Building our first home - advice please!

Ah sorry to hear about that, it is quite a drag when it comes to paperwork... Once construction starts though I think you'll find things move quite quickly. I went out to our lot this weekend and it's only been 3 weeks of construction but the lower level timber framing and brickwork is almost done now, is really starting to take shape.
A couple of things I wish I had have thought of prior to final plans being drafted:
- Water outlet for the fridge, would be nice to have that plumbed in for the chilled water/ice
- Gas outlet for the alfresco area, instead of needing a gas bottle for the bbq
- Internet ports for all rooms not just the master
- more powerpoints in the kitchen, can never have enough power!
Unfortunately it costs $450 just to make a change now, guess I should probably just suck it up and get it done anyway and save the headache later

Hi Ed,
We are considering Nostra for our first home. How would you rate your experience with them.

Also the base price which they quote.. is that fixed or does it have any room for negotiation...
Thanks for sharing your experiences..

I would say that the experience has been good so far... I haven't come across any major issues that weren't resolved easily, their customer service team have been very good.

The fixed price was all inclusive on our property for landscaping, driveway, appliances etc. something that you may or may not get with other volume builders, so that saves you quite a bit of money and is worthwhile for peace of mind knowing they won't try and screw you with any unexpected surprises. Obviously there are other builders that offer fixed price packages as well, I would suggest you always do your homework to check the list of inclusions and make sure there is nothing left off, like landscaping for example.

That being said you will probably want to upgrade a lot of things from their base price. I think by the end of it we will probably have spent in the vicinity of $15000 on upgrades. The only thing that I want that they didn't offer as an upgrade was a choice for the type of carpet, so we are currently looking to get them to refund us the price of the standard inclusion and have our own carpet installed. Other than that we were happy with the range of available options.

You can always try and negotiate on price, I imagine that they would be able to accomodate a bit of room there. We managed to save a fair bit just because someone failed to secure enogh money on their loan, so we got the house for the cost of the previous release.

Anyway hope that helps, good luck with it all!

Ed

Hey...Good news..Our land is titled in March and got the building permit now....Looking forward for the construction to start..How are you going with your build?

Ah good stuff Sara, glad to hear they're making some progress for you now. Things move pretty quickly once they start the build! Our roof is on now and they're almost at lock-up stage, so they will be plastering next week I think. Once that's done the house will really start to take shape, my partner and I are starting to get pretty excited now!
Not long to go...

Hey Ed,

I just want to check with you on the progress of your build..Is your house handed over?. Our slab is going to be poured this week.Is there anything that u would like us to watch out during the construction process?

-Sara

If you want a terrible quality built home and the constant worry and stress of a company that has ZERO duty of care to your biggest investment than by all means build with Nostra Homes.
Worst mistake and biggest regret i have ever made was choosing to build with them. These guys are nothing but a bunch of hacks.
Good Luck!!!

Morrissey09 - Can you please be specific about the feedback? We are currently building with them and are worried about the quality after looking at your comments

I wish you guys the best of luck. But if you want piece of mind just pay for an independent inspector to check on every stage, it will be worth it I guarantee it. Unless I'm the unluckiest person in the world I'm sure your inspector will catch their lack of quality and this is the only way you can get a builder to officially fix mistakes otherwise they will try convince you its normal. Sadly my house is a laughing stock to all my family and friends because of all the errors I have been telling them about which I'm happy to do because id rather be honest and show/tell people I know why they shouldn't build with these guys.

Nostra Homes
Dream, Design, Destroy

morrissey09



Well said! All I can say is what morrissey09 has already, please, please get independent inspections carried out.

Spending a few thousand now could save you tens (or hundreds) of thousands in the future.

I thought it would never happen to me, but it did and it can to you too. Protect yourself.

Morissey09 & Velcro - thanks heaps.... My construction is at slab phase right now and cant thank u enough for the feedback. I will get the independent inspector as soon as possible...

Also remember that the law states that all you have to do is give them 48 hours notice of an inspection and they must comply. Just in case they try to tell you its too late or some other nonsense to avoid an inspection.

Thanks Morissey09... I just scheduled for inspection this friday with an independent inspector and will keep a close eye on the build process.. Lets see how the inspection goes...

good to hear, let us know how you go.

Any updates on progress with Nostra Homes for anyone? I'm confused by a few negative posts yet nobody goes into any kind of detail.