Porter Davis homes

Hi Stewie

You have come to the right place. Lots of active Porter Davies customers on this feed.
My husband and I are just about to start breaking ground as our build is meant to start on site this week.

Every build has its up's and down's, don't let the negative posts put you off, we chose PD as we believe they have the best floor plans and house types and do the best builds and finishings, and at the end of the day - that's what you want in a house. You forget about the small frustrations along the way and come out of it with a beautiful home.

What house are you looking at building?

Cheers
Charlotte

OK Team

They are coming thick and fast. I have published another post on my blog. This one is about getting the structure right.
It covers Liveability Consultant, sisalation, sarking, insulation, termite protection, double glazing and a touch of pricing along with a sideswipe or two at Porter Davis.

https://forsyth35blog.wordpress.com/201 ... %8B-right/

https://forsyth35blog.wordpress.com

Let me know if you like it and want to know more about other areas of the house.

Cheers
Charlotte

Remember the words "builders choice" as this will save you thousands.

We also told our sales consultants at WOS (and remember they are there to sell you things not to give you advice) that if an upgrade was > $400 then we woudnt do it and many upgrades came in just below $400...

There are a few things you can do post handover if you feel confident enough.

Flooring.
We are getting spotted gum solid floorboards for $105/m2 and high quality carpet and underlay for $40/m2.
This is significantly below the upgrade cost of PD and we recieved a $60/m2 credit for not doing flooring through PD

Front door.
A 2340 x 1200 pivot door through PD was around $5k. Post build we will remove the front door frame and for under $2k install a pivot door.

Cooking appliances
We had a bosch oven as were doing a KDRB so we removed the fisher and pikel oven and cooktop recieved a $1k credit that paid for a 900mm bosch induction cooktop through good guys. (The same top through PD was $3.5k)

Curtains
Quote through WOS $17k. Same curtains through local company $8k.

Electrical.
Fans through PD around $300 each. Purchased on sale at beacon same fan for $90 plus $70 install fee. As we are getting post handover electrician to install split systems so is not a problem while hes there

Security
Were getting PD to run cat 6 cables for cameras. PD wanted around $3k for security system on top of this. We can get one for about $600 POE fully installed.

The thing to remember is PD are one of many choices out there. Its good to know the costs of the majour items you want before going to WOS so you can compare.

see more at
hoffmangoldwithporterdavis.wordpress.com

Thanks for the kind words, I never know if anyone is going to read my blogs but it sounds like its helping others.

Metricon does a 2-hour seminar that takes you through the steps of the building process with their team. Dave and I went to one and it was good to get an overview of what to expect even if they are different Companies.
Now I know that you start with a Sales Consultant, then are handed to a Tender Presenter, a Building Coordinator, a Contract Presenter and then a Site Supervisor - the folder moving from one desk to the nest. It gave you an overview of what the next step would be so you were not stumbling in the dark and wondering why you are being passed around.
Dave jokes that we should run a seminar on what to expect, how to get the most of bang for your buck and what are the traps and pitfalls.

C.

Finally have our gas abolished!! Everything has been held up by this one thing.

Will be able to give the demolition company the go ahead to knock down the house early next week, which will probably take 2 weeks from then for them to start.

If I understand the PD process at all, I think the Sales Consultant is supposed to be the one that knows about these things and should be offering them/assisting you to understand the options when you sit down with them during the sales process. Then once you are handed over to the Building Coordinator, they are then supposed to help you with any further options should you change your mind or find out something new that you hadn't been offer previously.

In our experience however, the Sales Consultant just took our order. Added in the structural upgrades for our chosen house design, which we had become aware of through the website or their glossy house brochures. Then added in a few promotional packages and a few allowances for things like electrical and Colourtec finishes to the kitchen.

He never told us about the Hebel promotion, he never told us about the Colourbond promotion, he never got us an accurate cost for double glasing when we enquired about it. He never indicated that we could install a solar option to reduce our energy footprint and create a greener house.
When we did ask him to added in the Colourbond Promo once we had discovered it for ourselves, he never told us we should get sarking or that we should get an extra whirlybird because we have such a large roof area.

I think their focus is to get as many quotes accepted and signed off as possible. They work on a commission and that commission is paid out on the value of the Base house they sell. Anything you add to the house does not increase their commission, so they have no financial incentive to spend more time with you to educate you on what things you might consider doing to your house to make it your dream home.

He didn't even seem to have a good understanding of how much things would costs at World of Style, as the allowances he added to our quote were no where near accurate.
He initially added $3,000 for electrical allowance and when we told him we wanted to Colourtec our Kitchen, Galley, Laundry & all 4 bathroom cabinets, he added in a $4,000 allowance
We spent over $20,000 on electrical and the cost to Colourtec everything was $18,000

Don't get me wrong, not all Sales Consultants are like this, there are some genuine people who do give a toss and will go above and beyond. This is just our experience.

I think, to have a good experience with PD, it really comes down to your Sales Consultant. If you get a great one then you're set up well to have a smooth run through the PD system.

Our SC couldn't wait to hand us onto our BC and don't get me started on our BCFH!!! (BC from hell)

I really think, in the early stages, we would have benefited hugely from a few seminars that would step you through the basics, like the one Metricon do which outlines the processes and who you will be dealing with as you move along the journey and pass from person to person. But it should go further and they should have someone tell you about all the modifications you can make that can improve your home, the things you can add that aren't in the "Standard inclusions", but are available so you can improve the quality of your dream home. There a a lot of things you can add that are not on display at WOS, there is more to building a good house than nice kitchen cabinets and stone benchtops. We just need some help to understand these things at the beginning of our journey, not 8 or 9 months down the line.

OK, that's enough ranting from me for today.

Have a great day

Short sighted dysfunctional business that is blind to opportunities. Churn and burn. Too many chiefs (top heavy) and deep cultural problems that will prevent them from being a great organisation. However, there have been a few capable individuals, those are the exception.

Educate yourself before signing and pay attention to the details, as that's where the devil lays. Afford yourself the time required to review documentation, as the pressure to sign will lock you into errors you will either have to live with, or alternatively pay to have rectified (revenue strategy).

Again a great read, thanks for writing it very detailed. I can relate myself been gone through some of the pain points while discussing the staircase with PD, i wish i had this much wisdom on staircases before.

Btw i guess you are doing flooring post handover, do you mind sharing the details of what have you finalized.

Thanks.

Hi

Thanks and yes we are doing it post hand over. I can make that my next blog.
When I start out writing a blog I think, oh I'll write about this subjet and then it goes off on such a long winded tangent that its already a full blog about somthing I never ment to write about lol
Hope you dont mind I stole your staircase photo

Ta C.

You could try removing the quad and silver strips and cork around the pillars.