Charleston Homes - anyone worked with them?

cag57 · Jan 10, 2019 8:40 am

As Alexp79 mentions in 6 or 12 months we may be able to get better pricing so I'm still in two minds on whether to build or wait

cag57 · Feb 20, 2019 12:46 pm

Hi Manishg

How did you go with your contract discussions?

Manishg · Feb 20, 2019 1:05 pm

cag57

Hi Manishg

How did you go with your contract discussions?

Hi cag57,

Y coming along quite well...nearing the end of the selection schedules etc The problem is that there is little understanding or visibility of the whole process (especially if you are building for the first time) ....if all the builders clearly outlined the process at the beginning it will take away a lot of the angst I think. I am glad we are getting there though as its taken a long time to get here. I have found though that Charleston have been very flexible in terms of the selections etc allowing us to source things they can't and removing them from their schedule but will install them in most cases.

Have you decided on commencing your process yet?

cag57 · Feb 20, 2019 1:28 pm

Hi Manishg

That sounds good, did you have any luck with the price negotiation or just went with it?

We are down to two builders. Charleston and Homestead homes. They've both done a number of houses in our area, which all look fantastic so we are having trouble deciding. We haven't gone to actual tender yet with either, but ball park figures are both coming in roughly around the same. A colleague has a friend who built with Homestead about 5 years ago so I'm going to take a look at their place and see how the house is looking after 5 years.

Manishg · Feb 20, 2019 3:10 pm

cag57

Hi Manishg

That sounds good, did you have any luck with the price negotiation or just went with it?

We are down to two builders. Charleston and Homestead homes. They've both done a number of houses in our area, which all look fantastic so we are having trouble deciding. We haven't gone to actual tender yet with either, but ball park figures are both coming in roughly around the same. A colleague has a friend who built with Homestead about 5 years ago so I'm going to take a look at their place and see how the house is looking after 5 years.

Yes always a good idea to go and review a home a few years on. We had a couple of friends that built with Charleston a few year ago and had seen their place and workmanship which we were happy with. In terms of price negotiations we had some luck in terms of selection schedules etc and managed to bring down some of it. We did receive a detailed breakdown which was useful in understanding the costs and also which bits we could remove and the impact to pricing. We had to go with DA not CDC which meant that in the end we really had to nominate one design to lodge.

cag57 · Feb 22, 2019 7:35 am

That all sounds good Manishg, hope your build runs smoothly!

Did you need a DA due to the house size? I think by memory on my block we can build upto 54sq or there about via CDC otherwise DA is required.

Manishg · Feb 22, 2019 12:57 pm

cag57

That all sounds good Manishg, hope your build runs smoothly!

Did you need a DA due to the house size? I think by memory on my block we can build upto 54sq or there about via CDC otherwise DA is required.

Thx cag57, Y we needed a DA due to the nature of our block. If you can get away without it will save you approx 6 months of time and $30k of associated fees so definitely worth considering getting it done under CDC.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 2:51 pm

MikeW, Manishg & cag57

Hi guys, its been a little while. Just wanted find out how the build is going? Im back looking at builders and need to lock one down with in the next 2-3 weeks. Charleston is still on top of the list.

MikeW - have you moved in yet? hwo has your final experiece been?

Manishg · Aug 19, 2019 2:54 pm

Hondo

MikeW, Manishg & cag57

Hi guys, its been a little while. Just wanted find out how the build is going? Im back looking at builders and need to lock one down with in the next 2-3 weeks. Charleston is still on top of the list.

MikeW - have you moved in yet? hwo has your final experiece been?

Hi Hondo, Our build has commenced though we are at an early stage and don't anticipate completion for another 12 months or so. The experience so far has been quite good though and we are getting regular feedback from Charleston on our progress. They have been very professional to this point.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 3:10 pm

@Mahishg - Thanks for the update how exciting!

Is there anything we should be on the look out for or hiddent costs?

cag57 · Aug 19, 2019 3:12 pm

Hi Hondo

We haven't started our build yet, been away for work. We have given out tenants notice though (end of year) so hoping for a build start sometime in the new year. My little one starts kindy next year so once we get settled into a rental nearby we'll get going with it.

Charleston is still our preferred builder. We went through one of their recent projects in Turramurra, loved the house and quality was what we'd expect for this type of build.

Good to hear yours is coming along well Manishg.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 3:33 pm

cag57 - Tahnk you for your update. Luckly our little one is already in kindy and pretty settled.

We have now settled on the Land and ready to start building. Just need to lock in a builder asap. Just a little nervous as its out first build.

How did you arrange to see one of their recently builds. Did you get to walk through the house?

Manishg · Aug 19, 2019 3:34 pm

Hondo

@Mahishg - Thanks for the update how exciting!

Is there anything we should be on the look out for or hiddent costs?

Hi Hondo, Thx...no hidden costs as yet. There were a couple with the council during our DA application but in general no hidden costs. In saying that some of the items marked as provisional allowance or PA are on the low side and you should expect some of these to increase when they are finalised...we found our water tank and piering costs increased as the original PAs are on the low side.

Depends also at what stage you are at...if you havent finalised the contracts then you have to consider things like landscaping, electrical etc which are also extra and above the home build costs.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 3:37 pm

Manishg - Thank you for that.

we have already taken into account for Landcaping & Pool. Can you elaborate what you mean by electrical?

Im guessing you went with the french style which they are knows for?

We are looking at the modern facade and modern look inside.

cag57 · Aug 19, 2019 3:43 pm

Hi Hondo

It was actually for sale so we went through the open house. It was larger than what we want but similar french provincial style.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 3:46 pm

ahhh right ..... that make sense .

Manishg · Aug 19, 2019 6:10 pm

Hondo

@Manishg - Thank you for that.

we have already taken into account for Landcaping & Pool. Can you elaborate what you mean by electrical?

Im guessing you went with the french style which they are knows for?

We are looking at the modern facade and modern look inside.

Hi Hondo we went with a more traditional look but changed the layout inside. In terms of electrical we had to include quotes for lights (no led lights are included) and also wiring for media outlets, intercom, music, alarm etc which added up quickly.

Hondo · Aug 19, 2019 6:54 pm

Thank you for that and we will def keep all that in mind. If we do decide to go with Charleston and have more question I might message you. I hope that’s okay.

Manishg · Aug 19, 2019 7:30 pm

Hondo

Thank you for that and we will def keep all that in mind. If we do decide to go with Charleston and have more question I might message you. I hope that’s okay.

No problems at all.

Sunny84 · Oct 31, 2019 8:51 am

Hi All

Just wanted to see how you have progressed with your Charleston build....we are having discussions with them and wanted to understand how your finished homes and negotiations processes have gone.