Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 10, 2012 5:33 pm We are currently developing in Perth, WA and have decided to build simple units but with an emphasize on quality. I.e. a 4 x 2 single storey but have not given a theatre or study and used that area to provide bigger bathrooms and general living areas. The quality of the finishing will be better then the "project homes", but would someone recognise this? I.e. Grohe or Dorf tapware instead of cheap builders range, High quality porcelain tiles, stone benchtops (Essastone) with custom designed kitchens (in gloss with handleless fronts), floor to ceiling tiling in the bathrooms, 31C ceiling heights. If you walked into a home providing the above features but without a theatre and study in the same price range as a "builders" range home, would you appreciate or pay for the difference in quality? Looking forward to your thoughts!! Re: Can you recognise quality? 2Apr 10, 2012 5:40 pm I think that it's easy to spot better quality fittings but not everyone will. You should have a brochure that spells it out for those who don't notice. A blog about our renovation http://notmynightmare.blogspot.com.au/ Re: Can you recognise quality? 3Apr 10, 2012 5:42 pm in terms of construction quality mossstt builders are pretty much the same as the tradies used are pretty much the same me personally if i were buying a 4 x 2 and i had an option of two; one having slight smaller areas but with an extra theatre and study and the other being without the extra rooms and the quality finishings, 10 times out of 10 i would choose the house with the extra living areas things like tapware and cabinetry can be changed at a much lower cost than extending/adding new living areas to an existing home. Oct 10 - Council Approval Oct 23 - Site scrape Oct 29 - Footings and Prelay OCT 30 - Slabbed Nov 6 - Bricks Delivered Nov 13 - Brickwork started Re: Can you recognise quality? 5Apr 10, 2012 5:58 pm I would class myself as pretty picky but I wouldnt notice what brand a tap is or if the tiles were porcelain or not. I would notice floor to ceiling tiling. As far as cabinetry in a kitchen, I think you can still get a good look / feel with laminex cupoards and benchtops if designed well. My sister is about to build two units and will be keeping most of the fittings / fixtures as standard. I think more open plan floor space would be more of a bonus than fittings etc. Maybe speak to a RE agent to see what is a higher selling point and if you regain your costs. ?? Re: Can you recognise quality? 6Apr 10, 2012 7:14 pm Hi Xplosion This is a really interesting topic! I think a lot of what it depends on is who it is you think you will be selling to, and where you are building. I think it's most important to do what others in the surrounding neighbourhood are likely to be doing. It's a harder sell real estate wise if the numbers look bad on paper compared to other similarly priced properties i.e. "why would I not buy the four bedroom with a theatre for the same price?" type thinking by someone when reading the ad. That being said last year we sold our house in the first weekend, while the (slightly) larger house next door, on a (slightly) bigger block took five months to sell and at less than ours. At the end of the day most people can see quality, and appreciate it, but it can be a fine line sometimes so you have to market it just right. It's also worth noting that agents seem to go on land and house size rather than finish in giving estimations of value (in my experience anyway - I am not an agent though!) I guess this is because these things are static, whilst a shower head whatever it cost is going to decline in value as its used and becomes outdated/gross I like high quality finishes and would pay more for them even if it meant less rooms overall, but it would have to be in an area where I knew that similarly minded buyers might also do the same when I came to sell. I would rather one nice bedroom than two box rooms, or a really well fitted out kitchen, dining, living than a poorly finished main area and a theatre room. Saying that though I may not be your target demographic! I have a friend who thinks we're crazy for buying a cottage block in a certain area, for the same price as a house and land package in another one (albeit further away). Different strokes So finally to answer your question, I do recognise quality, I scrutinize things closely when I look at show homes/new builds and these are the things I would be looking for if I was in the market for a newly built home: 1.a layout the makes sense in terms of flow and where furniture is/can be positioned (can't stand awkward spaces, strange angles etc) 2.attention to detail on the finish, doesn't have to be expensive just executed well 3.good quality flooring especially to the main living area 4.neutral colour schemes, fairly uniform throughout 5.stone benchtops 6.a bench and some cupboards in the laundry, not just a trough 7.no plastic anything in the bathrooms, especially toilets 8. high ceilings are lovely if you can have them especially in smaller homes Good luck with your development! Sounds great, would love to see what you are thinking of doing Re: Can you recognise quality? 7Apr 10, 2012 8:36 pm i think extra space would be my deciding factor as a buyer....as a pp said, you can upgrade other stuff later. but i dont think i would look at a place that only had 4 beds and neither theatre or study. maybe if it included one of those as well as the 4 beds, but not if it had neither....just my two cents worth. Can you recognise quality? 8Apr 10, 2012 9:05 pm Hi Xplosion, I agree with Daedalus in relation to the "upgrade vs renovate" scenario. If I was looking at two houses in my chosen area in a specific price bracket and one house had quality finishing but fewer living spaces? I'd go with the one with more living rooms. Having said that, I'm going to outline some of the things that helped me to choice my builder (house has just commenced construction): 1) I looked closely at the paintwork/finishing of the plaster on walls in display homes. The walls in my builder's display homes were consistently well finished, while some of their competitors were a bit "rough". 2) I wanted stone bench tops and "satin finish" cupboards in my kitchen. The kitchen had to have upgrades, so I sacrificed on space and didn't upgrade to higher ceilings, so I could have a good quality kitchen. 3) I got rid of an "activity room" so that I could have larger 2nd and 3rd bedrooms. I also ended up with a larger laundry with a large linen cupboard. 4) I've kept the separate Theatre room, instead of going for a 4th bedroom. I admit that lighting is one thing I wished I'd had a bigger budget for/ paid more attention to. That and power points. I've gone with the bare minimum that I could afford in this area, only wish I'd stretched a little further and included more single GPOs and gone with down lights in the kitchen at least. Other than that, I got everything I wanted in my home. Quality was important to me, but living areas were more important to me than large, quality bathrooms and a 4th bedroom. I might add, I am in the first home buyers demographic AND I'm doing it on my own. So, I probably don't fit in to your target demographic! Re: Can you recognise quality? 9Apr 11, 2012 3:15 am Location is the most important.. Did some units developments in years past...and one block all pre sold off the plan for top dollar! Enthused with this result - we bought a block across the road and built a duplex, i.e. bigger land and house and all rooms larger better quality fixtures and fittings etc etc - each sold for about $100k LESS than the smaller units development the other side of the street! Why? The street was the boundary between one suburb and the next and people were prepared to pay $100K more for smaller apartments with a lower standard of finish - just so long as they could say they lived in the swankier suburb.... yet you could throw a tennis ball from the units into the duplex development. Its all about location, more-so that the issues you raised. Those 6 individual units are STILL valued way above the Duplex halves across the road to this day! You need to be getting you advice from a licensed valuer - not a forum board IMHO... many real estate agents wouldn't know much about developing... I saw a house just the other day round the corner from me - old 1920s build in double brick on a almost half acre block with 2 street access, in a good inner city suburb - and from the unkempt look of the house and yard it was obviously a deceased estate awaiting grant of probate and settlement of the will by the looks. I thought at the time it might make a good development option for someone - 6 units, and lo and behold the next week it was sold and demolished for the build....of 6 units! All 6 units have been on the market for more than 6 months now, without 1 sale. They are small and pokey - I couldn't live in one...but that's not why they haven't sold - they haven't sold because they are each at least overpriced by $100K, and even the one that had an offer placed the bank wouldn't lend on it because it's overpriced and they couldn't get the security they require in a depressed market with prices falling... Reckon the house and land cost the developer maybe $850K based on when he bought it - and reckon the 6 units have cost him at least $350K each to build... so another $2.1 mill. He got to be out of pocket now $3Mill for 6 months since they were completed but fully 12 months since he bought the old house and demolished it.... I'd hate to be paying his interest bill on that development... They are in Light Street Morely.... but the other side of the street is Dianella - if he had built the other side of the street they would all have been sold off the plan.... It's all about location & if you haven't got that right non of the rest (number of rooms, size of rooms, and quality of fit out) matters a damn. Yes having the right list of features in your advert gets people to come look (and hopefully buy) but less rooms for the same dollars will see a LOT of potential buyers not bother to look. Look at it this way - if their internet search includes the room theater or study - then your house won't even come up in their search on the internet! It's how things are done these days.... not saying its right - its just how it is! Best to go in with your eyes open... There are MANY other traps in a development (and yes I have been a developer and rezoned land and sub divided it etc and lost a small fortune doing so - as a result I am aware of the potential pitfalls). It took 7 years to get a rezone and sub divide - most of which was waiting for the then relevant minister Alana McShardonnay to sober up long enough to come into her office to sign anything! Once you get your approvals... then things will double and double again overnight - our Bitumen roading quote doubled overnight, as did our Western Power underground power, etc etc - we are talking budget blowouts beyond $100k within weeks. It works like this - once you have your approvals your already at the stage where - your into the bank with pre sold lots to allow you to borrow enough to finance the roading, sewer and water mains improvements as well as Power line upgrades, etc etc.. The govy depts know this so once your nuts are in the vice they have no qualms about turning up the tension on that vice...they KNOW its too late for you too back out now so they go for their pound of flesh - and they have a monopoly its not like anyone else private can do western powers underground power and transformers etc or work on water mains or sewers... So these departments work on the premise that why upgrade just for your development - once yours is underway the neighbors will all want to do the same so why not get you to pay for transformers and sewer improvements and larger dia water mains etc that are far beyond your developments requirements - so that the next development the prep works already done and you already paid for it! They will tell you that when new developments tale place you'll get a rebate on your costs (eventually from the next developer down the road) - but that seldom ever actually happens - they actually pocket that dough. If you go into developing - you'd better not have rose colored glasses on, these days the title developer sees you as an easy mark in the eyes of just about every govt instrumentality state and local govt... Example our roading! 650 meters of 6 meter wide bitumen seal =~$35K BUT At the exact same time the local highway past the shire presidents farm, got a full kilometer of 8 meter wide seal for ~$20K! So my access roading cost $8.98/m^2 while the shire presidents "private road" (it only services his farm) cost just $2.50.m^2 Yet the crime and corruption commission couldn't fond anything wrong with that go figure!! Me - I reckon I paid for most of the Shire presidents road id what I reckon - but hey what can you do about it? Apparently nothing is the answer! Ohh yes my access road actually went 200 meters PAST my driveway, and was sealed at my expense also for my neighbors I only NEEDED 450 meters to meet my requirements but the local shire insisted I had to upgrade the whole road 650 meters, to all my neighbors places as part of the approvals process. Unless you are greasing the right palms, stay well out of the development game....its full of crooks in all levels of govt involved... It's not a game for the feint of heart! Unless your more crooked than the people your dealing with you will lose your shirt! Cheers!. Re: Can you recognise quality? 10Apr 11, 2012 3:59 am Its not really quality but having taller ceilings makes a classy feel to a house. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Can you recognise quality? 11Apr 12, 2012 3:20 pm Hi Xpolosion, I agree with an reply above, this is an interesting topic. This is my opinion on it. It comes down to the use of the home, if you are building the home solely as an investment you must give consideration to the cost/benefit of the finishes. In otherwords when you sell or rent the property will you get more money for it. People will often say to ask the real estate agent, but I disagree. A real estate agent will always say yes to things like air conditioning, stone tops, high ceilings etc because they make it easier to find tenants and buyer's. Too often I have seen clients building investment homes and get carried away with extra's. They get caught up in the dream of building luxury homes for classy tenants and end up having to ask for top dollar just to break even. Now I'm not suggesting you build a stock standard home in Dalkeith, obviously the home has to match the suburb, but if your goal is investment then you need to have a home that costs the least and gets you the best return. The current average rental price in Perth is $420/week and the vacancy rate is going down. At that point the average family looking to rent is competing against other families and probably at their limit of affordability with ever rising utility costs. Having to ask more for rent because you put in Grohe taps might just mean it takes longer to rent out your home. If however you are planning on living in this home ... ignore everything I say and go for the extra quality items Re: Can you recognise quality? 12Apr 12, 2012 3:52 pm Far out Ian! Xplosion didn't say a word about becoming a developer! In answer to the question, both aspects come into it for me. I'm not going to buy something that's big and spacious if it's done cheaply but I'm also not going to buy something that doesn't have the space or features I need even though it's finished really well. Casey + Gary + 5 kool kiddos + 1 funky Frenchie + 5 happy hens = barrels of fun in Muswellbrook Re: Can you recognise quality? 13Apr 12, 2012 3:59 pm I walked through a display home the other day and I wasn't even looking for problems, but immediately found myself pointing (in my head), "not straight", "patchy paint", "missing grout", "not nailed in right", "coming loose"... it really was a bad job. I've seen similar in another display where they've used a patterned carpet, and you can see very clearly how the wall isn't straight because of how it gets closer and further away from the groove of the carpet. Building a Delta 21 at Craigieburn - http://homeofzero.blogspot.com.au/ Deposit: 26/02. Contract: 22/05. Settlement: 29/05. Site start: 18/10. 2 10969 Hey everyone Not for me or anyone I know, just generally interested. For a single allotment house, are you allowed to take the fence on both sides of your house and… 0 20876 I've just had a look at the website. The company are just building broker's. There are plenty of similar companies that basically draw your plans (they own them so you… 8 10837 |