This thread is really useful. Our land is due to register by December, so we have been looking at various builders and house designs. We have narrowed down to three: Somerset 51 by Metricon (Signature range), Waldorf 50 by Eden Brae and Mont Clair by Charleston Homes. We have made slight changes to the layout from their display home at Box Hill but so far, they are the most expensive, with Metricon close behind. We love the display home and are getting most of the inclusions (except flooring and staircase stone). The Charleston home is smaller than both Metricon and Eden Brae - its around 44sq.
Keen to follow this thread and learn from your experiences. We have gone for tender with both Metricon and Charleston and are expecting our drawings to come through in the next couple of weeks. We found Colin (sales guy at Box Hill) to be extremely patient with us and very helpful. But I believe we will be dealing with the builder directly from here on. Will share our experience.
Thanks.
Hi Ritz123,
We are also looking at the Mont Claire home by Charleston. We absolutely fell in love with the design and finishes of the house. We have also cut out all the heavy extras like flooring and staircase they have on display, marble in the bathrooms and the fireplace (amongst other little things). Are you planning on getting the alfresco built by them as well?
Despite all of this, we are coming over budget by about 60k-80k (depending on the final tender we get) and this is largely due to the Site costs & concrete piering which we were expecting to be much lower than they have quoted.
Most other builders (like project homes) have some of the regular site item costs included in the base price, so when they quote you site costs we can't really do a like for like comparison.
Do you know if after you put down the initial deposit of $8k, you get a better idea of the site costs or they really don't change?
Thanks, keen to share our experiences!
- Kani
Hi Kani,
We put down the intial $5k for them to do the survey and draw up the architectural drawings. The site cost will be confirmed once the survey and soil test has been completed. For us this hasn't happened yet as our land is in the process of being registered. The only caveat they put is if they hit rock than that might increase the cost but that cannot be confirmed till they start digging.
For the Alfresco, we will keep as part of the house build as for us there wasn't that much difference is pricing and it would be better for Charleston to pour the concrete regardless. However, you can save upto $10k depending on what type of alfresco you are wanting.
Cheers,
Ritz
Thanks so much Ritz for your thoughts. What do you mean about saving $10k depending on type of alfresco?
Are there any little extras you noticed / cut out that could help save a few k here or there?
Thanks again