Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 02, 2015 4:35 pm Hi (Long time listener, first time caller here).. Just in the early stages with a smallish volume builder and about 2 weeks off finalising the New Home Price Tender Proposal and unsure what to expect at this meeting. Has anyone out there had any success stories in negotiating prices down? I'm worried that because they were running a promotion that we have locked in they will say yeah but you are already getting X,Y &Z for "free". Or do they tend to do more free "upgrades" should I try and push the matter. I know if this was a car from a card yard or an existing house from a real estate agent it would be un-Australian not to try and haggle for 10% then fall back to 5% lol Id love to hear any tips and advice to come out a winner at this stage. Thanks in advance Re: Negotiation of contract price? 2Feb 02, 2015 5:53 pm Tbh, never heard of anyone negotiating the price on a build down. Only thing people seem to be able to control is the number of upgrades they chose to include, and whether there are any promotion deals they can take up. You can always try though? Let us know how you go I am building with a small local builder, so pricing has been great, but they gave me the base price for my house and now I'm just deciding on what extras I want to include and they give me the price of each one. I will have to leave out a few things to keep the overall build in budget. Re: Negotiation of contract price? 3Feb 02, 2015 7:11 pm Yeah sorry tbh I've never heard of anyone being able to haggle on the contract price. Because all the costs are itemised it sort of is what it is, and if you think you can get something cheaper then you may be able to negotiate to do that after handover but it depends what it is. What I found most frustrating with the mass builders was when I was trying to reduce costs, it was near impossible because I was already getting them for "free" in some deal. So for example, I wanted to remove the caesarstone from the bathrooms and laundry to save a couple of thousand, and I was told no that's part of the special summer deal we are giving you which includes ducted cooling, fly screens, bi fold doors and 900mm appliances (so all things we still wanted) so if we wanted to remove that deal we could but you couldn't remove single items out of it - very frustrating. Having said all that, if you don't ask you don't get, so it can't hurt to put some pressure on them about price and see what they say. Re: Negotiation of contract price? 4Feb 02, 2015 8:58 pm There is a price to pay for everything, even for a discount. What sort of message are you sending to the builder? Would you expect him to go the extra mile for you or shove you down your own hole. You can get the best deal by shopping around or ruin one Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Negotiation of contract price? 5Feb 03, 2015 11:04 am I re read your first post, and you did mention about asking for things to be included for free. With one of the major builders, at quote time they offered me $1,500.00 worth of their studio vouchers if I would sign that day and pay a deposit. Another offered to throw in a dishwasher if I signed that day. So you might be able to get something like that? I read a great article somewhere which shows that the major builders tend to always have a promotion running, they just change it slightly, but in the end you get roughly the same value out of each. That's why I went with my small builder, no promotions, no deals, just a low price and he's very reasonable. He's been incredibly flexible, he's pricing is very good, but I feel his base price includes a lot more extras that other builders weren't offering (such as two garden taps, TV antennae, alarm system, extra cupboard to laundry room, overhead kitchen cupboards, outdoor lights). Also I wanted to extend my eaves at the front, and change my laundry door from hinged to sliding, things I thought he would charge for but he said "no extra costs". He's great Also, I can take anything out or add it back, unlike the issue some people find with the major builders, because there are no promotions or deals. Maybe you haven't found the right builder? Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17610 So AFAIk the outcomes of the BAL ratings form part of a clause that allows them to pass these costs on to you. However the more relevant detail is how did it go from 19… 1 9164 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16566 |