Browse Forums Building A New House Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 748Mar 23, 2011 8:38 am Hi Mrs Excited, when did yours go through council? Was is recently? We called maitland council a few days after we got a txt from MJH saying it had been lodged but maitland had no record of anything being lodged so with a few phone calls & follow ups it finally made its way to council & was lodged 21st feb (a week later than we were told!) We have been calling maitland council we were orginally told 3-4 weeks then they changed their story to 5-6 weeks & when i called this week to check on it apparently they are now running at 6-8 weeks & when i said to the lady well its been in 4 she was pretty quick to say well you've probably got another 4 to go then!!! SO CRANKY! I wish MJH did use someone reliable because maitland council are taking forever & don't care that i've paid the same fees as everyone else & how is it fair that some take 10days & others take 8 weeks - What a Joke! Any ideas on how to hurry this along?? Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 749Mar 23, 2011 9:34 am Had a great time at colours! Had set aside 10k, but only spent just over $8k so very happy. Figure they will get that $2k somewhere else down the line anyway!
Ok, we are at contract signing stage now! A lot of stuff in the contract that makes me nervous - I am WORRIED that there COULD be loop holes that I could miss. Any tips of specific things I should check? The next stage is council and we are heading to maitland council so getting a bit worried about timeframes! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 750Mar 23, 2011 10:50 am macca2000 Hi Mrs Excited, when did yours go through council? Was is recently? We called maitland council a few days after we got a txt from MJH saying it had been lodged but maitland had no record of anything being lodged so with a few phone calls & follow ups it finally made its way to council & was lodged 21st feb (a week later than we were told!) We have been calling maitland council we were orginally told 3-4 weeks then they changed their story to 5-6 weeks & when i called this week to check on it apparently they are now running at 6-8 weeks & when i said to the lady well its been in 4 she was pretty quick to say well you've probably got another 4 to go then!!! SO CRANKY! I wish MJH did use someone reliable because maitland council are taking forever & don't care that i've paid the same fees as everyone else & how is it fair that some take 10days & others take 8 weeks - What a Joke! Any ideas on how to hurry this along?? We have rang just this morning. Apparently our application hasn't been looked at yet as it has been sitting one someones desk We too were told it is up to 8 weeks, which may now mean we have to pay stamp duty, not happy. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 751Mar 23, 2011 11:23 am ashy2323 Had a great time at colours! Had set aside 10k, but only spent just over $8k so very happy. Figure they will get that $2k somewhere else down the line anyway! Ok, we are at contract signing stage now! A lot of stuff in the contract that makes me nervous - seems to be a lot of loop holes for me. Any tips of specific things I should check? The next stage is council and we are heading to maitland council so getting a bit worried about timeframes! I would just double check your plans really closely and check it matches your tender and your exact requirements. If you are not confident reading them get a builder to look at them. We had a square set opening which was put on the plans as a nook we did pick up on it later after we signed and nearly had to pay the $1000 to change it but we lucky enough to find it our tender and it was their mistake, so didn't have to. Also I have heard of people get caught with the sliding doors, check the arrows on your plans and make sure they open the right way and that if you want it to be double opening they have two arrows indicating this. What else..... the bathrooms windows also caught us out, the wording is confusing I beleive, translucent? we though meant translucent was clear? It wasn't. Something we didn't change back. Your kitchen sink if it has a drain is it facing the way you want? Anyway good luck hope this helps a bit. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 752Mar 23, 2011 7:25 pm patriot macca2000 Hi Mrs Excited, when did yours go through council? Was is recently? We called maitland council a few days after we got a txt from MJH saying it had been lodged but maitland had no record of anything being lodged so with a few phone calls & follow ups it finally made its way to council & was lodged 21st feb (a week later than we were told!) We have been calling maitland council we were orginally told 3-4 weeks then they changed their story to 5-6 weeks & when i called this week to check on it apparently they are now running at 6-8 weeks & when i said to the lady well its been in 4 she was pretty quick to say well you've probably got another 4 to go then!!! SO CRANKY! I wish MJH did use someone reliable because maitland council are taking forever & don't care that i've paid the same fees as everyone else & how is it fair that some take 10days & others take 8 weeks - What a Joke! Any ideas on how to hurry this along?? We have rang just this morning. Apparently our application hasn't been looked at yet as it has been sitting one someones desk We too were told it is up to 8 weeks, which may now mean we have to pay stamp duty, not happy. You can write to the OSR and ask for an extension on stamp duty, I hope this helps Lizzie Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 753Mar 23, 2011 9:37 pm Macca & Patriot - sounds very frustrating. Dont have the exact dates on me, but our slab was poured late november, early december - so my hubby is guesstamating it went to council late September. Maybe council are a bit busier now with this stamp duty offer. It wasnt on offer when we bought our block Ashy - good job for only spending $8k - would be heaps easy to spend spend spend hey!!! Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 754Mar 24, 2011 10:30 am Just had a call from Mcdonald Jones - please let me clarify! When I said loop holes in my previous post, I was just asking a question not making a statement. I want to make sure that i don't miss anything. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 755Mar 24, 2011 7:56 pm Thankfully we are nearing the end of our building with MJH. We have our PCI booked for Monday 28/3/11 but there is a major issue still with our brickwork. See attached blog for full details. Will keep you posted on outcome. Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 756Mar 24, 2011 9:06 pm Hi all, 1155, how dissapointing about your bricks, hoepfully they'll be able to fix it. Your are not the first one to no be happy with paintwork, I must remember to keep an eye out on that. ashy2323, I guess phonecalls are happening now more often... Building Havana Elite with side HT with MJD 20/04/11 DA approved by council 06/06/11 cut/fill 08/06/11 piering 20/6/11 slab 11/8/11 frame complete 18/9/11 lock up 28/11/11 handover booked Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 757Mar 25, 2011 10:39 pm Just a word of advice for any of you heading in for your electrical appointment, TAKE YOUR CONTRACT & make sure you stick to your guns about what you have been told is included & in our case was actually written in our contract when we came home & double checked... Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 758Mar 27, 2011 5:58 pm my wife and I is very keen on building the bordeoux 13m... can anyone recommend someone from mcdonald jones? We have talked to someone from oran park and homeworld but they were not that helpful. thanks Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 759Mar 27, 2011 8:14 pm kornjen my wife and I is very keen on building the bordeoux 13m... can anyone recommend someone from mcdonald jones? We have talked to someone from oran park and homeworld but they were not that helpful. thanks My wife and I have been dealing with Aaron Lloyd at Homeworld Kellyville. He has been fantastic to deal with and I could not speak more highly of him. ----------------------------------------------------------- Monte Carlo Grande Elite with McDonald Jones http://mdjatvermont.blogspot.com/ Re: McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread 760Mar 27, 2011 8:30 pm Hey everybody, I am new to this site. So I better just briefly fill you in. my family is currently building the Havana (a MJ home). The bricks have been laid, roof is on and the electrical is completed. I would like to know how people would rate McDonald Jones' service. Any answers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks havanapt Hi AKG, We had a base tender of $592 for 31 squares from MC Donald Jones. It looks relatively cheaper than other builders. 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