Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 26, 2011 11:44 pm Hello - this is my first post I discovered this forum a few weeks ago and am already addicted to hunting out new photos being posted. I can't wait to be able to start my own build thread. But right now we're stuck trying to choose which builder. How do you choose? Price? Gut feel? Timing? Customer service? Reviews? We're down to two main candidates and they're opposite ends of the scale. - One's the biggest builder in the state, the other's a much smaller firm. - They both have display homes we love and features we'd want to take whoever we build with. - The plan's essentially the same with either (my original drawing, which only took a little bit of tweaking to existing plans from either builder to get them to both be almost identical) so we can't make the decision on plan. - Cost-wise they're reasonably close but I'm struggling to compare because they list everything so differently. - The response times from the big guy has been a lot faster - but with the resources at their disposal that's probably to be expected - Only downer so far is that I'm a little put off the smaller firm's attention to detail because I've requested one change (to raise ceiling to 34c throughout) in an email to them 3 times and their sketch and costing still doesn't reflect that change. But does one sales person represent the attention to detail of the whole firm? I'd love to hear advice, or stories of how you chose? Perplexed of Perth Build thread: /viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49109 Blog: http://thelofthouse.wordpress.com/ Re: How do you choose a builder? 2Apr 27, 2011 7:35 am Hi anise Looks like you are asking the type of questions many others do when choosing a builder. It's not easy (as you have noticed). Comes down to value for money, flexibility in the plan, selection range, quality of workmanship, customer care and for some people, time frame. From my experience smaller builders are usually slower to respond, and sometimes longer build time, but you can also get some great customer service and attention to detail. On the other hand volume builders are a lot quicker and can offer 'promotions' because of their bulk buying power but customer service can be a bit crappy and a quick build may not neccesserily mean a better build. Alfter you have checked out other homes both builders have built and even some homes they are currently building and still cant make up you mind from the quality of work, then sometimes it's best to go with your 'gut' and how you feel about each builder. Good luck with your decision. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All new built homes look like display homes... until the furniture goes in. Re: How do you choose a builder? 3Apr 30, 2011 5:32 pm Thanks Starz, I read another thread comparing project builders to small builders which also had a lot of very interesting points. Perhaps we should just set ourselves a deadline and then go with whatever our gut says at the time. Build thread: /viewtopic.php?f=31&t=49109 Blog: http://thelofthouse.wordpress.com/ Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15511 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20410 |