Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 12, 2008 2:51 pm Hello Everybody,
I hv this simple & complicated question, for which I seek suggestions from all of you out there. We hv land in CSprings, plan to start the construction around July. & hv started doing our rounds with all the standard builders in the market viz. PD, Metri***, Bbank, AVJ, etc. The design that we had on mind was closest to one of PD's floor plan. I hv read many blogs, which quote that PD is good. But the problem is, its splling out of our budget by 16% which is way toooo much(may be coz of a higer base price) Everything else seems to be Ok for us, the standard inclusions, current offer but the totally budget of land & house ... it sends shivers down my spine. We got a quote from a private builder for the same design & the price was perfect. Standard Inclusions & all of that seems to be OK. The extras that he had were also covered in the price that was quoted. We are now @ cross-roads whether to go with a standard, well established builder or private builder (which works out to be well-within our budget). Butttttttttt ... we are kinda worried, if they'd get *******. Everybody says that they are a 100% perfect, but they are not & that is a fact. All suggestions are welcome with an open mind. Any names of Private Builders in that area, would be great. Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 2May 12, 2008 3:03 pm Welcome Buddy!
I think you will find custom builders will blow your budget out even more!!! Which PD plan did yo like and what did you like about it? Perhaps we can suggest similar designs to help fit your budget? Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 3May 12, 2008 4:29 pm There are few volume builders who build off custom plans; you could probably get a quote from them.
You could also pick a floor plan from those volume builders who allow changes to their plans, and then change it to suit your requirements Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 4May 12, 2008 4:30 pm So is this quote you got from the private builder for a custom design or one of their own spec homes? I'd be a bit worried if a custom design came in cheaper as that would make one question what sort of quality you were going ot get.
If it is a spec home from a private builder I'd make sure that their spec really is the same. For example appliances, ceiling height, facade, taps, brick infills above windows & garage, basins, toilets etc etc. Depending on which PD house you are looking at alot of them offers standard inclusions that other builders often wouldn't. One of the things that steered me clear of the private builders was how vague and disorganised they can be. I like to know exactly what I am getting for my money and specify everything to the smallest detail - alot of smaller builders just aren't equiped to deal with that level of customer service. I'd make sure you are getting everything included in that quote as 16k can actually disppear pretty quickly when you are pricing a house. Another thing that worries me (and I has this experience personally myself) is that a private builder copies a house from a larger builder and intentionally undercuts their price. This in itself seems good but how they conduct business once you sign up concerns me - do they intend to simply extract the money via some other means? If they are simply telling you the price you want to here then for me alarm bells start ringing. No quality builder should need to hard sell or undercut anyone if they know what they are doing. It just makes me wonder what other 'costs' will end up being passed on later down the track. At least with a larger builder you know that the way they do business is the same for everyone and that they have a system that they stick to in regards to pricing. Just food for thought.. Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 5May 12, 2008 8:11 pm We got a quote from a custom builder first and it was way out of our budget. What suprised me more though was that was just for the bare bones of the house with very very basic inclusions - and we knew we'd have to upgrade a lot. On the other hand there is a lot of people on this forum who think people are mad to go with a project builder. Fi has moved in!! Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 6May 12, 2008 8:22 pm Also, considering it is already mid-May, I think you're being very optimistic about starting to build in July. We started negotiating with our builder in January and we still have at least another 2 months to go before we reckon we'll be ready to start building (which is handy, because we'd like to start in August). Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 7May 12, 2008 9:13 pm Hi Buddy
My wife and I are also looking for a custom builder for Caroline Springs. Which estate are you in? We have gone through pretty much every display home in the North and West of Melbourne, but none suited our block (we want the family/dining/kitchen at the front looking over a lake). We are hoping the house we have designed is actually buildable and the price does not blow out too much. We have narrowed our choice down to a couple of builders. Does anyone recommend getting an independent architect to design the house before going to the builder, or is the builder's architect usually OK? PS I only discovered this forum a couple of weeks ago and already have written a page of things we hadn't thought of before. Thanks to all those who contribute!! Corner block, lake view, custom design Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 8May 12, 2008 9:49 pm Thank you so much for all the replies to my query.
I'ld want to add/clarify some more points : 1) mattwalker : We are after 'Bardot26' from PD, this design was the closest to what we had on mind. Its a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, double garage, with a study & rumpus. As an option, the study can be converted into another bedroom. This is what we are after. 2) Duminda : The quote from the private builder is based on PD's desgin with some minor changes, he quoted around 185k where as PD's quote was around 220k. So, its almost 35k & not 16k (I had mentioned it as 16% in my post). 3) brittany : We'd be getting the titles for the land by mid june, so we thought, if we sign up now, it'd take abt 8 weeks from now for the builder to start his work. So, that works out to be roughly, July end or Aug start. Good if the work starts by then, if not ... 'God help me !' 4) Djelibeybi : we are in Eden Field (delfin). We are happy with PD's floor plan, their standard inclusions & other offers in hand, but its the construction cost which is turning out to be a night mare for us. I was browsing for some customs builders in western suburbs, during my lunch break & some of them were awfully pricey. XYZ builder : 170k base price for a 19 sq house. When I saw this, I thought, a 26 sq. house with a 171k base price, from PD, is an in-comparable deal with XYZ builder. I'll still need lots of research on the internet, specially the forums & also the various display homes, to filter out the builders. Plz keep pouring in your suggestions ... Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 9May 12, 2008 9:59 pm I'd agree with the others in that if you find a private builder who will build cheaper than the "big ones" when you compare apples with apples, I'd be worried. Are you talking PD with fancy upgrades or just base price? Is the proposed private builder talking base price, incl. site costs, tiling, windows, etc. etc.
In terms of other forums, I don't think you'll find one as good as this one! Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 10May 12, 2008 10:43 pm buddy29 We'd be getting the titles for the land by mid june, so we thought, if we sign up now, it'd take abt 8 weeks from now for the builder to start his work. So, that works out to be roughly, July end or Aug start. Good if the work starts by then, if not ... 'God help me !' We built with M, and we signed up last January, site start was September (yes, over 8 months of paperwork and waiting) and we have handover this week... a VERY LONG process. If you haven't paid a deposit yet I would be very suprised if your start on site is before September assuming everything goes smoothly - but who knows, higher interest rates may have slowed the building industry. I would be trusting a big company every time. I know that there are many quality small builders out there, but the big companies have the money and resources behind them to design, order, build, inspect, etc. In the end it's your house - your choice. Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 11May 13, 2008 10:28 am Buddy29
First a clarification on my previous coment Quote: You could also pick a floor plan from those volume builders who allow changes to their plans, and then change it to suit your requirements What I meant was you could pick a plan from another volume builder and get the same volume builder to modify the plan to suit your requirement. There are many volume builders who will be happy to modify their plans (especially if it's only internal modifications). The PD house you've mentioned has a pretty common layout, with a few extra bits at the back; I'd be surprised if the other majors don't have something similar. You could take the PD plan to others and ask them to show you a similar plan from their own collection, and then get quote for that plan (with your modifications if necessary). Re: Standard Builder or Private Builder for Caroline Springs ? 12May 13, 2008 5:14 pm Hi buddy
Sorry dont have any advice on private builders but I see you are building in Caroline Spring Edenfield estate... We are also building there wonder if we are neighbours?!? If you already have a contract, is the inspection cost stated in there? If not they would be forced to issue you a variation which you could of course object to. 12 20421 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 7640 What we have done in a few theatres ( including my own) is run 2 layers of 13mm gyprock, but sounds insulation especially for the bass is really tricky as a lot of that… 4 1646 |