

Woodduck - did you upgrade much at the electrical appt or will you do a lot of upgrades after handover?

Deryck - Pity you are having a bumpy start. Lets hope your build goes better.

Xiphias69 - Great to hear about your progress. Do you have any pics to share?

Deryck · Jun 06, 2010 7:48 am

Thanks Bizzie,

I was wondering if there was anyone on here who has built the Santorini? We are building it with a modified plan, and I have never seen one, as they don't have one on display, so some photos would be fantastic if anyone can help? Let's all be grateful we are going to end up with gorgeous houses, as all MJHs I have seen have been fantastic.

drc13 · Jun 06, 2010 4:08 pm

Hi Everyone

Good to see a new MJH thread. We are currently in the process of trying to purchase a knock down/rebuild in the Wollongong area. We have been looking at display homes in the meantime so we are ready to go as soon as we have the land. After looking through a few plans the MJH Bordeaux sticks out as fitting what we are after. Unfortunately the display home is in rutherford which is around 4hrs away so we haven't actually seen anything other than the plans at this stage.

A few quick questions for people who have built or are currently building with MJH.

* How close to the pricelist price do you end up at? At this stage we would be looking at a bordeaux 13 which using the pricelist printout gives me ($159,900) + alfresco ($6080 although I've heard this doesn't include flooring we'd want wood decking) + facade (~$6000) is there much else I need to factor in? I'm guessing it would be more economical to have additonal electrical/driveways/turf done after handover.

* I would be wanting access to the site after lockup to run some conduit and pull wires so I can easily network the house at a later stage, has anyone had any troubles negotiating this?

* Any tips before signing a contract? Do you get a fixed price so you don't get stung with additional charges during the build?

* Is there any room to bargain? I've read of people getting the impressions upgrade package included for free etc.

Thanks I'm sure I'll have many more questions down the line but just hoping to get some ideas on what to research pre contract as I want to be ready to jump as soon as we get some land.

Cheers

Deryck · Jun 06, 2010 4:19 pm

A few quick questions for people who have built or are currently building with MJH.

* How close to the pricelist price do you end up at? At this stage we would be looking at a bordeaux 13 which using the pricelist printout gives me ($159,900) + alfresco ($6080 although I've heard this doesn't include flooring we'd want wood decking) + facade (~$6000) is there much else I need to factor in? I'm guessing it would be more economical to have additonal electrical/driveways/turf done after handover. Basically the same with any builders all you get is the bare minimums, basic light fittings etc, no floor coverings, no window coverings, no site costs etc. I think a good rule of thumb is about another $100k on the base price to move in

* I would be wanting access to the site after lockup to run some conduit and pull wires so I can easily network the house at a later stage, has anyone had any troubles negotiating this? Impossible, they will not let you on site, they only use their contractors

* Any tips before signing a contract? Do you get a fixed price so you don't get stung with additional charges during the build? They come with a fixed price contract, and whatever they are throwing in at the time to sweeten the deal

* Is there any room to bargain? I've read of people getting the impressions upgrade package included for free etc. Again see what they will do at the time, but normally nothing can be done with their pricing

drc13 · Jun 06, 2010 4:29 pm

Hi Deryck

Thanks for the quick reply. Gee some of those answers aren't what I was hoping for. I wasn't aware you would need to allow as much as $100k to fitout the house. To be honest though I also didn't know you didn't get floorings with other companies as well.

The lack of getting on site could be a deal breaker though. I'd be looking at eventually running something like 24 cat 6 ports and lots of rg6 cables. Without having the pull wires in place it would make the job substantially harder. I've read of many people with other builders having no problems getting onsite for a day or two so it's sad to hear MJH doesn't allow it.

Has anyone used a building inspector during the build? are they equally as strict on not letting them onsite?

Cheers

Deryck · Jun 06, 2010 4:48 pm

Tell me about it, I am a qualified and licensed alarm installer and I have to do the fit off after hand over. I would also do data cabling, but wireless is more than sufficient for my needs.

Ask the question anyway, but that is what I have been told and although it is understandable why, ie I have no PL insurance or Workers Comp, however I have my green card and would sign away any liability for any injuries incurred on site.

drc13 · Jun 06, 2010 4:57 pm

Deryck

Tell me about it, I am a qualified and licensed alarm installer and I have to do the fit off after hand over.

Haha that had to be frustrating for you! Yeah when it comes to negotiating whether they get the sale or not I'll see what they say, I guess I could also float the idea of them running the conduit/pvc pipe down the walls for a reasonable price and I just have to go crawling around in the roof after handover but that's putting a lot of trust in them to position them correctly.

I do like the plans and exterior look of the mjh homes though so not ruling them out just yet. If anyone has seen a similar single story plan to the bordeaux i.e rear alfresco area, open plan kitchen/dining and rear master suite feel free to direct me that way!

Katrina1601 · Jun 06, 2010 5:20 pm

drc13

Hi Deryck

Thanks for the quick reply. Gee some of those answers aren't what I was hoping for. I wasn't aware you would need to allow as much as $100k to fitout the house. To be honest though I also didn't know you didn't get floorings with other companies as well.

The lack of getting on site could be a deal breaker though. I'd be looking at eventually running something like 24 cat 6 ports and lots of rg6 cables. Without having the pull wires in place it would make the job substantially harder. I've read of many people with other builders having no problems getting onsite for a day or two so it's sad to hear MJH doesn't allow it.

Has anyone used a building inspector during the build? are they equally as strict on not letting them onsite?

Cheers

Hi drc!

We're currently building a monte carlo elite near Maitland, only 2 weeks from hand over.

Our place has ended up costing just under 250k. The base price was 175k. We got some upgrades (bathroom fittings, alarm, remote garage door, upgraded kitchen cupboards, alfresco, upgraded bricks, timber flooring etc). So we didn't go crazy with the upgrades be we still got quite a few of them. So it's only ended up being 75k above base price.

Also we were told that if we ourselves were tradesmen eg, electricians, then they would allow us onsite to do some of the work, however we weren't allowed to hire other contractors to go on site. We're not tradepeople but we wanted our own electrician to do some of the work, so they said no.

Also we hired an independent building inspector and he has been fantastic! He is often calling into the site and calling up our site supervisor to discuss things. He has been the best $1200 we've spent. MJH had no problem at all with allowing him on site or discussing the work with him. We've been really happy with everything, especially the quality of the work, and I think that was in part due to our independent building inspector.

Deryck · Jun 06, 2010 5:26 pm

Hi Katrina,

Does that $75k on top include everything needed to move into the house? By that I mean landscaping, driveway, screen doors, flyscreens, letter box, clothesline, TV antenna, etc. If so you did extremely well! I guess we did a few extras alot of people wouldn't need to do, but I would have been very happy with $75k

Katrina1601 · Jun 06, 2010 5:56 pm

Deryck

Hi Katrina,

Does that $75k on top include everything needed to move into the house? By that I mean landscaping, driveway, screen doors, flyscreens, letter box, clothesline, TV antenna, etc. If so you did extremely well! I guess we did a few extras alot of people wouldn't need to do, but I would have been very happy with $75k

Hi Deryk,

Yes includes most of those except only very basic landscaping as we're still undecided on what we're going to do. I didn't even think of the antenna! :th:

We have tv points in there, but didn't discuss anything with them about the antenna...hmm do you know roughly how much antennas cost including installation? I think we just assumed the tv points come with an antenna automatically...maybe it was just wishful thinking ::wink::

Deryck · Jun 06, 2010 6:00 pm

Katrina you are soooooooooooooo lucky! We had estate guidlines which we had to abide by for our landscaping. We had to submit a plan and put a deposit down to make sure we do it etc. Also in regards to an antenna I dare say it shouldn't cost you more than $1000 at the absolute worst!

I have done quite a few antennas myself so I think I will have a go and do it myself and save the money

woodduck · Jun 07, 2010 9:20 am

Bizzie Mummy

Woodduck - did you upgrade much at the electrical appt or will you do a lot of upgrades after handover?

Hi Bizzie,
With all the other jobs DW has me doing after we move in, we chose to put a few down lights in to save time, also put in power points where I could back to back them on some walls etc. We budgeted around $3k and ended up doing $3k5.

We are building the Chesterfield and including electrical, floorings (Porceline/carpet), no landscaping (our developer had a special with free landscaping) it will cost us around $100k more than list price.

Woodduck