Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 19, 2010 1:15 pm All/Everyone, You will find this is my first of what will be many posts on this website. btw - forum.homeone.com.au - GREAT source of knowledge. I am surprised there are not more of these forums out there, seeing as the rate of these 5000+ home estates going up in NSW are increasing by the week! never the less, my question to anyone who cares...has anyone looked at the display homes of, considered building with, requested a tender from, or, has taken the plunge with FOWLER HOMES... I have noticed about 4-5 people on this forum who actively post (or have even blogged their experience) with Fowler and has provided everything I am after - my worry is that I am looking at spending a lot of money, as we all will/am/have, on the build alone and don't feel confident that this gives me all the information I am after. Specifics I'm looking for people to comment on are; * what made Fowler be in your top 2 or 3 choices (and even if you didnt go with them, why not?) * site inspections (specifically anything that came up un-expected and how Fowler treated this?) * the tender process (how it was from your experience - did they support you or did they want to push their views on you?) and what tricks did you use to get them to bring their costs down? * selection range for finishes and willingness to allow other trades (i.e. electricians/data installers) on site during build * build phase - im reading a lot about points of contacts (in general - not specific to Fowler) being un-contactable during issues and not being very helpful, than I read about really positive experiences. what was yours with Fowler? also your feedback on the builder themselves I know this is a lot to ask in a first post but i'd like to understand your experiences. Fowler is one of 3 builders im considering but the Mrs has seen her DREAM home - and to be honest it is a nice design Please share your experiences as it will not only assist me, but anyone else in a similar position that wants to know more about Fowler Homes Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 2Aug 20, 2010 11:35 am Hi jmap, There are not a lot of Fowler owners in H1, I am only one of a handful I suppose. Anyway, I'll try to answer as much as I can, if you need another even more specific, pm me. - Fowler made our short list mainly because of the design, it costed a bit more than our 2nd choice but ultimately their design was the closest fit to what we want - The site inspection didn't come back with any major surprises, the site costs they quoted were very similar to the other builder - The tender process was quite smooth, I found them not to be pushy with upgrades and really let us decide what we wanted to upgrade. We got some cash discount as they knew they were in competition with a similar size builder, although we did say we liked their design more however liked the price of the other builder more. - Their selection is not very broad, unlike Masterton that has a studio for you to pick from, Fowler had us choose everything in a small meeting room, but it was ok. I would think most builders would prefer no other tradies go to the site before handover, I can only get my flooring done after handover - I'm still in the middle of my build phase, we have made complaints about a couple of things (like the smelly portaloo) and they were rectified quite quickly. I think the most painful experience for us has been the council delays and the amount of rain delay we got back in June. Hope this helps CHeers jim Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 3Aug 20, 2010 1:17 pm Hi JMAP, Fowler Homes was in our final two, and we really liked there designs, but they lost out in the end to EB on a couple of issues: 1. EB had fixed site costs, which gave us peace of mind and no further surprises. 2. The finish of the Fowler dsiplay homes was quite variable, where one was spec'd very high, with lots of upgrades, and yet another on display in a different area, did not have the final fit-off complete, but had been open and on display for quite some time. 3. There are a number of Fowler Homes that have been build in our area and the external finish and the build quality was of a lower standard than EB. By the way, what area are you planing to build in? Hope this helps with you final decision. Cheers, CMET Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 4Aug 20, 2010 8:36 pm jimnsal - yours was the first blog I found online and one of the most relevant I read. Very informative CMET - I appreciate the honest feedback and this is what I am looking for. I am currently subdividing (a topic that there is even LESS information available about this topic) a block of land in Wakeley, NSW which I am hoping to have a tender signed by Dec/Jan ready to break ground before the end of March. The block will hopefully be about 780sqm (pending approval) The design we have in mind is the Monte Carlo 40 (the 33 is on display @ Oran Park) and just blew us away. The other 2 builders in mind are (as it is referred to on this forum) the big M and a small builder call Barrington Homes, also at Oran Park Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 5Aug 27, 2010 1:08 pm Jmap - We are also in Tender with Fowler at the moment getting closer to signing I think as soon as we settle with the bank valuation! We are building the Monte Carlo 33, we have been looking at homes for around 2.5 years now and saving and the Monte Carlo just seemed like the perfect layout for us! Let us know how you go with it! www.tinas-cakery.com Building a Monte Carlo with Fowler Homes. Our Build Thread --> https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49218 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 6Aug 30, 2010 8:05 am teanah - i feel your pain - i attempted to go through a broker until my father said quite simply 'you can get told no from a bank yourself you know - don't go through them anymore and go direct'...i did and 3 days later had the pre-approval i was looking for. the banks are an interesting bunch at the best of times I glad to see someone picking the Monte Carlo. when do you expect to be in a position to start build and if you don't mind me asking where abouts are you building? Also will you be blogging/tracking your progress on here? (if so i look forward to following your experience) Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 7Aug 30, 2010 8:49 am We are going straight through with the bank.. no brokers. Sent off the quotes for the driveway and tiling to bottom floor (we are doing this after handover) to the bank this morning hopefully this will get us over the valuation problem? Then as soon as that is sorted pay for the plans to be drawn up and then were on our way!! I'm hoping we can start before the end of the year! if everything goes to plan! I will be starting a blog as soon as we have bank approval I think =) So excited! We are building in Kearns, Campbelltown. www.tinas-cakery.com Building a Monte Carlo with Fowler Homes. Our Build Thread --> https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49218 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 8Aug 30, 2010 10:46 am Good luck guys, I hope your site starts before Christmas, F0wl3r closes for 5 weeks from mid December, and believe me, it feels more like 5 months of waiting jim Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 9Aug 30, 2010 11:27 pm im hoping to have the subdivision done by xmas!! best of luck with the financing and qoutes. and i also hope Fowler can get something happening onsite this year so they cant make any excuses post coming back from their break Has anyone else got any experiences they would like to comment on regarding Fowler Homes? the bloke at the sales office waived a booklet of apparent depoists for the Monte Carlo (to demonstrate just how many people are interested - salesmen 101 i think) so there must be more people out there... Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 10Sep 10, 2010 11:12 am Well good news here, finally have bank approval! Yay! so now we can get the plans drawn up and submitted to council, were finally on our way. www.tinas-cakery.com Building a Monte Carlo with Fowler Homes. Our Build Thread --> https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49218 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 12Nov 23, 2010 9:50 pm Hi JMAP, currently live in Wakeley and building in Abbotsbury with Rawson Homes.. My neighbour has a Fowler home and it looks great! All the best. All Finally Done March 2012 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 13Feb 27, 2011 1:26 pm Hi All, I am also interested in building with Fowler Homes (Monte Carlo) and am glad to have come across this forum. How is everyone doing since their last updates. Jmap - did you decide to build with fowler Jimnsal - how is your home 1 year on - any issues teanah - is building nearly completed? how has the process been for you, did you do a blog? cheers dreaman ______________________________________________________________________ Our Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52185 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 14Mar 15, 2011 1:08 pm Oh dear I wish! We are still waiting to hear back from council... Hmm not sure why its taking so long and we have contacted fowler 2 days ago but haven't heard back yet. Quite frustrating. www.tinas-cakery.com Building a Monte Carlo with Fowler Homes. Our Build Thread --> https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49218 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 15Mar 25, 2011 3:47 pm Teenah - Hope things have progreesed since your last post. We are also building with Fowler and I personally continuously chased up the council which seemed to get it through quicker. Also found that by dealing directly with council we were able to find out more in regards to any issues or hold ups. I also sympathise with the lack of response when you try to contact F0wl3r. Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 16Apr 09, 2011 8:36 pm Well after much frustrating waiting I called the council personally to find out whats going on. Apparently the house is 3% larger than the regulations but that is being approved. Although the council isn't happy with our facade above the garage there is close to a 2.5meter flat rendered area that meets the top balcony. They say they want it too have another material or something to break it up. So Im thinking it would be nice if we have a stone texture or something across the whole garage section, but still need to discuss this with the builder. We have the garage set lower so we didn't have to have a split in the middle of the house. Thought I'd upload an image of our front elevation so you guys can have a looksie www.tinas-cakery.com Building a Monte Carlo with Fowler Homes. Our Build Thread --> https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49218 Re: Fowler Homes - Your experiences 17Jun 20, 2011 9:08 am dreaman - i didn't end up proceeding with fowler due to a change in circumstances personally but I have now decided to take on a grander challenge and complete the build as an owner builder - completely new design so we are really excited about the next 12-16 months... I will say this though, if it were not for some of the contacts I have in respect to people that can help me with the build, I would have continued with F0wler. The design, flexibility to the design/floor layout and overall quality for a spec home was second to none from all the homes we looked at I hope this helps! 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 105579 Anyone built with Fowler Homes? Feedback? Especially any things concerning or negatives? Have heard some horror… 0 9309 You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18070 |