Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 24, 2014 8:45 am Hi Everyone We're looking to build a house in Yanchep WA - we've secured a block when we visited the family in Jan and awaiting settlement - should be within the next month - yay! We have so many questions and don't really know who to turn to for answers. The sales people surely won't have our best interest at heart, the family wouldn't want to offend us by saying something we might not like etc etc. We've been looking at what feels like 100000s of plans. Obviously the thought of building from a distance is a bit scary, and it would be much more convenient to go for a turn-key build. What are the pitfalls? What I find most confusing is when things are meant to happen. When is turn key? When does the slab typically go down? When do you start paying anything (after the first initial small deposit to the builder)? How long before the initial sign up and the slab going down? And what happens inbetween? EEEEEKKK! We're not sure when to engage a builder as we're waiting for a (small) investment to mature towards the end of the year which we'll use as deposit. This forum is amazing and I'm so glad I found it. Have been lurking for a while and been making notes as I go along - of ideas, things to remember and things to look out for. Thanks you're all amazing !! (Also, if I missed some glaringly obvious place where this info has already been collated - apologies - and please could you direct me to it?) You'll be bored of me soon asking all my questions I'm off to bed now -would appreciate any answers/help and will check back tomorrow Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 2Apr 24, 2014 8:48 am Not sure where you are - how far away. We did it - 1500klms. Might be less stress - in some ways You have to pick a builder you trust AND get a good supervisor. Regular talks - weekly might be necessary, and I would recommend the occasional visit. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 3Apr 24, 2014 8:49 am We had a friend who lived nearby who took pictures and sent them to us - at crucial times. Also the Supervisor sent us pictures. We spoke to them every week - and found them very good. But - our case might not be yours. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 4Apr 24, 2014 8:56 am Saint Mike Not sure where you are - how far away. We did it - 1500klms. Might be less stress - in some ways You have to pick a builder you trust AND get a good supervisor. Regular talks - weekly might be necessary, and I would recommend the occasional visit. Hi thanks for the speedy reply, we're close to 14.500 km - in the UK! It is very reassuring to know it is possible. Hopefully we would be able to get the family over there to take the occasional photo for us too - in fact we depend on it! Have a lovely day/evening/morning wherever you are Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 5Apr 24, 2014 9:26 am Hi MalSannie, In my opinion, you are taking a big risk if you are not able to follow the build closely. My suggestion, if you wish to go ahead with this, is to hire a good building inspector to oversee every stage. Unfortunately you cannot rely on the building surveyor to pick up problems and builders do make mistakes. The good builders will tell you their mistakes and will try to fix them if they notice them but more than one pair of eyes is needed. You need your eyes on the build or someone who is working for you and does not have divided loyalties. You also need photos of everything. We had our stormwater pipes buried at ground level and the only reason we were able to dispute the plumbers' claim that we had modified the ground levels ourselves was because we had a photo of the house under construction with a reference point to show ground levels. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 6Apr 24, 2014 9:34 am MalSannie Saint Mike Not sure where you are - how far away. We did it - 1500klms. Might be less stress - in some ways You have to pick a builder you trust AND get a good supervisor. Regular talks - weekly might be necessary, and I would recommend the occasional visit. Hi thanks for the speedy reply, we're close to 14.500 km - in the UK! It is very reassuring to know it is possible. Hopefully we would be able to get the family over there to take the occasional photo for us too - in fact we depend on it! Have a lovely day/evening/morning wherever you are I don't agree it is a big risk - but the idea of hiring an inspector to keep tabs on the build and provide reports is a good one. An email - say every fortnight - and a call to the supervisor/builder would be a good idea. No reason why it shouldn't work. People probably visit their site too often as it is ... Regular photos are good. But - an inspector on the ground is a great idea. Might cost a few $k but well worth it. You can't just drop in after all ... Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 7Apr 24, 2014 10:16 am Hi and welcome to the forum! I don't know how much I can help, but here goes... We paid payments (in saying that, I mean the bank paid them from invoices we provided) to the builder at the following stages: Deposit Base Frame Enclosed Fixing Final The payments made to the bank (monthly, at that stage) were interest only until the drawn had been fully drawn down (e.g. final payment), a month after this payment it switched to principle and interest. We then contacted the bank and asked to pay weekly, and a higher amount (e.g. more than minimum). Our builder has a 'vip customer login' and during our build, we were sent weekly updates (with photos) of what was happening with the build. Maybe you could enquire with each builder if they have this service available? From the time we signed our contract to when our slab went down as around 7 months, however that's mainly because our bank messed us around a heap so we didn't own the land for 3 of those months, which then held the building up by about an extra month or two. It was nearly a year to the day that we moved in after signing our contract. Every builder will be completely different with time periods though. 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 8Apr 24, 2014 10:42 am Here is a link to a document produced by Consumer Affairs Victoria as a guide to managing your build. WA probably has something similar: http://www.bluekeyfinance.com.au/LinkCl ... 01&mid=483 You may be one of the lucky ones and have few problems but even Consumer Affairs will tell you that "it is important to monitor the construction carefully and ensure that the builder is delivering the service described in the contract. We had a bad experience which resulted from trusting the builder too much and it is not an experience I will forget in a hurry. Give yourself the best chance for a good outcome and proceed with caution. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 9Apr 24, 2014 11:48 am Hi MalSannie, Payment milestones will depend on whether you're building two storey or single storey. And as you're building in WA it will likely be double brick construction so the milestones listed above that show framework aren't applicable. The milestones for single storey are generally: Preliminary agreement (normally a few thousand dollars for preparation of plans, council approvals, soil tests, etc) Deposit upon contract signing Slab Plate height (i.e. walls finished) Roof cover Lock up Practical completion The milestones for double storey are generally: Preliminary agreement Deposit upon contract signing Ground floor slab Ground floor plate height Upper floor slab Upper floor plate height Roof cover Lock up Practical completion We are building two storey and we have a couple of extra milestones for roof cover of ground floor and second fix/tiling, but that's up to the individual builders. Regarding timing, most builds in WA will take approximately 6 months worth of admin from signing a preliminary agreement until construction starts. From there the build will take another 6 months for a single storey, 10-12 months for a two storey. These are estimates though, different builders can be quicker/slower by a month or two. I have a second cousin from the UK who recently built in Yangebup/Beeliar, though they had already emigrated before they decided to build. Good luck with your decision making! Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 10Apr 25, 2014 6:54 am Wow thanks so much everyone - yes, we realise it is a big risk, and will probably be very stressful which is why we want to be as prepared for possible pitfalls as we possibly can be! Thanks for the timelines - it makes things a bit clearer. And best of all the suggestion of having a building inspector. I think that is crucial, and probably a good idea whether you live far away or not? I guess even if I could see it daily I'd not really know whether it was done to standard unless it was a glaring fault. Our family members over there will hopefully let us know of any progress too - but they'll obviously not have the same emotional attachment as we would Really appreciate your time - and candour - knowing the things to look out for is very important to me! Now decisions decisions. We're considering a turn key package - R*dInk has a very good one for April but we'll probably be too late for that one Do people generally go for these?? Have a lovely day - I'm almost off to bed again! Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 11Apr 25, 2014 9:57 am I'm doing the same thing from a distance.. partially. There are stages where you will need to be around to get things over. Planning and design stage : You can do this where ever you are. But my suggestion is that you do meet your builder/designer etc.. on site at least once. So that there won't be any misunderstanding as to where you want to put your house. After that, the design etc.. can be done via email.. things like what to use for building your house, exterior color etc.. need to be defined roughly. your designer will tell you what is needed for getting the planning done. Selection : Once the plan is done with council. You will probably need to visit your friend again. for selection of different things. ie: bricks, colors, fittings..etc.. That really cannot be done via long distance as things on photos can't really tell you the truth about colors. (The net always shows the "best" and the "worst" which is not always the reality.) Construction : This is the risk everyone is talking about.. You will really need trusted eyes to look after your build.. friends and family will be the best for taking photos and as others said, you will need an expert to look for issues and verification along the build. In my case, I am not up to this stage yet and I will definitely be in Aus to watch the build myself. "You are the only one who knows what you want exactly and what you expect". Good luck! Nothing is impossible. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 12Apr 25, 2014 11:10 am April 2013 we sign up for the land and house to lock in the price. May 2013 waiting to sell our old house June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 waiting for finance September 2013 The land got its title and settlement for land was done. we signed the building contracts October 2013 waiting for drawings November 2013 The Final plans and addenda was signed December 2013 Prestart January 2014 builders permit February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 earthworks, Slab May 2014 this how ours went. I took a year to get to the building of our home Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 13May 22, 2014 12:31 am I have a few recommendations for independent building inspectors. not that expensive in the scheme of things. am on phone now but will pm you tomorrow. also with redink so will try and help. their promo now does look good, maybe you can pay deposit to lock in promo then finalize . plans. Re: (Future) First time and absent builders - eeek! 14May 22, 2014 4:49 pm THanks guys, Ardie we did as you suggested - paid the price to lock it in We're playing around with the plans now - and we'll probably find the changes makes it not affordable! Would appreciate contact details of inspectors - thanks Scientists have used random matrix theory to demonstrate theoretically that the neutrino mass hierarchy can be explained mathematically. When a substance is fragmented… 21 20639 Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 8933 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27138 |