Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 26, 2009 11:22 am Hi everyone, New to this site. We are FHB and have decided to build our first home, because its cheaper than buying a pre-established home and we can make it our own. We have purchased land in Kilmore and block is a nice 805m2. Settlement is on the 31st July. Put deposit on house (Columbia) on the 13th June and was told this week after having to call head office as my sales rep is on holiday until august, that our contract date has been scheduled for the 21st August. When also speaking they told us that the colour selection people were already booked for all of august and as yet have still had no contact from them re: our date. It would just be nice to be informed of whats going on, as you can call and send emails and sometimes noone gets back into touch with you. Hence the calling of head office. Its frustrating to think that soil testing is complete and yet noone can give you a closer estimate in the cost of the site costs until contract date. It makes me wonder that if maybe they offered this information maybe there would be fewer complaints re: contract date. Also want to know if: 1) Anyone is building in kilmore VIC, and if so what ideas of site costs have the had, when did they start and how long has everything taken? 2) Is anyone else building the DFH columbia house? 3) And is anyone else looking at a similar time frame as me, maybe we can keep in touch and let each other know how things are progressing? Because its always nicer to know that there are others out there going through similar things as you. Anyone else stressed about having to afford rent and having to pay a mortgage at the same time, and the more they prolong the process, the more out of pocket expenses you have. I am really excited about building but stress that I may not have a house til mid year with all the issues that have been raised on this site. I dont want to have to live in a caravan park or anything. Argh! Ok think that should be enough, sorry everyone for this crazy spiel, but had to get it out of my head and onto paper. Thanks for any comments, Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: DFH Columbia 2Jul 27, 2009 12:06 pm Hi Stefanie, We are building with DFH but out in the South Eastern suburbs and the Hartley but I can tell you about our experience with DFH contracts. We received our contracts when they said they would be ready and like you we were very anxious about site costs. Due to the fact that we already had some site costs included in our DFH quote the site costs in the contract were not that much different that on the quote, but having said that there were still costs included in the contract that were unnecessary which they have deducted via variations. We signed our contracts in early June and we are still waiting on a site start (although this isn't DFH's fault, they are ready to go, we're waiting on developer approval). We were told at contract signing that they aim to site start within 30 days. I hope that gives you some idea....good luck with it all! Building with Dennis Family Homes - Hartley 280 Location: Settlers Run, Botanic Ridge Re: DFH Columbia 3Aug 01, 2009 8:00 am Hi rj_louise, Thankyou for your post, I look forward to getting to this stage. Just settled land yesterday, so now we are mortgagees. Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: DFH Columbia 4Aug 02, 2009 8:52 am Another question for dennis family customers. How long did it take for you to be called regarding an appointment with the colour consultant? Sorry but we havent heard a peep about this not even to say that they are busy or to make an appointment in a month or anything. Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: DFH Columbia 5Aug 02, 2009 9:16 am I actually had to contact our CSC when our contracts were due to say that I hadn't heard from the Colour Consultant and advised that we wouldn't be signing the contracts until we had done the colours due to the fact that they charge a $500 post variation fee. I then received a phone call from the Colour Consultant within a couple of days and had the appt 2 weeks later. I can't stress enough though to do research and visit the suppliers before this appt as you only get 2 hours and as I found out they wont go over the 2 hours even when they were 15 minutes late to the appt Building with Dennis Family Homes - Hartley 280 Location: Settlers Run, Botanic Ridge Re: DFH Columbia 6Aug 02, 2009 10:28 am Hi rj_louise, Might call them up when my consultant is back from holidays, and let them know I wont sign until they confirm a colour appointment. Which was what I was thinking anyway. Im not giving them deposit, to have them then totally forget about me. We have already gone to all the suppliers and limited our selections, pretty much have chosen everything we want, just want confirmation from them that these are alright. I kept getting told by our consultant that if we want to change anything wait til contract date and then it can be updated, but we got a letter saying we would be charged if we amended it. So I sent him an email saying what we wanted. thanks for your comment, will definately be calling someone in the next week or so. Have added a pic of my land. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: DFH Columbia 7Aug 02, 2009 2:36 pm bskilner Hi everyone, New to this site. We are FHB and have decided to build our first home, because its cheaper than buying a pre-established home and we can make it our own. We have purchase land in Kilmore and block is a nice 805m2. Settlement is on the 31st July. Put deposit on house (Columbia) on the 13th June and was told this week after having to call head office as my sales rep is on holiday until august, that our contract date has been scheduled for the 21st August. When also speaking they told us that the colour selection people were already booked for all of august and as yet have still had no contact from them re: our date. It would just be nice to be informed of whats going on, as you can call and send emails and sometimes noone gets back into touch with you. Hence the calling of head office. Its frustrating to think that soil testing is complete and yet noone can give you a closer estimate in the cost of the site costs until contract date. It makes me wonder that if maybe they offered this information maybe there would be fewer complaints re: contract date. Also want to know if: 1) Anyone is building in kilmore VIC, and if so what ideas of site costs have the had, when did they start and how long has everything taken? 2) Is anyone else building the DFH columbia house? 3) And is anyone else looking at a similar time frame as me, maybe we can keep in touch and let each other know how things are progressing? Because its always nicer to know that there are others out there going through similar things as you. Anyone else stressed about having to afford rent and having to pay a mortgage at the same time, and the more they prolong the process, the more out of pocket expenses you have. I am really excited about building but stress that I may not have a house til mid year with all the issues that have been raised on this site. I dont want to have to live in a caravan park or anything. Argh! Ok think that should be enough, sorry everyone for this crazy spiel, but had to get it out of my head and onto paper. Thanks for any comments, Stefanie Hi Stefanie and welcome to the forum, I don't want to scare you off but we are building with DFH the Latrobe 320 and my Mum is also building the Cambridge we both put our deposist down with them 9th Jan and got our contracts back 18th JUNE Mum has just had her slab poured and we had our site cut back on the 16th July but we are still waiting on a slab We love the latrobe so stuck with them. Not sure I would of done that if I knew it would of taken this long we were originally told 2 months after deposit we would have our contracts then build 3 weeks later, to be in our new house by August 09 latest Sept mmmmmmmm Now they are saying sorry looks like you'll be in around FEB 10 latest MARCH 10 Have a read over my thread . Good luck with it all and keep on their toes. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19655 FINALLY slab down 5th SEPT Oct 16 Bricking/ plaster starting Dec 1 Painting started END OF CONTRACT IS UP SOON HURRY UP AND FINISH MY HOME..... countdown to 27th Feb. LATROBE 320 WITH DENNIS FAMILY HOMES Re: DFH Columbia 8Aug 02, 2009 7:27 pm Hello Everyone We are building Princeton 25 with DFH in Berwick. Although our paperwork stage took approx 4 months (due to high volume of work with DFH and the banks), we are incredibly satisfied with DFH. It's been 4 weeks and 3 days since they started our job and we are almost finished with bricks. Most tradies that I've taken to the house cannot believe that we are at this stage within 4 WEEKS DFH are really great, but you have to do your homework and research and stay on their toes. As for us, no complaints or issues, just a fantastic builder who is responsive and incredibly fast at building a house. Every day I drove past the house, something new was up. Good luck T-F-Build Re: DFH Columbia 9Aug 02, 2009 8:13 pm I should say something positive about DFH though and not always seem so negative towards them, Our Site Supervisor here ,is Brilliant! very friendly and has so far kept us up to date with what has happened or what is due to take place,. We have met with most of the trades people who will be doing the work on our house and all seem very happy to help. I have heard many great things from people who have built a DFH and their attention to quality and build times are fantastic, I have seen 3 friends go through the build process with DF and their homes are beautiful. some hic-ups along the way but nothing major. I should of said in my prior post their attention to paper work and broken promises regarding contracts in MY case, could do with a shape up. I would ask them to give you a realistic date to expect a contract/price etc and get it in writing, maybe then you'll get an honest time frame. Good Luck it's all very daunting yet very exciting. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19655 FINALLY slab down 5th SEPT Oct 16 Bricking/ plaster starting Dec 1 Painting started END OF CONTRACT IS UP SOON HURRY UP AND FINISH MY HOME..... countdown to 27th Feb. LATROBE 320 WITH DENNIS FAMILY HOMES Re: DFH Columbia 10Aug 08, 2009 10:37 am Hi guys, Talk about dejavu. Got a call on monday re: colour appointment and it has been set for the 20th August. So thats another thing down and less to worry about. So will keep you posted. thanks for posts, good to hear that they build good quality homes, and i did read your posts chlochlo prior to writing mine. Which did scare me a bit, we are fho, but i hope seen as we got in early that we are not being pushed ahead in the line. I hope to hear more on your progresses with DFH. Thanks Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Colour Selection 11Aug 14, 2009 10:55 pm Ok looking for comments. So got our colour selection next week and want to know other peoples opinions re: our choices so far. We have chosen bricks by austral in the homestead Tan. Tiles by boral, in Blue dusk but will be gloss and are actually lighter in true colour. Gutters: Colorbond Deep Ocean Fascia: Colorbond Classic Cream Drainpipes: Colorbond Deep Ocean Garage: Colorbond Classic Cream Window frames: Black Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Will get pics of tiles, paint and carpet up soon, for you to let me know what you think there. Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: Colour Selection 13Aug 15, 2009 6:56 pm Hi, I really like your exterior colour selection Only thing l would reconsider is the downpipes. Having the classic cream against the dark bricks will draw attention to them especially if you them on your front fascade. If it were me, l'd get the downpipes in Jasper, if it is a close match to your bricks? and if not get them painted to suit. Cheers Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 14Aug 17, 2009 10:17 am Hi, Another update. Received our preliminary contract on sunday . Will have our contract signing on the 23rd. Thanks god that our site costs only just went over estimate . By around $3000, because temporary fencing, scaffolding and termite control werent included. So am quite happy with this, was nervous as we saw that neighbours property had a bit of rock in it . Mind you they were only small rocks, comprising mostly of the size of a fist. So thats the new news. Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: Colour Selection 15Aug 17, 2009 10:25 am thorney Hi, I really like your exterior colour selection Only thing l would reconsider is the downpipes. Having the classic cream against the dark bricks will draw attention to them especially if you them on your front fascade. If it were me, l'd get the downpipes in Jasper, if it is a close match to your bricks? and if not get them painted to suit. Cheers Hi Thorney, We are actually doing the downpipes in the Deep Ocean colour, which is a navy blue which matches the gutters. Yeh we thought the cream would be too light against the bricks. Thanks for comments Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 16Aug 18, 2009 11:08 am Just wondering if other people had a solicitor read over their new home contract? Thanks Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 17Aug 18, 2009 12:58 pm Stefanie, We didn't get a solicitor to look at the building contract as it is all pretty standard (HIA contract). But I did read every word of the contract (multiple times) and made lots of notes which I then sent to my CSC to have clarification on. Glad to hear that the site costs weren't too bad that is always a relief! Building with Dennis Family Homes - Hartley 280 Location: Settlers Run, Botanic Ridge Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 18Aug 18, 2009 6:06 pm Fantastic news on getting your prelim contract in that didn't take long at all very exciting for you bskilner look forward to your updates all the best. bskilner Just wondering if other people had a solicitor read over their new home contract? Thanks We didn't just read it over and over but alot of building nitty gritty it I didn't understand I just made some notes and asked SS at meeting. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19655 FINALLY slab down 5th SEPT Oct 16 Bricking/ plaster starting Dec 1 Painting started END OF CONTRACT IS UP SOON HURRY UP AND FINISH MY HOME..... countdown to 27th Feb. LATROBE 320 WITH DENNIS FAMILY HOMES Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 19Aug 18, 2009 7:47 pm Thanks everyone for your comments, I have taken it to one just to ensure that it protects me as well as the builder. And he said it would cost less than $100, so didnt see the harm. Yeh will keep you updated. This part is going all right, but building will probably be delayed due to christmas, and they stated building may come to halt due to them trying to complete jobs they said would be finished in December. So we'll see how it goes. Contract signed 28/9 Site scraped 22/10 Slab poured 5/11 Frame complete 28/11 Locked up 20/1 Fixed Out 5/3 Painting completed 18/3 Tiling Completed 15/4 Carpeted & Plumbing 17/4 Completed 27/5 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21238&p=290800#p290800 Re: Got our preliminary contract!! 20Aug 19, 2009 9:56 pm hi, i am also building the columbia but in geelong, we paid our deposit on the 27th of June and am still waiting, have not even heard about our contract let alone colour selection. when are you planning to start building, we have been told that once our land settles (start of Oct) then it is a 3 month wait because of the first home buyer rush so wont be till next year Did you make many changes to the house?? would be nice to hear some other ideas. i look foward to getting to your stage and cant wait to see something acually happening. belinda Hi there, We’ve recently had plans approved to add a 1st storey addition to our existing house for a growing family in Sydney. With the current cost of building… 0 4250 6 11528 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13817 |