Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 02, 2012 9:05 pm Hi there, we are looking at building and a recieved tenders from/ narrowed it down to either C, K or M
C's tender was the most expensive at face value, but a lot of it was in site costs which i'm wondering if we'll end up being hit for through the other companies as a later stage anyway (which would them make the other companies tenders relatively similar.) K's seems to include a little more like higher ceilings and extra electrical ect, but they are a fairly new company (as far as i'm aware) so there is probably more risk attached M's probably less risk as they are so popular (once again as far as i'm aware) however the plan isn't exactly perfect, but is ok. It's such a big decision. If anyone has any recommendations or warnings on any of these companies, i'd love to hear them. Regards Bellachara Re: Any recommendations or warnings -Clarendon Kurmond Maste 2Jan 03, 2012 9:18 pm Hi Bellachara We have been going to build a home since 2009! We had a knockdown rebuild and got through to having council approved plans with M@tricon however due to some customer service issues with our interior consultant we pulled the plug. We then went to Masterton and changed our minds twice after paying a couple of grand deposit only to pull out and sell the knockdown rebuild. Entirely our own doing. We have since purchased a new block of land that suits us much better and have gone back to Masterton. Reason? Although in terms of time frames things seem to be taking longer (M were very pushy with timeframes and we felt very pressured however at the end of the day it still took about 9 months to get council approved plans) , we found Mastertons customer service was excellent. Im also comparing their flexibility in comparison to my sister who built with Clarendon and although she has a beautiful home she couldnt do alot as she found Clarendon to be really inflexible. So far there isnt much that we have asked for that they have said no to. I have also gone through a colour app with both M@tricon and Masterton and Mastertons set up was far superior. You will find that all builders will put costs in different parts of the build and will be cheaper on some things and more expensive on others, all in all they all charge about the same per sqm so dont be fooled if one looks cheaper than the other, they're not. I've also noted that having seen alot of Masterton homes built once the frame is up they seem to go really quickly. You need to put aside 12 months for the whole process. Also you need to add approx 100 - 150K to the base price of the home to cover the cost of getting it finished. We haven't had our electrical appointment yet however I found a forum on here where someone has just gone through the process and has put the prices up, our orginal electrical appointment quote with M@tricon came to over 7 grand and we ended up culling it to 4K. Here is the link to Mastertons electrics its towards the very end of the topic viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22483 If you want to know anything else let me know and I can provide you with whatever info we have. Good Luck Cheers Dani viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46741 Clovelly - Masterton Homes 5% to M 290312 CDC 21/06 20 days 29/08 Slab 17/09 Frame 26/09 Bricks 24/10 Roof tiles 20/11 Re: Any recommendations or warnings -Clarendon Kurmond Maste 3Jan 03, 2012 9:40 pm Our friends built a Masterton about 3 years ago, he is in the building industry and was generally happy with them. He has had some major problems with their render (the bricks leached salt and now have marks all over the render that just cant be blasted away as the colour has started to flake off). Other than that the build process was fairly easy. Other friends have been in their Clarendon for about 6 months and again have been fairly happy, they have had a few issues with the maintenence period and had to fight to get things done. As part of their package they were meant to have their washing macine taps hidden behind the cupboards, Clarendon told them they have no documentation of that, so our friends had to show them the Amore package brochure to prove it was included I do believe that Clarendon have changed their policies around making changes and are much more flexible now As for Kurmond we serioulsy looked at them early this year, we went to tender and received a revised tender, since then no-one has ever called to follow up If we had some customer service then we would have signed back in April but found it was seriously lacking, another friend also went to tender and paid a deposit, they however had a terrible time with the sales person at the time who swore at them and told them he didnt want to build their f...ing house The owners went into damage control and tried to get them to stay but they obvioulsy refused and demanded their deposit back (which they did get eventually). I have also heard(on the grapevine) that when the recent display homes opened some of the subbies ended up in a massive fight outside the display homes with the owners due to not being paid (an actual punch up) apparently they have had payments delayed, which I believe is not a good sign. I know Hep on this forum is building with Kurmond (you can find him on the jordan springs thread) and so far he has had a very smooth ride, I believe he hasnt started building though. I love their designs and believe they will build a nice home, I just wanted a little customer service, I was going to be giving them 500k, I dont think a phone call would have gone astray. Good luck Re: Any recommendations or warnings -Clarendon Kurmond Maste 4Jan 04, 2012 9:45 pm We are building at Jordan springs and we had it down to Kurmond or Elderton and since Kurmond never returned our call twice after leaving full details we decided if they didn't want our business we would go to someone who did and Richard from Elderton has been great and very fair priced too wouldn't hurt to try them out as for Clarendon why bother they are so over priced and you are just paying for a name. my 2 cents anyway Really tight at the top of the stairs- how to get furniture into those rooms? Study books - does anyone really use them these days? Large storage closet would be more functional. 2 6882 I do enjoy the drama:-D In his latest two videos he has started bringing security guards to site, I am waiting for the punch on to begin lol 6 45498 Hi We have finally decided to complete a KDR on our corner plot in NE Melbourne suburbs. Given its a corner plot approx. 400 sqm just a standard design may not fit the… 0 8552 |