Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 04, 2012 7:51 pm Hi everyone! We are quite early in our building process (as in, just put down our 5k deposit with Stockland in Mernda) and awaiting financial approval. Since there are fewer Boutique people represented in this forum, I would like to see if our early experiences are normal since some of the cons has been quite discouraging. We have started a blog for future Boutique people: http://merndaboutique.blogspot.com.au/ So far, our pros: Boutique homes, are by far , most solid in quality, great floor plans, especially after walking into so many display homes. More expensive base price but seems some of the inclusions Boutique offers were upgrades by others. S, our sales does not push for upgrades and even tells us which of our wanted upgrades are not necessary, won't increase our resale value or less expensive to install post hand over. We appreciate this a lot as we are first time home buyers and very new to the game. cons: "clear and simple" was anything but! Perhaps because we are first time buyers, we needed more help but we felt the whole process leading up to signing the PWC was cloudy. For our first meeting, we wanted: Full inclusion list, full non inclusion list, full upgrades with prices. With these information, we would be able to prioritize what we truly want when prices matter for some items. Plus, from reading other threads and blogs, items that we think should be standard may not be, so we wanted to know all this and not blow our budget. What we got: We asked for such lists but the advertised list that I showed him, he crumpled up. " You don't need this, just tell me what you want in your house and I'll put it on the PWC". S spent three hours showing us inclusions at the display rooms but these were items like tiles and bricks, of which is too early to think about. Yes, Boutique has some nice inclusions but are we missing anything? We don't know. The week following, we came in and he prepared PWC for us to sign and initial floor plans and put in a deposit. He did show us a booklet of prices of everything Boutique offered, which we flicked over and really wished we had that booklet for a week to decide what we need and want. I also want to have that booklet and scan it and put it online so that this process can become more transparent. The booklet was taken away after we signed, I voiced that it would have been nice to be able to look through that last week. Since then, we've emailed S and told him how disappointed we are with the foggy process and he called back the next day, offering to have a meeting with us to go over everything that is available. Even if it means our PWC would most probably remain the same but to sooth our nerves that we're not leaving anything out as we're about to enter the biggest debt of our lives. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Re: First time building, with Boutique 2Jun 23, 2012 5:07 pm Hi Guys we have signed up to build with Boutique but not at deposit stage yet. Our sales guy has been excellent and the quality of the display homes is very good, so we agree on these points. Re the inclusions list - we agree with you and we have built before. This time around we "interviewed" 3 other volume builders prior to choosing Boutique (to each of whom we paid $1000 deposit and got to PWC stage). In our dealings with the other builders we were able to see all required information about inclusions, extras (including costs) and floorplans/working drawings as these were made available to us up front. At PWC stage with other builders all details were written into the document and it was clear what we were getting. With Boutique our PWC extensively details what we don't get but is a little vague about what we do get. Also we have found instances where different documents contradict each other so we are a little uncertain about what we actually get. This is different from our previous 3 experiences. We understand that Boutique went through a change of ownership, this was some time ago and these matters really should have been "cleaned up" by now. We have raised this as an issue and it is being looked at. Our sales guy is excellent and is doing a great job clarifying details for us but in reality what we are asking we shouldn't have to. Having said all of this we are very excited about building with Boutique and hope that this little hiccup at the paperwork stage is just a blip on the radar. We've just been out to Beaumont Tiles and spent hours looking at tiles in anticipation of our selections meetings. We have mocked up our colour schemes and electrical layouts so we are primed and good to go. Come on HIA contracts... Looking forward to reading more about your build and the happy times ahead. Re: First time building, with Boutique 3Jun 26, 2012 8:12 am Hey Deusexmachina, It is the first time building for us, so we didn't know if that was the norm or not. Either way, we told our sales that we wanted to have a meeting and go through EVERYTHING, the cost, the meaning etc of inclusions we see and don't see. He did just so and everything was clarified. We're waiting for a slab pouring date now but I've gone through their website and see that alot of the upgrades are now standards. This is probably where the confusion came about. (Dropped ceiling in kitchen, 900mm stove tops etc) That folder of colours is hard eh! It doesn't help when you can't see things face to face. Re: First time building, with Boutique 4Jul 13, 2012 1:41 am Hey guys how is it all going? Is ur build progressing? Ur blog is in stasis hope all is well. D Re: First time building, with Boutique 5Jul 18, 2012 6:45 pm Are you part of Boutique Marketing department? Re: First time building, with Boutique 7Jul 30, 2012 11:26 pm Hi padams2012. A quick question, did Boutique lump you with any post contract variations that created a cost blow out? People on other online boards are reporting large site cost variations. One person claims $10k more and another is claiming $19k more. How did you guys get on? Re: First time building, with Boutique 8Aug 02, 2012 7:41 am hey Ghunnar. all post contract variations for us came without a cost because they were all things they wanted to change themselves. for instance, we have had variations on, relocating air con to back of the house instead of side of the house so the warranty will be valid since it needs 2 meters clearence, relocation of solar panels for better solar pick up, picking a colour for our whirly bird, changing of water taps etc. i dont know what others were charged such high variation costs for, perhaps after site cut? where they found more rocks? what about you guys? Re: First time building, with Boutique 9Aug 02, 2012 7:44 am Our blog had been static because we were on a 3 week holiday! however, its back on track, roof, frames and all! Re: First time building, with Boutique 10Aug 06, 2012 8:47 pm hi padams2012 reason why the roof stops before the brick wall on the side of your garage is because your gutter is a box gutter - its supposed to look like that. it means that your garage is being build directly on the boundary of your block and therefore you wont have a gutter hanging over your neighbour's land. I think its an upgrade with Boutique... so it should be in your variations... Building the Oasis 27 in Mernda Re: First time building, with Boutique 11Aug 06, 2012 10:07 pm Thanks FS! Our inspector said it was fine, so I take it that it's normal! How's your build going? Re: First time building, with Boutique 14Aug 28, 2012 10:11 pm hi padams we just got our unconditional approval... so relieved! now just waiting on land to settle... we've been told October... hope it all works out. Fuzz Building the Oasis 27 in Mernda Re: First time building, with Boutique 15Aug 29, 2012 8:02 am Whoohooo! The bank approves! That is great news! You must be very excited. Octover will fly by so quickly and hopefully less rain for the build! Re: First time building, with Boutique 16Sep 23, 2012 8:56 pm Hi guys Has anyone here got the ILVE appliances through Boutique? WMP 900 oven H39PC 900 cooktop IVG90 rangehood Havent been able to find any online reviews about their ILVE offerings and was wondering if its worth the upgrade (we are building through Homebuyers and we have the Westinghouse appliances standard) - the Westinghouse appliance reviews seem to be all negative... Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Regards Fuzzy Building the Oasis 27 in Mernda Re: First time building, with Boutique 17Sep 25, 2012 7:32 am Hey Fuzzy, We got the upgraded appliances for free through a deal Boutique was having so we'll know how the appliances are in a month or so when they're delivered! There were not alot of iLVE reviews out there when we first did our research, it's only just hit the big stores as a new brand from Italy. Will let you know when we move in! Re: First time building, with Boutique 18Oct 01, 2012 9:14 pm thanks Tiff We decided to stick with the Westinghouse appliances as we were told by Homebuyers that both the range hood and oven have recently been changed to newly released models. Building the Oasis 27 in Mernda Re: First time building, with Boutique 19Oct 04, 2012 9:37 am It is our first time building as well. We went to get a quote & had a walk through with B on Sunday & still waiting for it. Anyone know how long it usually takes? H3ly did it on the spot for us but don't think it is very accurate. Re: First time building, with Boutique 20Oct 04, 2012 1:14 pm Hey lazy pig, we got our official quote after we went into Boutique headquarters and went through what we wanted, what lot we wanted etc. The quote was sent to us in like 4 or 5 days. Along with the quote, they had a mock drawing of the house and lot position etc. Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 9550 10 16403 |