Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 09, 2013 1:23 pm Hi Guys Currently in the proccess of organising the contract for our new house in country SA. long story short goes like this. we have been quoted by 3-4 builders and only 1 was a reasonble price (due to modifing single story design to allow 1 upstairs rumpus room) so we are proceeding with the reasonable priced builder. Now at the start i told the sales rep that our budget was 300,000 and gave a list of all the extras we knew we wanted at the time, now the quote came back at 299,862. now im not sure if she is genuinly working with us and dropped the price to that or is taking us for a ride and put the price to that amount to beef up her commision a bit, wich is the way im am inclined to believe. anyway i told her my biggest concern is the soil testing and at this stage i would just like to pay the cost of that and obtain a accurate cost for the footings before proceeding, i was advised that this is not a issue and will sent out some paperwork to sign. and last friday i recived a contract to build, not paperwork for soil testing and she has been hassiling me ever since. now i realise by signing the contract i am not commited untill the fixed price comes back, but my concern is if i sign now at the already agreed price, i cant see the builder reducing price or including any extras as i have agreed to the price. should i work on getting the extras included now and haggle with price or is this usally done when it comes to signing the fixed price contract? any advice would be great. thank you Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 2May 09, 2013 2:36 pm price only goes up from the start . if that quote is 300k then expect to pay closer to 400k all said and done. Initial Deposit 28/09/2012 // Prelim Contract Signed 25/11/2012 Selections 21/1/2013 to 23/1/2013 // Contract Signed 22/2/2013 Site Start 21/5/2013 // Slabbed 30/5/2013 Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 3May 09, 2013 2:50 pm the original price was 158,000 we are already at 300, i have been sure to make sure every thing we want has been included (apart from minor bits and pieces) and the allowances are overkill such has floor coverings,kitchen etc. i have allowed for extra meterage on electrical feeds and stormwater etc. im sure there are a few little things i may of missed but being in the trade myself i think i have picked up on where there will be extra costs and made them put allowances in the quote. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 4May 09, 2013 3:25 pm where abouts country are you building? do you know if your sales consultant has included any extras in an upgrade bonus? for example one promo that we missed out on that our builder was offering was $30 000 of upgrades for $5000 from memory. do you know what level of finishes you have in your quote? our builder has 3 levels, bronze, silver and gold(some builders only have 2) and in the quote they only include bronze unless you specifically ask them to quote a higher level. a lot of the hidden costs come when you upgrade at your selections. are your footings fixed or variable? all pc items are not fixed price so they may be underquoted. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 5May 09, 2013 3:48 pm We are building in Port Broughton yes there is some included extras however i dont look into that kind of stuff to much as i honestly believe it is all a bit of a scam. we have been quoted on the highest specification they have, wich appears to be quite good however there is some things we know we want to upgrade and have made allowances for that. footings will be fixed once we get the soil report back (wich neighbours tell me is excellent soil) so not getting to excited but kind of hoping to save some money there. What do you mean by pc items? Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 6May 09, 2013 3:57 pm pc items are variable, things such as flooring, aircon, stormwater, soil removal, septic tank etc. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 7May 09, 2013 4:11 pm We came across 2 separate trap as to why they want the contract / tender signed before the soil test. 1) as you state that you can not bargain with inclusions, etc 2) because they will redraw your drawings, and add their name to the drawings (even if you have designed them). Then is is difficult, especially if you have your heart set on the design to go with another builder. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 8May 09, 2013 4:19 pm yes very good point, i didn't think about the copyright issue. i emailed the sales rep today and made it vary clear that i only want to do the soil testing and not sign the contract, even if it means i get the soil testing done myself and give them the results. however they have agreed to it. I probally would of signed the contract if she discussed it with me however she said that she was sending out some paperwork to organise the soil testing and a building contract arrived. they have been pushy from the start wich just makes me dif my heels in even more. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 9May 09, 2013 4:28 pm Keep in mind after you move in you will need to lanscape, fence, curtain, etc. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 10May 09, 2013 4:37 pm yes iam fully aware of that, thanks anyway. I started the retaining walls yesterday and i have a bobcat going there on saturday to do some leveling a prepare a pad for the shed. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 11May 09, 2013 5:35 pm do not be fool by the soil test result. the final footing cost still can vary. because builder can charge you extra up to 10K to do cut and fill land. Accurate footing cost can only be fixed after footing engineering report is finished. This report can only be done after you sign the initial agreement and pay the deposit. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 12May 09, 2013 5:41 pm thanks for that pengruijun however it will give an indicaion if the soil is suitable or if it needs to be removed and compacted etc. i took my laser to the block the other week and the house sit is all witin +/- 80mm so not to worried about cut/fill. Re: When to negotiate on price/getting extras included 13May 09, 2013 8:01 pm ashandem yes iam fully aware of that, thanks anyway. I started the retaining walls yesterday and i have a bobcat going there on saturday to do some leveling a prepare a pad for the shed. be careful what you do, i was going to do this and the site looks completely different after they cut it all out, so perhaps hold off till you have the siteplan as part of the soil reports. they cut away where i was going to put the shed. Initial Deposit 28/09/2012 // Prelim Contract Signed 25/11/2012 Selections 21/1/2013 to 23/1/2013 // Contract Signed 22/2/2013 Site Start 21/5/2013 // Slabbed 30/5/2013 hey there! π so, itβs kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 20890 Use a product like Equisol's Vitalise to clean the deck then coat with a penetrating timber oil. It will look 10 years younger and add value to your home. Visit for… 1 15764 How much are you ahead in payments compared to where the build is at? Have you fully drawn down the loan? 5 11893 |