Our "first-time" build up Yanchep way.

Hi all,

I have been reading lots of your threads on various topics over the past couple of months about all the things that need doing when building your house. I'm now finally at the pre-start stage so it's time for me to really take notice and stop simply browsing the site, feeling jealous over all your lovely houses (they're all beautiful and yes I'm green with envy).

We are building up near Yanchep in WA - we have a block with title that is smaller than we really need but will do until we can afford something else. Bigger blocks were available but the title won't come out until later in the year and we want to get going ASAP (we've been renting for 7 years and we're sick to death of it).

Any advice on what to expect with builder contracts and do they contain any hidden nasties? I don't know what to expect at pre-start, if things we want to upgrade are ridiculously expensive or if we can still pull out if we want to. We have signed pre-contracts with Dreamstart and have paid our $2000 deposit.

TIA

dream start are a cheaper builder because they use the basics.
you can change your tap wear after handover or years later. the doors you can change too.

have you signed the HIA contract ?

check out this thread
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72119

sometimes going with a middle range build is better for value
they have most things that you would upgrade too included into the house cost already.

good luck

Ok .lets start at the beginning .this is your first home . Key word forst home lol . When I built my first I had laminex bench top, that sheet woodlook flooring and all the basic finishings . It toke me 8 years to change my bench top to granite. There are many houses on here that are all glamed up .but t house these houses are their 2,3,4 houses . Dont get to over welmed you will make it your home . My bed are small . I say yiu just sleep in them . I think if it is the builder your worried about then maybe you need to reconsider it . But I do think if this home is in your buget go for it .you have plenty of time to change it in years to come . Good luck.

If it's a foot on the rung and there's nothing show stopper in the design you can always live comfortably with it (but not love it) until your ready to move onto your next house.

Saying that I'd be the squeaky wheel to get what I wanted if I thought it was fair within the confines of what's agreed and my budget.

If you hate it or can't stand them as company id personally put your cards on the table witht them that your considering walking and see how they react.

+1

I agree with Melsie ... it's your first house and you are being sensible keeping within budget. And like Cupcakes said, you can change taps and doors and carpets and window treatments etc down the track. And probably for far less than the builder will charge you to upgrade them.

It's easy to get carried away with what everyone else is doing and online forums don't tell you those peoples 'story' ... so yes, many may be 2,3 or in our case 8th homes! But my first home was much like what you have described and here we are nearly twenty years later getting our dream house. It takes time.

With the laundry - are you looking to change where doors and walls are? If you aren't, and it is purely cabinetry etc you should be able to do that at prestart. I'd ask anyway at prestart because you might find if you are just moving an internal door way they might be okay with it.

I agree with cup cakes and Melsie. This is my second build. (And even now, I'm nearly at completion and there are so many things I wish I could change). But my first home where I raised my kids was a 3x1 that was within our budget. Over the years we added things and made it our own. That was almost 30 years ago, and It's strange to leave this home now. It has become a sanctuary for my kids as well as my friends. It's the people who live in it that make it a home. Tia, this is your first home. It will be yours. It doesn't have to be your last. However, There is no harm in having a quick chat with some other builders (display home sales) before pre start. I'll be checking on your progress. Enjoy the ride:)

Hi, PerthAussie,

We are building with dreamstart as well. We are in the early stage as we are still waiting for the land title to come. We had looked at other builders and estates last year but held off of buying due to financial reason. When we were looking again, land prices have gone through the roof. We can no longer afford a traditional, 450sqm lot, to build our dream house (3x2+theater/study). We figure that this is our first house and will just go with the budget. At the end of the day, you have to be able to service the mortgage. So we end up buying a 300sqm lot to build a 3x2 without a theater/study. We will move when the kid grows up.

My understanding is that if you only signed the sign-up contract and no drawing is done, no site work is done etc, you are entitled to get the refund and walk away from dreamstart. Didn't your sale guy change the floorplan to your liking before asking you to sign the sign-up contract? We certainly spent few days doing the measurements on the floorplan. After that, we request few minor structural changes and the sale guy came back with a costing for the changes. Once we are happy with the floor plan and inclusion, we signed. Again, we can still walk away at this point and get the deposit refunded. The only problem is that this land is exclusively for dreamstart. If we walk away, we would have to lose deposit for the land. We like the location of the land, that's the only reason we go with them. We have a friend who is building in the same estate and has no drama so far. It is true that any external structural changes will incur charges. Not internal.

I totally understand how you feel about the pre-start selection. I am also very disappointed when I received the folder. Before we signed up, we stopped by their pre-start room. There are so many selections. Now, only to find out that we are only allowed to choose few and sometime no choice is given. I took some advices from friends who built in the past. As others have said, if you are on the budget, you can always upgrade minor stuff like tapwares, doorknobs yourself after the hand over. Any upgrade from the builder will be a marked up. We are looking into providing our mixer tapwares etc and have them install. The shower mixer is probably hard to DIY. We will probably ask them to take out the price for crappy blind and DIY. The admin fee is $300 for providing your own. I bet it is still cheaper than asking the builder to upgrade these stuff.

If you upgrade items like we have, it would be best to do it now through the builder. 1. They do it and you don't have to worry about paying readies call out fees then cost to do it yourself after and 2. If you upgrade now, they deduct the cost of the standard item from the upgraded item. If you take the standard you are paying for that in full, then paying for an upgrade later in full also, that's the way we see it so we got everything we wanted upgraded at Prestart!

I hated my kitchen in the last house I built. well I hated a lot about that home, but it had a small mortgage so that made me happy

That's us now. I'm not stoked with this house, but it does us well enough. And no mortgage is nice. Bring on the new house and that all changes, in the happiness stakes but also we will be on the Bank's Christmas card list again.

Everyone needs to start somewhere, good luck.

Try not to be too despondent. I agree ots easy to get carried away. This is the first house I have built but I have owned (and sold) 6 properties over the last 20 years. My first home was just dreadful but I do remember being so proud because it was mine. Maybe think ahead to how you will design the interior. For example, there is lots of beautiful children's bedroom furniture that may help you maximize the space you do have. Youll feel even better sticking to your budget. I hope you feel proud of the fact you are buying and building because it's such an awesome stepping stone. Good luck

Holz: i ain't gonna let the builder to charge me stuff that I am not taking. I will make them deduct from the cost, provide the tapwares i like and have them install. if i already shopping for doorknobs and tapwares, I might just buy them at the shop right away. (I am planning to import few mixers from oversea.) I think just whatever is convenient and budget wise for individual. One needs to take priority for upgrade. Surely, asking the builder to do the run is the easiest option.

Good luck perthasaussie. We all have to start somewhere.

Yeah Sofia that's exactly what I mean! The stuff you actually want to upgrade with works out cheaper as they deduct the cost of what's standard/originally included, and they install it for you

Hey PerthAussie, you'll find the entire build process, no matter who you go with is going to be a whirlwind of emotion, what you should be aware of however, is pretty much no matter who you build with, at the end of it you're going to enjoy that you have just moved into your own new home and it's now all yours (well, and the banks )

Also, as people have said, this is your first home, and you are keeping within your budget, that's probably the most important thing to keep in mind. As you said "smaller block until you can afford something else", get onto the property ladder, your house will depreciate but your land should appreciate and look at this as an investment toward your future home, its just the first step on the property ladder and a very important one.

Hi PerthAussie2014 - how is your build coming along?

Our first place was tiny - as in seriously tiny, 2 very very small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 'living' room and a kitchenette. But I remember how exciting it was to have something that was our own. When you move in you pretty quickly get used to the space - we loved living there Rooms are to sleep in - they don't need to be big! We made a bit of profit when we sold it too.

We have the opposite to you - we are only allowed colorbond in our estate's design guidelines - I'd (almost) kill for beautiful roof tiles! Our prestart allowance is also very small - but I'm going to try to prioritise - if something is easy to change later I'll stick with the standard, and things that aren't we'll have to try and get into our prestart budget. It became apparent very quickly that prestart can be an expensive exercise if you're not careful.

I'm looking forward to following your build and I hope you're feeling a bit more positive about yours now! I bet it'll be an amazing home for your family