Porter Davis homes

Chorlton · May 31, 2011 2:13 pm

humble

At the end of the day, i would expect everything to be priced Cost * Margin = Customer Price

If that basic math is processed every time then I have no problem, but what it appears everyone is saying is that its acceptable for it to be [b]Cost * Variable Margin Dependent on Cat Type = Customer Price[/b]

Bizarre :::

This is because PD secure a very competitive discounted price on the CAT 1's and 2's bricks due to the volume purchased across the entire group. Then, when they add their "profit margin" on top the price is probably similar or slightly more than retail.

With the less popular bricks, volumes as less so less discount is available to PD. Once PD then add their "profit margin" on top of this, the price is a lot higher. Hence the discrepancy.....

I would suggest that the profit margin % that PD place on any item remains relatively constant.

This explains why, for example, customers only have a very limited choice when it comes to Basins and Tapware. I personally found this frustrating especially as in some cases the style of tapware did not suit the style of basin !!! But of course, if every customer can only select from 4 basins, PD will not be paying very much per item for those items due to the high quantities involved.....

Rups · May 31, 2011 4:00 pm

Hi Humble.
We got a quote from Carpet Court too for Mosowood bamboo and it was triple that. Is your price including installation?

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On the topic of lighting. We have friends who did downlights after handover and it didn't work out so well for them. There were beams/ducting in the roof which were in the way so they couldn't put lights perfectly in a row. They should have got the builder to at least put battens in.

humble · May 31, 2011 4:37 pm

Rups

Hi Humble.
We got a quote from Carpet Court too for Mosowood bamboo and it was triple that. Is your price including installation?

No it didnt, we would install them ourselves (FIL is a trady) plus after reading about it online it looks pretty easy.

Zinner · May 31, 2011 5:08 pm

I also looked at the upgrade tile price vs the retail price and at first thought whoa!!! (this is when they were also having their tile sale so prices were better than normal and it made me think what we might of saved if only we had signed a few months later)

What I had failed to realize in all of this was the price for the tiles was just that... "tiles only". The PD price included the tile AND THE WORK and TIME involved with transporting, organizing tradesmen, and laying them.

If i had waited 3 months for the tile sales then in that time the rest of the house build price would of risen enough (ave 1-2k per month) to end up costing me more overall anyway.

In the finish, I figure Id made a pretty good deal when i did...

humble · May 31, 2011 5:12 pm

The PD price included the tile AND THE WORK and TIME involved with transporting, organizing tradesmen, and laying them.

That would make sense on a non floor coverings packaged house, but for one with a package wouldnt PD have to do that regardless? Just because the tile is more expensive, the work to install them is the same?

joles · May 31, 2011 5:14 pm

humble

That would make sense on a non floor coverings packaged house, but for one with a package wouldnt PD have to do that regardless? Just because the tile is more expensive, the work to install them is the same?

No it's not. Most tilers will charge more to install larger tiles, and also charge more to install porcelain tiles. There is more work involved for both. Levelling etc.
That's usually what a tile upgrade involves, going to a larger than standard tile or to porcelain. For us it was both.

tstr1a · May 31, 2011 5:31 pm

joles

humble

That would make sense on a non floor coverings packaged house, but for one with a package wouldnt PD have to do that regardless? Just because the tile is more expensive, the work to install them is the same?

No it's not. Most tilers will charge more to install larger tiles, and also charge more to install porcelain tiles. There is more work involved for both. Levelling etc.
That's usually what a tile upgrade involves, going to a larger than standard tile or to porcelain. For us it was both.

Joles is correct,

In our situation tiles were included to the whole house as part of the promo. Ceramic tiles upgrades were minimal in cost ($5-$10 per sqm). When you upgrade to porcelain expect to pay $45-$150 spm (depending on tiles selected). At the beginning I didn’t understand the price difference between PD and retail. The price difference is in the labour as Porcelain tiles are more expensive to lay. But still you are paying a premium for convenience.

Building has two components and I think not everyone is looking at the bigger picture.

Total build cost inc. land vs. capital value (market price).

I understand house prices are diving at the moment (never less is expensive) which is making perspective new house owner’s price conscious.

Ask yourself this question. Is the market value higher than the project cost? If No, it might not be the right time for you to build or you may need to consider a cheaper alternative.

humble · May 31, 2011 5:34 pm

Agree with the porcelains, and or larger ones, sorry I still having the internal brick debate. :::

Rups · May 31, 2011 7:34 pm

Ideally we would have liked to get Cat 6 Hawthorn bricks but settled for Cat 3 LaTrobe. Unless you really know your bricks there is not too much difference at a glance. Is there one in a lower Cat that looks similar?
We went for a Cat 3 roof tile (really disliked Cat 1) which was just over 7k which made the compromise on the bricks a bit easier.

humble · May 31, 2011 8:31 pm

Rups

Ideally we would have liked to get Cat 6 Hawthorn bricks but settled for Cat 3 LaTrobe. Unless you really know your bricks there is not too much difference at a glance. Is there one in a lower Cat that looks similar?
We went for a Cat 3 roof tile (really disliked Cat 1) which was just over 7k which made the compromise on the bricks a bit easier.

Well in order of preference it is..

Hawthorns - Cat6
Latrobes - Cat3
Blackwood - Cat2
Homestead Tan - Cat1

We will find out monday. Can feel the wallet burning already :z:

mel_mox · May 31, 2011 9:28 pm

I'd like to have a positive post on PD! Lol
We are currently at bricking (c my blog for pics) very happy with how it's looking & the speedy progress. Our bricks are boral category 1, brushwood! I love em! Lol
I originally wanted brown terrain, very similar but was an upgrade & we couldn't afford it!
Mel

snoofie · May 31, 2011 9:36 pm

mel_mox

I'd like to have a positive post on PD! Lol
We are currently at bricking (c my blog for pics) very happy with how it's looking & the speedy progress. Our bricks are boral category 1, brushwood! I love em! Lol
I originally wanted brown terrain, very similar but was an upgrade & we couldn't afford it!
Mel

Agreed!! LOL I do try and pop something positive in amongst my angst hahaha

We love our Homestead Tan!

humble · May 31, 2011 9:40 pm

Its all positive here, just dreading spending another 60k getting it to the spec i want. :::

tstr1a · May 31, 2011 9:43 pm

humble

Its all positive here, just dreading spending another 60k getting it to the spec i want. :::

understand, i faced the same things are u. need up sending more than my budget.

joles · May 31, 2011 9:44 pm

60k all up on top of base is actually not too bad. There's a thread floating around somewhere about how much above base people went.... the average was around another 50% on top of base from memory. :th:

We added around 100k. 20k of that was site costs though. :th:

mel_mox · May 31, 2011 9:47 pm

We also added around 100k over base price but 45k of that was site costs!

joles · May 31, 2011 9:48 pm

Here's the thread I was referring to. It's an old one, but interesting nonetheless.

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3138&hilit=extra

humble · May 31, 2011 9:53 pm

My concern, is that the prestige range while impressive, still requires significant upgrades, something that we really didn't take into account, now I am compromising, and discussing do it ourselves plans for even little things like front door handles. Which is really adding to the frustration.

If we get out with 60k we will do well, and that wont include site costs as they are fixed (funnily enough at 12k when the promotion gives you 10k :z:

)

mel_mox · May 31, 2011 9:55 pm

The 100k is without fencing, driveway, basic budget style landscaping or curtains add on another 20k minimum! So the % over base price is around 40%! And our house is a lifestyle one! Cremorne 42 sq

mel_mox · May 31, 2011 9:57 pm

You should also allow at least minimum of 10-15k electrical too! I didn't get everything I wanted!