Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 26, 2013 9:11 pm ..was wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with salespeople. Was told by the land saleswoman the lot we were buying was most likely BAL Zero, and others in the street have had it rated at this. Jumped on it as it was a serene and peaceful setting with wetland views (and paid a premium price for it). Landscaping was initially included (5k worth), so was a community pool and a right to vote on community matters. Somehow after paying deposit these were reworded, or removed entirely from the contract, bit by bit. Landscaping is now 'turf' , there is no pool, and community vote has been amended with incomprehensible legal jargon. Still we continued, only concerned about the turf clause. So onto the house, after many weeks pondering found one, was given the price. Salesman told us 'what you see is what you get'. Wow, seems far better value than the rest. Even offered to 'throw in some security doors for free'. Lets do it! Tender came back looking great, everything seems included, paid to have plans done. Today we did selection, expecting to have a range to choose from and thought we could do it just like the display home (and it certainly sounded like that in the 5k upgrade package) Nothing like it. Very basic and extremely limited selections. Upon stating what the salesguy told us, were told, 'yep he tends to do that'. Nice save. Now to top it all off, BAL is probably not zero at all. Need another 3.5k to get plans to council (BAL12.5). Fantastic. SO, this has let us down a little. And feel like pulling out but too much time (6 months) and money (deposits, tenders) etc invested. I feel this industry needs a good shakedown and even a tribunal to regulate its' ethics. And we are not even at building stage yet. Something to look forward to Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 2Jul 26, 2013 10:32 pm It's sad but that's life (http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=20.) Burgers on the TV look a lot better than the ones at the local Macca's When I go to buy a car the demonstrator is always a premium version even though I normally go for the base car. ' 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: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 3Jul 26, 2013 10:56 pm Where is your block and which builder are you going through with? Not that it matters, sales is sales, no matter where you are or who you build with. It's tiring! And very disappointing that such big purchases have such heartache that comes with it. I'm currently setting up meetings with builders to see what they're offering and try read through what they say.. Seems there's no one good builder, so onus is on us to do the groundwork and be one step ahead of them with our questions and wants/needs prepared. --- Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 4Jul 27, 2013 8:21 am Yeah, they do this day in day out for a living and have perfected their art over many years. Somehow we often believe that we are smart enough to see through it all despite the obvious knowledge and power imbalance. There are some things we just won't pick up and others we will, that then gives us false confidence we can match wits. I think shared knowledge through forums such as H1 work to bring some balance but the only real ace up our sleeve is just to keep a good contingency fund knowing it will be needed. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 5Jul 27, 2013 8:43 am Sounds like a horrible experience marmalade. Are you building in an area with a body corporate? Community pools are not all that common generally but no doubt if you were promised on in writing you deserve to get one. Was it in the master plan for the area? Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. problem start to a new home 6Jul 27, 2013 10:52 am It's a new estate, but has about 1/3 of the homes built. Initially there was a body corporate but somehow that was dissolved in the second contract amendment. The pool was a verbal comment and was mentioned as a recreational facility in the first contract. No problem really on that as it would merely attract more traffic from outside areas in summer. The BAL is the sticking point, we negotiated the levelling of the block to keep site costs down but now being hit with this afterwards. Again, should not trust salespeople who will tell you best case scenarios. Hindsight is a wonderful thing As far as home inclusions go... ask if it's physically possible to view the items on inclusions list and get it in writing that they are included. Be wary of the words grand, charismatic, lush, gorgeous, designer, luxurious etc on upgrade lists as they seem to be thrown in to describe even the most basic of products. Go into the fine details, colours, materials, sizes.. ask for manufacturers and check their websites. Or take pictures and get them signed off. And again ensure it is all in the contract before signing of and doing selections. I may start a thread soon on the build, we are happy with the land aspect and the house design, but not the higher BAL rating and bland internals. If anything this has got us fired up and wary for the building process. It'll be under constant, microscopic, scrutiny! Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 9Jul 27, 2013 11:11 pm We signed up for land last November, the land settled in March, then in May we got a letter from the developer's telling us the land is BAL 12.5 so we need to build to those standards. As we had finilised all mortgage documents by this point and finished all the building contracts we had to do a variation for an additional $5.3k of costs! We found something saying everyone is meant to build to a BAL 12.5 standard following the Victorian bushfires from a few years ago but the builder's did not seem to agree with this and the building standards are so complicated to understand. Definitely a pain, would of been nice to be told about it when we signed up but apparently the developers had not told the land agent and this is not his fault, they are under no liability to cover the costs. At the end of the day, we wanted to land, the house, and it doesn't hurt to be more fire proof so we went with it. Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 10Jul 28, 2013 9:46 am so sorry you are having the same problems felicity. As I said, this industry needs a good shakeup to make people accountable. I'll ask the consultant about the minimum rating tomorrow. Council said they weren't sure, so obviously just go off what the certificate says. There's something strange going on our plans were almost ready to go to council without a certificate, and the builder mentioned we may need one (hence contacting the consultant to do one in preparation and then finding this out) If true that 12.5 is minimum, certainly both the developer and builder should have put this into the contract/tender, not left it out. On top of that, banks won't add this 4k cost to the valuation of the home when approving a construction loan. So essentially it will need to be paid with existing savings, like the fences, driveway, rear landscaping, legal/paperwork costs and furnishings. Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 11Jul 28, 2013 8:46 pm Are you building in Waterford marmalade? It's the only new-ish estate that I've heard which has body corporate. I asked both land developer and builder and both have said there's no bushfire levy on our lot. I just hope this is true.. --- Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 12Jul 30, 2013 8:48 pm You can have a look at the following web site. U will be able to see if u are in a bushfire designated area or not. http://services.land.vic.gov.au/maps/bushfire.jsp Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 13Jul 30, 2013 9:52 pm not sure how it works in Vic. We are in BAL12.5 in NSW. All we had to do was submit a Bushfire Report. There is a guide on Rural Fire Services website. It was going to cost $800 to pay someone to do it. I followed the guide and submitted the report myself with the DA. DA got approced in 9 days so I assume it was good! BAL12.5 doesn't add to much cost. Metal fly screens, a few other bits depending on building material proposed. I would speak to someone at council perhaps to see what they required. Re: ****** ****** and more ******.. bad start to a new home 14Jul 31, 2013 2:05 pm We've tried to get as much as we can in writing instead of going in person or speaking over the phone. We're still sorting through a bunch of crap though so I totally agree that the industry needs a shake up. Not to mention some customer service skills, or even common decency! 9 24751 Thank you. Do I use timber floorboards for stairs or do people use timber treads? Or is both the same? 6 7254 Hi, I have had them in the past and the pros are: Versatile, i.e many different colours and styles to choose… 1 6860 |