Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 01, 2013 2:14 pm Hey Guys! So we are first home buyers and are thinking that going a house and land package may be the only way we will be able to afford to jump into the property market comfortably. Plus in the next 5 years or so we will probably start a family and i like the idea of the house being new, reasonably sized etc for little ones. We are tossing up between Porter Davis and Carlisle at the moment. We like the PD Parkville 23 or Regatta 23 and the Carlisle Addison 26 and will be building in the Warralily Estate in Geelong. One bonus with Porter Davis is that they have an offer to help those who don't have a large enough deposit (so you can jump into home ownership earlier in life and not have to pay rent for that time you would be saving) and it is the following as according to the Choice Home loan lady: "The option that I am putting to you, is providing 12 months rental history to prove genuine savings, then, we can look at taking a personal loan out to cover the costs to purchase – if you were needing another $10K – you would be looking to repay $248p/m approx.. By using this option, you would then be able to purchase a block and house of your choice, rather than the low deposit packages. (would need to be within reason with pricing though)" So basically she said we can save as much as we can for the deposit, then get a personal loan with them for the rest of it to pay off for the first 5 years along with the home loan. It will be a lot more to pay off, but i think we can handle it. For us, it seems like a pretty good idea so that we save on the rent we would be paying while trying to save. So in terms of builders, we didn't know if Carlisle "Loan Studios" offered a similar thing? We are waiting to hear back from them but if anyone knows about this let me know! Pro's / Con's for both builders: Porter Davis: - Great Floor Plans - Great customer service initially (we obviously haven't started building yet though) - Crappy reviews from previous customers - Pretty average showroom for selections (very limited and pricey) Carlisle: - Awesome showroom and selections at good prices - Awesome customer reviews online from previous people building with them - Not as good floor plans - We haven't "fallen in love" with any display home floor plans as yet So any advice on either builder or anything would be great! Thanks Katie G http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 2Aug 01, 2013 2:24 pm Here are the floor plans below. Struggletown trying to upload the pics for you guys! http://www.carlislehomes.com.au/find-a- ... ery/search http://www.porterdavis.com.au/homes/access/regatta (STUDY 2 OPTION) http://www.porterdavis.com.au/homes/access/parkville (ALFRESCO OPTION) http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 3Aug 04, 2013 4:33 pm We looked into both aswell - we wound up going with PD as for us with a family of 7 the right floorplan means everything. We are building a marina 41 and I didn't care a lick about how impressive a showroom is, the house needs to be right. We have just had our site scraped so can't comment on build process but the leadup and admin side has been fine we had a bunch of upgrades that we wanted prices for before we went to colour, electrical and tile selection. I put them all in one email as. Alist for our BC and true to her word at the tender appointment she had included all the costs of upgrades in the presentation so we could just pick and choose what we wanted (luckily we were able to do all of them!) Which made all the selection appointments quick as I knew exactly what we could afford to upgrade and all in all the build came in under what we were anticipating when we went to final contract. Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 4Aug 11, 2013 10:02 pm clairemumto5 We looked into both aswell - we wound up going with PD as for us with a family of 7 the right floorplan means everything. We are building a marina 41 and I didn't care a lick about how impressive a showroom is, the house needs to be right. We have just had our site scraped so can't comment on build process but the leadup and admin side has been fine we had a bunch of upgrades that we wanted prices for before we went to colour, electrical and tile selection. I put them all in one email as. Alist for our BC and true to her word at the tender appointment she had included all the costs of upgrades in the presentation so we could just pick and choose what we wanted (luckily we were able to do all of them!) Which made all the selection appointments quick as I knew exactly what we could afford to upgrade and all in all the build came in under what we were anticipating when we went to final contract. Wow! Family of 7! Yes you definitely need the bigger 41 home then haha. Great! Yeah the only thing about the showroom that made me want to go with Carlisle more is that they looked like they had a larger selection in everything! I'm not sure if you have seen it yet, but it was amazing!!! Plus Carlisle just have really great reviews from previous customers. But then we haven't found a floorplan with them that we loved yet, like i said! So hard to decide. Because i know the build process can be really stressful if you pick the wrong one! Basically on paper i wish i found a floorplan i loved with them but there are just a lot of things i am looking for in a house: - A separate study (as i am a graphic designer) - A separate rumpus room (that isn't close to the main living room because i find that so pointless. I love it when it is attached to the spare bedrooms so it looks like its the kids retreat/study) - 3 bedrooms - Large WIR in the master, with an ensuite (preferably with the ability to have a bath in there) - Walk in pantry - I love it when the kitchen has one of those windows as the splashback (but this is only in certain houses due to the floorplan I understand) -Back alfresco preferably over a side one. http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 5Aug 12, 2013 3:31 pm Kate, we're in exactly the same boat as you. Love a PD floorplan but the reviews on productreview dot com dot au for PD suck! Carlisle on the other hand have great reviews but we haven't fallen for any of their floorplans. I'm thinking of getting a custom builder to tweak a PD design enough so that it's not illegal! I would want to tweak the design anyhow. Not sure the extent to which a custom builder can do this and still be price competitive? Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 6Aug 12, 2013 4:10 pm hey, I was a PD fan from day one, loved most designs, thought I was going to build with them. I read their thread and seeing that there was lots of problems with PD got me worried. So thought I'd check out Carlisles thread and seeing all the positives, made me think twice. Fortunately there was a plan I loved and always went back to that one every time I looked at the website. So went to see the display loved it and we signed on. My land has been titled over a year now, so I would spend every weekend picking and choosing which house i wanted to build, I drove my partner crazy haha The houses I was wanting to build cause of budget and land size were PD livingstone 23, Drysdale 26 and London 24 anyhow did the costings and looking at PD and Carlisle, when I did a walk through most things were standard where as PD were not included. I wanted an alfresco which PD does not include unless it's highlighted in the floor plan however Carlisle includes it. I reckon keep looking and researching, eventually you'll find the right one to build. best of luck Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 7Aug 12, 2013 6:42 pm Manic Kate, we're in exactly the same boat as you. Love a PD floorplan but the reviews on productreview dot com dot au for PD suck! Carlisle on the other hand have great reviews but we haven't fallen for any of their floorplans. I'm thinking of getting a custom builder to tweak a PD design enough so that it's not illegal! I would want to tweak the design anyhow. Not sure the extent to which a custom builder can do this and still be price competitive? Urgh how frustrating is it! I just want a builder that has it all in one! haha. That would be amazing to design it from scratch! That would be my dream. But seeing as this is our first house i highly doubt we would be able to afford it, and i think it might be a bit more stressfull that having one of the mass producers smash one out for us. Let me know what you end up doing! I would be interested to hear the prices of a custom build. x http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 8Aug 12, 2013 6:49 pm February12 hey, I was a PD fan from day one, loved most designs, thought I was going to build with them. I read their thread and seeing that there was lots of problems with PD got me worried. So thought I'd check out Carlisles thread and seeing all the positives, made me think twice. Fortunately there was a plan I loved and always went back to that one every time I looked at the website. So went to see the display loved it and we signed on. My land has been titled over a year now, so I would spend every weekend picking and choosing which house i wanted to build, I drove my partner crazy haha The houses I was wanting to build cause of budget and land size were PD livingstone 23, Drysdale 26 and London 24 anyhow did the costings and looking at PD and Carlisle, when I did a walk through most things were standard where as PD were not included. I wanted an alfresco which PD does not include unless it's highlighted in the floor plan however Carlisle includes it. I reckon keep looking and researching, eventually you'll find the right one to build. best of luck Hey! Yeah i was always on team PD from the first time we looked at displays too! I have a friend from work who built with PD and said they were great! The Parkville and then the Regatta were our favourites out of all the homes we went into as far as a logical floorplan. We are looking at between a 23-30 probably. Thats what i noticed looking at the inclusions on the Carlisle homes, they had so much more as standard without upgrades and seemed to have better reviews and showroom! It's just that i wish i could have the PD Parkville 23 but maybe build with Carlisle? Urgh. I will just have to keep researching like you said and by the time we have a deposit hopefully i have made my mind up! My boyfriend is pretty cruisy too, i show him photos of display homes all the time and drag him to the display villages on weekends. haha x http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 9Aug 13, 2013 12:52 pm KateRG88 February12 hey, I was a PD fan from day one, loved most designs, thought I was going to build with them. I read their thread and seeing that there was lots of problems with PD got me worried. So thought I'd check out Carlisles thread and seeing all the positives, made me think twice. Fortunately there was a plan I loved and always went back to that one every time I looked at the website. So went to see the display loved it and we signed on. My land has been titled over a year now, so I would spend every weekend picking and choosing which house i wanted to build, I drove my partner crazy haha The houses I was wanting to build cause of budget and land size were PD livingstone 23, Drysdale 26 and London 24 anyhow did the costings and looking at PD and Carlisle, when I did a walk through most things were standard where as PD were not included. I wanted an alfresco which PD does not include unless it's highlighted in the floor plan however Carlisle includes it. I reckon keep looking and researching, eventually you'll find the right one to build. best of luck Hey! Yeah i was always on team PD from the first time we looked at displays too! I have a friend from work who built with PD and said they were great! The Parkville and then the Regatta were our favourites out of all the homes we went into as far as a logical floorplan. We are looking at between a 23-30 probably. Thats what i noticed looking at the inclusions on the Carlisle homes, they had so much more as standard without upgrades and seemed to have better reviews and showroom! It's just that i wish i could have the PD Parkville 23 but maybe build with Carlisle? Urgh. I will just have to keep researching like you said and by the time we have a deposit hopefully i have made my mind up! My boyfriend is pretty cruisy too, i show him photos of display homes all the time and drag him to the display villages on weekends. haha x yeah i think all the companies are pretty much the same as it depend who they contract to carry out the work. I went with carlisle cause 1, the floor plan had everything we needed,2 my cousin works in the building industry so his reccommended carlisle(everytime I see him I asked Porter Davis, He would say NO Porter Davis but was insisting for us to go with Carlisle) 3. everytime I spoke with PD SC, she always said come and deposit where as Carlisle weren't pushy. great your boyfriend went out to displays with you, mine went out a couple of times THEN he stopped listening when I kept going on about different houses, then only went to see the one we are building cause I was definite that was the one. are you looking into a house and land package or buying land first and then house? take your time and you'll find the one your looking for and yeah best to have something saved as the banks are a big pain to deal with. Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 10Aug 15, 2013 2:24 pm KateRG88 Basically on paper i wish i found a floorplan i loved with them but there are just a lot of things i am looking for in a house: - A separate study (as i am a graphic designer) - A separate rumpus room (that isn't close to the main living room because i find that so pointless. I love it when it is attached to the spare bedrooms so it looks like its the kids retreat/study) - 3 bedrooms - Large WIR in the master, with an ensuite (preferably with the ability to have a bath in there) - Walk in pantry - I love it when the kitchen has one of those windows as the splashback (but this is only in certain houses due to the floorplan I understand) -Back alfresco preferably over a side one. hey KateRG88, Have a look on the Carlisle website, there is a new design called Marlow. It has 4 bedrooms (one can change to study) Study nook for kids seperate theatre room walk in pantry Large WIR can you tell I am bored Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 11Sep 03, 2013 11:23 am February12 KateRG88 February12 hey, I was a PD fan from day one, loved most designs, thought I was going to build with them. I read their thread and seeing that there was lots of problems with PD got me worried. So thought I'd check out Carlisles thread and seeing all the positives, made me think twice. Fortunately there was a plan I loved and always went back to that one every time I looked at the website. So went to see the display loved it and we signed on. My land has been titled over a year now, so I would spend every weekend picking and choosing which house i wanted to build, I drove my partner crazy haha The houses I was wanting to build cause of budget and land size were PD livingstone 23, Drysdale 26 and London 24 anyhow did the costings and looking at PD and Carlisle, when I did a walk through most things were standard where as PD were not included. I wanted an alfresco which PD does not include unless it's highlighted in the floor plan however Carlisle includes it. I reckon keep looking and researching, eventually you'll find the right one to build. best of luck Hey! Yeah i was always on team PD from the first time we looked at displays too! I have a friend from work who built with PD and said they were great! The Parkville and then the Regatta were our favourites out of all the homes we went into as far as a logical floorplan. We are looking at between a 23-30 probably. Thats what i noticed looking at the inclusions on the Carlisle homes, they had so much more as standard without upgrades and seemed to have better reviews and showroom! It's just that i wish i could have the PD Parkville 23 but maybe build with Carlisle? Urgh. I will just have to keep researching like you said and by the time we have a deposit hopefully i have made my mind up! My boyfriend is pretty cruisy too, i show him photos of display homes all the time and drag him to the display villages on weekends. haha x yeah i think all the companies are pretty much the same as it depend who they contract to carry out the work. I went with carlisle cause 1, the floor plan had everything we needed,2 my cousin works in the building industry so his reccommended carlisle(everytime I see him I asked Porter Davis, He would say NO Porter Davis but was insisting for us to go with Carlisle) 3. everytime I spoke with PD SC, she always said come and deposit where as Carlisle weren't pushy. great your boyfriend went out to displays with you, mine went out a couple of times THEN he stopped listening when I kept going on about different houses, then only went to see the one we are building cause I was definite that was the one. are you looking into a house and land package or buying land first and then house? take your time and you'll find the one your looking for and yeah best to have something saved as the banks are a big pain to deal with. Haha yeah i have to catch my boyfriend on a good day though. If he suggests we go look at displays we are fine! But if i suggest and then drag him along, it's a pretty painful trip. Looking into a house and land packaged i guess? Not sure. What ever is cheaper initially probably haha! We will have to speak to some people about our options when we have the deposit and are seriously looking at buying. They don't really take you seriously when you tell them you don't have enough of a deposit yet haha. http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 12Sep 03, 2013 11:26 am February12 KateRG88 Basically on paper i wish i found a floorplan i loved with them but there are just a lot of things i am looking for in a house: - A separate study (as i am a graphic designer) - A separate rumpus room (that isn't close to the main living room because i find that so pointless. I love it when it is attached to the spare bedrooms so it looks like its the kids retreat/study) - 3 bedrooms - Large WIR in the master, with an ensuite (preferably with the ability to have a bath in there) - Walk in pantry - I love it when the kitchen has one of those windows as the splashback (but this is only in certain houses due to the floorplan I understand) -Back alfresco preferably over a side one. hey KateRG88, Have a look on the Carlisle website, there is a new design called Marlow. It has 4 bedrooms (one can change to study) Study nook for kids seperate theatre room walk in pantry Large WIR can you tell I am bored Haha thanks! Yeah i don't mind the Marlow, but it doesn't have a study for me. I work as a graphic designer so i kind of need a proper study space. Where as that has a study nook more for the kids i think. On the right track though! I know what i want, i just can't find a floorplan with it! http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 13Sep 03, 2013 3:04 pm guess you can always convert one of the bedrooms to a study Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 14Sep 03, 2013 6:50 pm Have you had a look at Homebuyers Centre? We were looking at Carlisle and PD but found onve you start adding on the extra's it gets too expensive. We ended up signing with Homebuyers as they had some great floor plans, the colour selections studio is fantastic, a lot of items in CAT 2, 3 and 4 at pD were cat 1 in Homebuyers. They also have a $3k deposit. I promise I don't work there although it might sound like it I am just really happy with my decision. Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 15Sep 06, 2013 2:37 pm impish73 Have you had a look at Homebuyers Centre? We were looking at Carlisle and PD but found onve you start adding on the extra's it gets too expensive. We ended up signing with Homebuyers as they had some great floor plans, the colour selections studio is fantastic, a lot of items in CAT 2, 3 and 4 at pD were cat 1 in Homebuyers. They also have a $3k deposit. I promise I don't work there although it might sound like it I am just really happy with my decision. Oh that sounds like you're very happy then! Is that a 3k deposit with their loan place though? If you go with another bank you would still need to do the 5% deposit wouldn't you? I will check out their floorplans now. I have been in their display homes all over the place but never found one i liked! http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 16Sep 06, 2013 2:38 pm February12 guess you can always convert one of the bedrooms to a study Yeah you're totally right! The only thing is i don't like feeling like i am tucked away somewhere. Usually the studys are sort of apart of the living space, which i like! Some of them if they have a small second lounge in the front i think i could make a study, such as the Westwood for Carlisle Homes. We are going to look at this Display on the weekend! http://kateandnathsblog.blogspot.com.au/ Carlisle Homes Addison 24 - Warralily, Armstrong Crk, Geelong • Colour: June 1 Tender: June 9 Contract: July 3 • Site Title: Dec 2015 • Site Start: March 1 2016 • H/Over: June/July Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 17Sep 06, 2013 2:44 pm Hi, In a very similar situation as you - First Home Buyers (21 and 20), with very similar needs apart from the Study requirement (we figured that a bedroom could be used as a study). In the end, we have gone with the Carlisle Aries 23 - which we chose over a few PD designs amongst others. The biggest reason for us choosing Carlisle (other than the floorplan that we liked) was the fact that we could get a house, with almost all of the Display Home inclusions, for under our total budget of $250k. Although we are not up to Contracts yet, this seems quite do able as the upgrade packs Carlisle had in addition to the base features were pretty good. The biggest reason we decided not to go with most of the other builders was a mixture of poor customer service at the display centres, not being upfront with costs, and display homes that were upgraded to the extreme (which I felt meant the display was quite misleading.) So far I have not had any issues with Carlisle - the extra costs have been upfront and honest and the communication is good. I'd suggest having a look through both the Carlisle and PD threads here to get a general feel of what issues people are having with each builder. Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 18Sep 06, 2013 3:03 pm KateRG88 February12 guess you can always convert one of the bedrooms to a study Yeah you're totally right! The only thing is i don't like feeling like i am tucked away somewhere. Usually the studys are sort of apart of the living space, which i like! Some of them if they have a small second lounge in the front i think i could make a study, such as the Westwood for Carlisle Homes. We are going to look at this Display on the weekend! I know what you mean!! I'm building westwood 29 and will be converting the front living room to a study and then keeping rumpus as a movie/games room and then the family room as the usual tv room. Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 19Sep 06, 2013 3:04 pm which display are you looking at this weekend? Re: First Home Buyer - Porter Davis VS Carlisle Homes 20Sep 06, 2013 6:28 pm Hey Kate, We needed a good study space in our new home and found and fell in live with what was the Ivanhoe 33 with porter davis, now called the Housten 33 great floor plan and fantastic study. Maybe have a look at tntheynhave a display of it in cranburne and greenvale Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 12334 Not much in this responce. My suggestion is, what are you looking to build and why. This will all be impacted by the local councils planning scheme. Familiarise yourself… 6 5859 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37139 |