Building with Wisdom Homes

[quote="Ambassador36"]Did anyone go standard steps and have a pic? I am collecting all inclusions and collating them into digital mood boards. I didn't take any on the day of selections /quote]


I think the white hand rail one is the standard with silver blauster on the left side of the photo. The oak colour hand rail is already an upgrade with the miltered handrail and black blauster.

Hi everyone, just to update everyone, our tender presentation has been brought forward by 10 days... so its all going good according to plan so far from Wisdom Homes point of view

We have another tender at our hand with a lot of mistakes, so still waiting for the corrected tender...

Thanks M4bath! That's it

Hi Funk52:
I had same problem as you got.My brick fence and DA condition was not match.So I need to do S4.55 to get ride off fence.Did you get Wisdom or another company to do the change? Wisdom told me My case closed,I need get someone slse to do the plan change.It will get trouble with PCA?

Thanks

In my case I was actually advised by Wisdom earlier on "in writing" that I wouldn't have any issues with compliance if I chose not to put in the brick fence. Because of this they amended the plans and resubmitted to Council at no cost to me.

I can't believe I have to go through this process again, which includes sending letters out to the neighbours, just to not install a front fence.

One win I did have though is I noticed that only the driveway on the plans was in coloured concrete while the crossover was shown in plain concrete. SBAC would have expected me to follow the plan, but I checked with Council and they allowed coloured concrete all the way.

[quote="faykis":3mrfzohq]Hi everyone, just to update everyone, our tender presentation has been brought forward by 10 days... so its all going good according to plan so far from Wisdom Homes point of view

We have another tender at our hand with a lot of mistakes, so still waiting for the corrected tender...


[quote="faykis":3mrfzohq][quote="WisdomHomes":3mrfzohq]

Hi Mark, hope you are well. I hope its not wrong to address you here. We paid deposit for tender on 29/2/20 and out tender presentation is booked for 30/4/2020. Is there anyway we can bring this forward?

I understand that the team needs this time to complete all the necessary steps and therefore needs 6-8 weeks time. Our bank preapproval will run out early May and I am going on Maternity leave in May too. I really love the plan of our wisdom home design and would love to stick with Wisdom Homes as much as possible. Unfortunately due to the time limitations and our situation, we may need to go with other builders although we do not prefer them. Is there anyway this could be helped?

Thanks heaps[/quote:3mrfzohq][/quote:3mrfzohq][/quote:3mrfzohq]

Did you get all your structural And window sizes changed? This way you will know those actual cost are reflected in the tender. The only thing they can’t tell you exact are electrical, aircon, kitchen, bathroom, flooring, basix and of course hydraulics

Hi All,
Does anybody have any information in regards to Independent inspector and the fact they inspect the slab only after it has been constructed? Seems pointless to inspect something that is very difficult to fix at that stage. Any suggestions?

On another topic, We have the impression that things at Wisdom are moving very slowly, does anybody share this concern? Is there anything we can do to speed things up?

Cheers

Hi All,
I'm trying to compile a list of checking points for pre-slab concrete pouring. If somebody can send some tips or points to check will be great.

This is due to the fact that independent inspector do not provide checking for pre-slab and considering detecting problems or correcting after concrete pouring is basically a lost cause. We need to have a way to list mitigate the risks.

Hope to get tips so I can compile a list and opensource it to all here.

Cheers

malypetu when i was checking one of the independent inspectors (South West https://southwestpropertyinspections.com.au/ ) did say he does pre-slab inspection

"Pre-slab Inspection: Includes checking dimensions of the slab, effective cover of formwork, plumbing penetrations in the right position etc."

I didn't use this service, it might be worth checking with them.

Thanks, I will check it out.

There is also a company in North Shore area
https://sydney.apbi.com.au/inspection-t ... nspections

I will also check it out.

malypetu - even if the slab is poured, there is a way to rectify it. I find as a home owner, some things you think is difficult to repair or rectify but are not for those who are in the building industry.

Our progress has been good so far but at times I feel torn between the experience we have with our SS. Has he been great? If his job is to schedule the tradies, organise the timeline and keep the quality to an acceptable "industry" standard then sure, he is good. If his job is to listen and address concerns we raise leaving us as a happily satisfied reassured customer then....

Most of us are not familiar or understand why things are done or not done and if they spend just a some bit more time with us, it would make all the difference. A majority of our concerns are not show stoppers and at times we just try to move forward but as a customer, we paid for a house to be built in a certain way and certain standard.

Thoughts out there?

Hi M4bath,

Thanks We did include a fair amount of structural change, including garage width, building line increase, both floor height increase, all the window and door height increase, restructuring kitchen and pantry shape, adding entry voids etc.

Though wisdom look longest time to provide us with tender but they did include proper site plan with measurements and elevation drawings. We did find couple of windows were missed, so asked them to change them again and a few more things again. We are now waiting for a revised tender and elevations.

They did complete soil test bore hole test etc before the tender, so our slab came as modified M class. No PA in site cost except for pool piering. Wisdom already ordered our bush fire report (we did pay this bush fire report fee at the time of paying tender request fee).

The other tenders I had does not have any elevation or even final floorplan after changes were made. They’ll do bore hole, bushfire report and soil test after we accept tender 🤷🏼‍♀️

We did consider a lot of PA for kitchen electrical flooring driveway etc. I will probably need to get flooring done by outside.

I dont think we’ll be able yo get a consolidated tender from Wisdom in 26 days (then our preapproval runs out and we need to apply for preapproval again in this covid situation). Nail biting times ahead!!

Hi ozmonkeyoy hope you are still active in this group.
Did you get your front facade rendered by Wisdom or did you get it arranged to be done from outside? How much did it cost and did you face any challenges?
Thanks




M

Quick question

The electricity and gas bills that I receive while the build is going on, is Wisdom liable to pay them?

Nope that’s yours to pay

M4bath Your Wisdom Homes site supervisor’s job is primarily as an contract administrator to schedule materials and contractors via their workflow software for about 20 houses at a time, about 12O contracts per house build. He does not have the time to check the quality of the contractors work. Unfortunately that’s your responsibility during the build and warranty phases. Given his focus and time constraints, any customer service provided will be limited to basic updates regarding progress and if there are quality issues telling you whatever you want to hear to keep the project moving and progress payments coming in. The volume builders’ mass production business model operated by Wisdom Homes in the construction phase cannot financially support a bespoke service like what is provided in the sales and pre contract phases.

Hello guys This is my first time building and have no experience whatsoever in building. After inspecting too many places. I paid for the tender with wisdom homes. Tender presentation is booked for next month however I just decided to change the facade because I didn’t liked the facade what were originally opted for

We have chosen Monte Carlo 40 and would like to go with designer facade. Just a couple of question

1. Do you think WH will be able to redo the facade and update the contract since I have been to presentation yet
2 we have selected signature upgrade, hoping that will cover everything however after reading the comments it looks like I will be spending more on upgrades as signature won’t cover good tiles
3. If so what would be estimate figure, ideally I am looking for 60x60 porcelain tiles on ground floor and laminate on first floor
4. They have advise upgrade will include 40 mm bench tops in kitchen and bathrooms however will those be category 1 ? Or I need to pay more again if I am looking good caeserstone

Base price for house is around $485 signature is costing us 50 k plus site cost .. and facade .. do you think $550 - $560 will be realistic figure or I am looking at lot more

Please help

First timer

All depends on your taste and how much you upgrade.

1. Yes they will. Decide all the changes and let them know together asap. We made few changes and now getting revised tender

2. Signature package doesn’t really cover much. I found prestige package more useful and adding on things from signature package was more cost effective. all you are paying here is for a few clipsal switches in your hallway worth 6k!!! It doesn’t even cover first floor height increase! Tiles are similar from prestige range.

3. All depends on your taste. We’ve been quoted 6k for first floor laminate with their basic range (They don't have any laminate included). Im sure you’d want waterproof or engineered oak laminate etc which will probably be 15k for first floor only on a 40sq house. Probably will cost half or 2/3rd if you do it after handover.

Porcelain tiles no idea but this I think will be a 4-5k upgrade at most, unless you have very expensive taste


4. Check caesar-stone website. They include standard range only. Which does not have many options. I want to go for organic white which will be one grade upgrade. You can even go for Calcutta range which will be 15k -20k upgrades (depends on the length of kitchen cooktop and length and width and waterfall ends if any for island bench). I think i will choose a standard white stone for cooktop and bathrooms, a ungraded one for island bench-top only.

Other potential upgrades you probably already factored into your tender, which does not get covered from prestige or signature package

-facade render if you fancy, we’ll get it done afterwards
-increasing garage door height
-timber look garage door

-increase Ground floor height and external and internal doors and window heights (included in prestige and signature)
-increase first floor height, external and internal doors and window heights
-kitchen ceiling drop 150mm
-wider windows and stacker doors
- niches to bathtub
-under-mount rangehood to kitchen and cabinetry to cover rangehood (cant remember if this was included in signature)
-kitchen cabinets handle free if you want, add more pot drawers, wood grain finish to cabinets, butlers setting etc
-splash-back around kitchen splash back window: tiled or glass or mirror or stone
- laundry upgrades: Do you want more cabinetry done by them or do them afterwards?
-home theatre: do you have one? Do you want prewiring for sound system etc
-wet area recessed for a flush flooring?
-any media alcove, wall recess, feature wall
-any staircase upgarde? They range from 6k-12k-18k-25k
-Electrical upgrade: do you want basic 20 downlights or want to wrap your house with 50/60 downlights? do you want them to do it you can do the first floor electrical after handover. Everything in GF needs to be done now.
-any aircon upgrade? Extra zone?
-external walls lighting? Prewire or get them do it?
-alfresco kitchen fit out? Or get prewire for electricity/ plumbing and gas line yo alfresco
-cctv/ security alarm system/ intercom
-pendants/ ceiling fan prewiring
-want a pool later on? Line for pool power and plumbing

Other things:
Blinds
Flyscreens
Security door for alfresco
Driveway
Landscape

Provisional allowance: for kitchen/ bathroom/ electrical/ BASIX

I am sure I missed out some of the important ungrades

chokyulate

Basically Wisdom Homes is selling you a house design and a contract for other companies to build your home. Once you have signed it, Wisdom Homes then splits this 'master' contract up into about 125 smaller sub-contracts, adding their approx. 35% mark up as 'builders margin' onto each. Wisdom's admin will finalise your variations to their standard design then they will issue a series of purchase orders and call ups to suppliers and available sub contractors with minimal hands on checking of their workmanship. This is the normal volume builder business model. The quality delivered will vary and will be dependent upon the capability, motivation and ethics of these sub contractors and, unfortunately, it will be up to you and your building inspector to check their work. Site supervisors don't have time for this. For a reasonable level of engagement and quality checking you would need a custom builder who will be much more expensive. Volume builders are focussed on low cost quick 'production line' builds therefore they will issue the sub contracts to a pool of low priced contractors with variable quality work.

This business model is risky for you because its highly dependent upon the capability, motivation and ethics of the trades involved. You may want to consider requesting some typical no cost 'upgrades' (variations) to the contract to reduce your risk of future financial expense and personal stress. In the current very slow new home building sales environment I expect Wisdom Homes, along with most other builders, will be very flexible to vary and upgrade their contracts at no cost to secure your signature and get your business. This can be a win / win for everyone.

Wisdom Homes uses a standard HIA contract template. Ask their sales rep to send you a preliminary 'generic' version which includes their normal variations. Most builders will do this prior to contract presentation to assist their customers. If they don't provide this then you should seriously question why not? These documents are quite straightforward, although they are heavily weighted by the HIA (a builders' association that rightly looks after their own members' interests, not consumers' interests) towards minimising any financial risks to their member builders such as Wisdom Homes, not to you. Consider that Wisdom's contract can easily be amended by them to also offer some reasonable protection for you if things go wrong. For all builders, very few builds are without issues and defects, and what you read on various social media review platforms is really just the 'tip of the iceberg' because many customers are afraid to post anything negative, fearing legal action or other more covert repercussions like delays from their builder.

I suggest, initially, you read Wisdom Homes HIA contract template carefully and ensure you understand every clause and definition and what the personal, timing and financial implications of these are for you if anything goes wrong. For example if your build is delayed by 3 months can you afford to pay (or forgo) an extra $12,000 or so in rent in addition to your new mortgage repayments? Such delays are common. Or, does Wisdom have the right to send you their progress payment invoices (with payment strictly due in 5 days) before they have fixed any significant defects identified by you, or your inspector? ... If there is anything of concern or risky for you then you can ask Wisdom to change it and detail this as a 'variation' to their 'standard' HIA contract. Many customers do this.

There are many online resources and experts available in this forum to help explain the contract clauses that, as a first time buyer, you may not fully understand. You can also ask your sales rep to assist in explaining any of the details in their own contract as that is really what they are selling you, the contract! For formal advice and assistance with the negotiations you can consult a lawyer, a good precaution, as many first timers and experienced buyers do.

In addition, I suggest you ask your Wisdom Homes sales rep to download their specifications and pricing for your new home, including all upgrades etc. onto an excel file so you can quickly and easily check things and track any changes as well as minimising pricing 'mistakes' in the specs later. This will save everyone's time in administration as well. You can get this process agreed and documented in the contract for later.

In the current slow new home sales environment I would expect all builders will be flexible to upgrade their contract terms to reduce buyer risk. Please let forum members know how you go.