Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 13, 2013 6:32 pm Hello All, Im in the process of building with my first house Dechellis Homes in O'Sullivan beach. Ive been meaning to post about it, however I have not had the time until now. Site work has just commenced, but I want to document the things that have happened before. Its quite a story, so hang in there. So here goes; I started looking for land in the south of Adelaide around April 2012, and after having a friend attend a property seminar he informed me that the next boom suburbs in the south are O'Sullivan Beach, Christies Beach, Port Noarlunga. He told me that they were seen as this way because they are Coastal, Close to transport options (Railway, Expressway), and are generally undervalued due to historic circumstances (Housing trust, industry). So I had a quick look on a realestate website and found that most in these suburbs are hammerhead blocks, which dont interest me. However I found a block which had recently been subdivided in O'Sullivan Beach. There were 4 blocks left, with one being sold in late 2011. They were long and skinny, (9m by 36m) with the exception of the corner block (10.9m by 36m) but it was relatively level ground. The asking price was $105,000-115,000 which is still quite cheap. The only downside was that it was quite close to the old oil refinery (Now shutdown and in the process of demolition) and across the road from a light industrial factory. O'Sullivan beach also used to be a housing trust community in the 1960's although most houses are privately owned now. I decided to pursue the purchase of one of these blocks. I still remember putting my first offer in of $90,000 for lot 101, and being politely told by the realestate agent to stop wasting their time. After I put a revised offer in of $100,000 for 101, I was advised that they would not accept less then $110,000 for lot 101. However they would accept $105,000 for lot 103 (The corner block). This surprised me as lot 103 was substantially bigger, (330m2 vs 396m2) although it was directly across from the factory. Determined not to pay their asking price, I finally offered $102,500 for lot 103. And they accepted that offer. After settlement in July 2012, came the task of finding a house to put on the piece of land. In truth, I didnt actually start properly looking until January 2013. I had an apprenticeship to complete, and was waiting for that juicy payrise at the end of it. So in January 2013, I started speaking to builders to get plans drawn up. I had found out in the months before from council, that because there was only 7m land on the front of the house after the corner ended, I couldnt have a front access garage. So it had to be a side access garage. Which to be honest is probably better, as there is now room to fit a double garage. I went to see Fairmont homes to see what they could draw up for me. And to be completely honest, I was disappointed with their efforts. Their design skills were certainly rudimental and involved photocopying other designs and cutting out bits I liked and using glue and a ruler to stick it onto a rough map of my block. We got to an agreeable design in the end though. This is what they came up with after they sent the rough copy to drafting. I showed this to a friend who is studying architecture and they straight away pointed out a few faults with the design. These were -I would have to walk down an alleyway (2m wide) to access my backyard. The backroom would be quite dark with not many windows. Double vanity in a tiny ensuite isnt very functional. So I asked him to design something better for me. This is what he came up with I really liked this design. It will let me look over my backyard through big glass windows, it had a huge walk in pantry, a big kitchen, a deck outside and still complied with all the council rules such as setbacks and private open space. It was quite the improvement. He did mention that because this new design is built on two boundaries, I might have some issues with council. I started taking this design to different builders for quotes. I chose three companies to obtain these quotes from and these were Rossdale, Fairmont and Dechellis. I wanted 2.7m cielings, portico, overhead cupboards in the kitchen, joinery in the pantry and laundry, laminated glass windows to the front rooms for noise insulation, insulation in every wall and a panel lift garage door included in the quote. I'll split my experiences with the builders up. Rossdale: The sales guy was really friendly, and certainly welcoming. He even gave me a guided tour through the display homes and pointed out whats standard and what isnt. He was really understanding and adressed my needs as a first home builder perfectly. He quoted the plan and it came in at $210,000 to build inc a footings allowance however it lacked any joinery apart from the basic kitchen. I decided to see how low I could get his price and I started taking off things that I had asked for like the high ceilings, portico, and garage door. It eventually came in at 189,000. Fairmont: I went to see a different fairmont sales rep from the one who had cut and pasted the first plan this time. I took my new plan into him and he wasnt convinced that it complied with council rules and refused to quote it. His justification for this was that "I'm not going to work 4 hours quoting this for nothing if it doesnt comply". I was a bit taken back, however I took it to council to get the all okay from a planning officer. Called the sales rep and got him to quote it. He came in at $174,000 with everything I asked for and with an evaporative air conditioner. Dechellis: I went to a sales rep at a different display village to the other two builders. I got the feeling he didnt take me serious seeing how young I am. However he gave me a quote in the end including all that I had asked for plus more. Things like a dropped bulkhead were added, trilocks to all external doors, 900w standalone cooker, dishwasher were also added. They also had another promotion where they would take $10,000 off the price if I signed up before the end of march. The price came in at $172,500. I had a bit of thinking to do. Rossdale were out because of their high price. Fairmont was good and included an A/C but I'd have to upgrade it anyway because I prefer a refrigerated system. Fairmonts display homes were of a decent quality however I got the impression they were on the cheaper end of the spectrum with their finishes. Dechellis's price was quite good and reasonable, and the promotion made up for the lack of A/C. Their display homes were outstanding and have a touch of class to them. I've also had a friend recently build with dechellis and their house is of spectacular quality. I Decided on Dechellis and paid the $2,000 deposit in February 2013. I'll leave the rest til another night. Ive got lots of photos of plans, selection samples and site works activities to post. Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 2Oct 13, 2013 8:05 pm Welcome! Fantastic design... Really makes great use of the space you have. Much better than the first suggestion! Your changed & corrected design gives you a LOT of house, practical plan and a usable yard & entertaining space. Great! O'sullivans beach is a really underrated area, you've chosen wisely as that region (inc. Christies etc) will flourish soon enough. I was trying to find suitable land around there earlier this year, but nothing was really suitable. Even as far as Seaford, we just hit dead ends, so we settled on Mt Barker. Which we are thrilled with! Dechellis are great, they were in our top 2. We had them quote up our custom plan & they were really reasonable and had great inclusions. We ended up (completely out of left field) falling for a design from Simonds Homes, and just decided to go with them because of the service we received & how much we loved the plan. Looking forward to seeing your build progress & your selections pics. Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 3Oct 13, 2013 9:23 pm Welcome, your friend has designed a great home for your block. I too love dechellis homes so look forward to following your build Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 4Oct 15, 2013 9:03 am I'm in! Look forward to seeing how you progress with this build which is a little bit different - well done so far For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 6Oct 17, 2013 9:48 am Such a good design for your block! Love the orientation of the outdoor area to make it all light and fit in Look forward to seeing it all progress Siteworks 8/11 Slabbed 19/11 Our Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65703 Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 7Oct 18, 2013 6:46 am Welcome! Nice to see another Dechellis build. We are also building with Dechellis and are a couple weeks away from lock up. Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 8Oct 18, 2013 3:55 pm Okay, continuing from last post. Dechellis first issue plan: After signing up to dechellis, I was given the opportunity to change the plans a bit and finalise the plan. A few of the changes I made in this stage were including nib walls both sides of the vanity in the ensuite, removing the window in the pantry. Removing the skylight in the living area and finalizing the layout of the decking. I also moved the manhole from the garage into the laundry for security reasons. I didnt like that the roof could be access outside of a deadlocked door. There was also the decision to finalise the front elevation. Dechellis suggested an alternate elevation to the front of the house which I agreed with. Here are the elevations. I chose the second one. Site surveys and the soil report happened almost straight away which was comforting, however after this not much occurred between this and April 2013 where I signed off on a final plan to send to council. I was up to my 3rd revision when I received a phone call quite unexpectedly to sign off on the plan so it could be sent away. I don’t have a photo of this revision of the plan, however you can see the changes I made at this stage in the revision of the plan after selections: There was then quite a big gap between april 2013 and the middle of june where not much happened. I kept bugging the sales consultant to get the contract ready, and he kept saying things like "End of this next week", "end of this week" and "The estimator was off sick this week". He finally came up with the excuse that he had hit a cow on the way to work and wouldnt be able to do it this week. Finally, I was told that the contract documents were complete, and I could come and sign them. About a week before the contract was ready, an engineers report came in the mail. The first thing I was shocked about when I received the contract price was exactly that. The price. It had gone up from $172500 to $194500. There were two reasons I could see as to why this happened. 1. The footings had come in higher then expected. The original allowance was for $15,000 and they had come in at $24,000. I expected a rise as I had heard from other neighbours that the soil on the sub development was mostly dirty fill, not compacted etc. The neighbours who had all built through Statesmen homes were charged around $30,000 for their footings which were smaller houses. 2. The floor area of the house had increased. During the final sign off on the plan I had unwittingly increased the area of the house by choosing a porch. I based the decision on looks and didn’t take into account the extra few square meters it would add. It was revealed to me then that the roof area under the alfresco wasn’t included in the original price guides. To be honest, I was a bit annoyed. There was about $10,000 that I wasnt expecting in the final price(Basically the floor area increase). But I had to weigh it up. I would lose months getting to this stage with another builder, and a $2000 deposit if I pulled out now. So I was set a selections date for August 2013, and a start date of 21st September 2013. I'll continue my next post with selections photos and details. Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 9Oct 18, 2013 4:04 pm Great update .. sounds about right for building - the waiting, the highs and lows, the extra costs and the things you don't think of! Can't wait for the next instalment For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building with Dechellis in O'Sullivan Beach (SA) 11May 03, 2014 9:28 pm Hi Octavion read your post and your story sounded exactly like mine we also signed up with dechellis and was given a $10000 sign before End of month bonus and then when our final contract price came in several months later it had jumped by $20k When I questioned this and asked for a breakdown I was given values which didn't add up or make sense after further questioning I was nicely told this is the final price we can either sign or go our separate ways. Not impressed at all with this builder we have decided to proceed due to the amount of time invested be great to hear how you got on and if your build is going well go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110570 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11035 |