Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 08, 2012 12:09 pm Hi Everyone, We are intending to start a KDR in the next year or so on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and would love comments & advice as we are still novices in this area. We are initially considering Alkira, Rawson, Huxley and Seksui. They all have a good floorplan that suits us which allows us to modify only slightly. So just wondering if anyone out there has any good advice for us. We have already arranged contour survey through Alkira and have received the tender for our modified Olivia 36. Now we are wondering if we should get other tenders since the builders seem to like to do their own survey at a cost of $1000 or so. Is it a waste or should we get other tenders? Cheers Andy & Shaz Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 2Apr 08, 2012 1:16 pm We're currently at pre-construction stage with Rawson, we're just about to sign our contract and sit and wait for our land to register and settle! Their tender price was $750, which included survey, soil testing etc I have found them easy to work with, their standard inclusions are great and communication to date has been excellent. I guess the question is how much is your peace of mind worth? $750 could be the best money you've spent if you get another builder to do a tender and it swings in your favour! Are Alkira Homes the ones that were building with Hebel at Homeworld V? (Could be thinking of a different builder) Built the Seaview 36 with Rawson Homes - Read about it on my blog http://lamaisondemorgan.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 3Apr 08, 2012 5:10 pm The builders should be bale to do a tender without requiring you to pay for another survey, Let them know you already have one(Alkira should give it to you) and ask them todo a survey. There are many companies that do not require you to pay for a tender. Do a little more research or at least negotiate with the other companies and see what they can do. I had 4 tenders done and did not pay for any of them, Allkira did not charge s 12months ago I walked from Rawson, because I do not like that you had to pay for a tender before even giving you an estmate, unbelievable. They would not even give us a base price for a house unless we forked over cash, not one other builder works that way Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 4Apr 08, 2012 6:52 pm gogo65 The builders should be bale to do a tender without requiring you to pay for another survey, Let them know you already have one(Alkira should give it to you) and ask them todo a survey. There are many companies that do not require you to pay for a tender. Do a little more research or at least negotiate with the other companies and see what they can do. I had 4 tenders done and did not pay for any of them, Allkira did not charge s 12months ago I walked from Rawson, because I do not like that you had to pay for a tender before even giving you an estmate, unbelievable. They would not even give us a base price for a house unless we forked over cash, not one other builder works that way We were given an estimate, base price and upgrade list with Rawson before we sat down to tender. Built the Seaview 36 with Rawson Homes - Read about it on my blog http://lamaisondemorgan.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 5Apr 08, 2012 7:14 pm Really?? We went to the ponds display homes, and they refused to give us any idea smorgzzz gogo65 The builders should be bale to do a tender without requiring you to pay for another survey, Let them know you already have one(Alkira should give it to you) and ask them todo a survey. There are many companies that do not require you to pay for a tender. Do a little more research or at least negotiate with the other companies and see what they can do. I had 4 tenders done and did not pay for any of them, Allkira did not charge s 12months ago I walked from Rawson, because I do not like that you had to pay for a tender before even giving you an estmate, unbelievable. They would not even give us a base price for a house unless we forked over cash, not one other builder works that way We were given an estimate, base price and upgrade list with Rawson before we sat down to tender. Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 6Apr 08, 2012 7:17 pm gogo65 Really?? We went to the ponds display homes, and they refused to give us any idea smorgzzz gogo65 The builders should be bale to do a tender without requiring you to pay for another survey, Let them know you already have one(Alkira should give it to you) and ask them todo a survey. There are many companies that do not require you to pay for a tender. Do a little more research or at least negotiate with the other companies and see what they can do. I had 4 tenders done and did not pay for any of them, Allkira did not charge s 12months ago I walked from Rawson, because I do not like that you had to pay for a tender before even giving you an estmate, unbelievable. They would not even give us a base price for a house unless we forked over cash, not one other builder works that way We were given an estimate, base price and upgrade list with Rawson before we sat down to tender. We initially went to the Ponds, because we liked the double storey there, they gave us a break down there, and then when Homeworld V opened, I was given a price list of the inclusions in the homes there and base price on the different facades. That's bizarre, maybe they've changed policies? Built the Seaview 36 with Rawson Homes - Read about it on my blog http://lamaisondemorgan.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 8Apr 08, 2012 7:33 pm Well so they should It is certainly very off putting when all you want to know was whether it was vaguely within your price point. In fact I think they looked down there nose at me a bit, like if you have to ask you cant afford It is a pity cause they are nice homes and we are spending 500k on our house, so they may have had a sale, if they were a little more accomodating Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 9Apr 08, 2012 7:38 pm We were given prices through Rawsons but it wasn't very detailed. Was more the base home price and what the display home was worth. If we wanted particulars we had to go through the tender process My only advice would be pay particular attention to the tender you get. Be sure that before you sign anything it includes everything you want as you will find that all display homes are loaded with extra's. Be particular with what you want and dont assume anything Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 10Apr 08, 2012 9:12 pm We were also looking at Rawson (about 2 years ago) as they build a lot in our area (North Shore) and we like their houses. We didn't get a detailed tender from them, but we did get a rough estimate. We were looking at the Benham (even drove down somewhere South to check out the display home), but the problem for us was that we wanted too many variations and the sales rep (at Kellyville Homeworld) told us we were better of starting with a custom than making so many changes to a plan. The other company we spoke to seriously was Masterton (again, great houses, but didn't work for us due to too many changes, so we went the full custom route in the end which looks like it is going to be cheaper than if we had picked a design off the rack and varied it). There is another similar thread on tenders here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=54184 SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 11Apr 09, 2012 9:38 am andrew67 Hi Everyone, We are intending to start a KDR in the next year or so on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and would love comments & advice as we are still novices in this area. We are initially considering Alkira, Rawson, Huxley and Seksui. They all have a good floorplan that suits us which allows us to modify only slightly. So just wondering if anyone out there has any good advice for us. We have already arranged contour survey through Alkira and have received the tender for our modified Olivia 36. Now we are wondering if we should get other tenders since the builders seem to like to do their own survey at a cost of $1000 or so. Is it a waste or should we get other tenders? Cheers Andy & Shaz Given my experience with Alkira, I strongly recommend to check other tenders before proceeding with Alkira. I also requested a tender for the Olivia 36. There are some builders offering 'FREE' tender such as Zen home. It doesn't cost any so at least you should try one of builders offering free tender'. How was your Alkira tender? Did you check the site cost? I don't agree with someone saying Alkira's inclusions are higher than other project builders. The only special item that I can consider is 9 feet ceiling, that's it. With the Alkira tender's missing, just naming a few; 1. T2 anti-Termite frame is Optional and it costs extra 4.2k 2. Pay either 5k(diamond) to get 'Westinghouse' or 12K(indulgence) to get 'Eletrodux' . 3. 3 Site cost items (Piering, drop edge and rocks) are 100% provisional. 4. Huge mark up for flooring? Again EBH, Zen, Wisdom includes standard flooring. 5. Fibro wall on front & rear faces are standard. With my case, Alkira's olivia was at least 10% higher than Wisdom or Zen's tender after I adjusted to similar inclusion. And Zen's free tender was more comprehensive than paid tender from Alkira. Regarding Zen, I can't tell you much of the post-built quality. However you'll get much better price for the Olivia spec (or higher) by a custom design. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 12Apr 09, 2012 10:40 am Apue, i think that's the same with most builders.
We got a tender through Rawson Homes and after a few things happened we ended up building with Bazdaric Homes. We hadnt gotten to the completed tender with Rawson Homes but i am almost certain that the cost of their home would have been the same, if not more, than the Bazdaric Home we are building now. I think it pays to shop around. Free tenders dont mean much as how much can you expect for free. Dont build the first home you find, and if it is the only home you like, take it to a custom builder and see what they think it would cost to build with changes to keep you away from copyright laws Re: Who will we build with? Alkira, Rawson, Huxley or Seksui 13Apr 09, 2012 10:48 am BradS My only advice would be pay particular attention to the tender you get. Be sure that before you sign anything it includes everything you want as you will find that all display homes are loaded with extra's. Be particular with what you want and dont assume anything It's easier said than done for newbies. It takes time/money/effort to get to know what I want and avoid. Fortunately, after reading lots of posts in homeone forum and vistiting the builders' shops, I learned some of building jargons and what things to be done etc. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Just started the Build process for Chifley 42 with Rawson homes, will keep you all posted with the Build progress. 0 2433 Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17511 thank you! do we need to get this or our builder before we commence new build on the block? 2 10262 |