Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 21, 2015 8:50 pm Hi We are moving interstate to Brisbane soon, and are in the middle of buying land in North Lakes. We have been back and forth between several builders, trying to narrow the list down to the ones we will actually look at properly when we get there. Has anyone had an good experiences with certain builders, or bad ones to stay away from? Thanks Re: Recommendations of Brisbane Builders 2May 24, 2015 10:31 am Anyone? We have been looking at Ausbuild, Coral Homes, GJ Gardiner, Strouds. Although Metricon seems to be a popular one. They all have plans that we like, so i guess it comes down to the ability to modify if we want. One builder we went to a while ago had a plan that we liked, asked if we could modify it and the answer was straight up no. Where as Ausbuild for example were happy to make adjustments, but their prices seem a bit more expensive, and the reviews online arent too good. Our block is a 561sqm corner block. Re: Recommendations of Brisbane Builders 3May 24, 2015 10:53 am Hi Anne, we are building on the Gold Coast but still fairly close to you. If you want flexibility GJ Gardner are very flexible, but they operate as franchises and some are better than others. I wouldn't recommend the Gold Coast franchise based on my neighbour's experience, but the North Brisbane one might be ok. We are building with Plantation and have been very happy so far, and they have been fairly flexible about minor changes. There's plenty of Metricon builds about as you saw, although if you go with their "entry level" range they have no flexibility. Coral was one of our runners up before we decided on Plantation. There's a few Clarendons around too and their price seems fairly reasonable. Stroud does quite good packages where they are full turn-key and include everything you need to move in, including landscaping and window furnishings, although that may not be something you really need. I thought there was a North Lakes thread but I can't find it now. You may like to check out the SEQ build threads collection here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76408 - there's a lot of volume and custom builds for both the Gold Coast and Brisbane areas mentioned there. You mentioned you're moving interstate which makes it a bit harder, but if you can just go to as many displays as you can - North Lakes, Yarrabilba, Rochedale, etc. You'll get to see a lot of different builders and different examples from the same builder and get a feel for which builder's style you like. Don't get too hung up on which builder includes what - it's nearly impossible to compare apples to apples in inclusions lists, and ultimately you'll pay for everything you want - if one builder includes a specific feature you really want as standard, and another doesn't, you can pay to upgrade, but it would have been included in the base price of the other one anyway Good luck! Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: Recommendations of Brisbane Builders 4May 24, 2015 11:45 am Thanks for the info. We have been up there a few times, and gone to all the display homes. but since it was only a day here and there, we didn't really have a proper look, plus we hadn't purchased the block yet so when we were asked the question "what block have you got", it made it difficult to get a real idea plus there are so many to choose from. I really liked one of the Plantation ones, i think it was in the North Lakes display village. Liked the plans, and the general feel of the house. But being a display home, its supposed to feel very nice, thats how they get you. But I guess I wanted to get an idea of the ones worth going to and actually sitting down properly with. Re: Recommendations of Brisbane Builders 5May 24, 2015 11:51 am So far I've been very happy with Plantation but others have had different experiences. My advice is to choose a builder you like the style of and get a good feel from, and have realistic expectations - something WILL go wrong, no one has a 100% perfect experience, I've found We liked the looks of Metricon displays and they had some plans we liked, but every single display centre we went to, we were treated very badly by the sales staff when they heard our budget. Whereas Plantation worked really hard with us to find a plan we loved that also met our budget. So while everyone can give you a recommendation and opinion, I guess you have to take them all with a grain of salt (including mine ). Sorry I can't be more helpful! I know it's a difficult stressful journey, especially doing it from interstate. Basically any of the big volume builders will be worth sitting down with really, and going with a volume builder will remove some of the stress as interstate builders because you don't have to supervise every single detail like you most likely would with a custom builder. Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 First time poster long story short we are planning knocking down rebuilding a house in Wavell Heights We are thinking to go with Omni built homes as they are but flexible… 0 16267 Hello Josh, This is Irving from PRIMA, we are a manufacturer of the staircase, railings, kitchen cabinets, windows, doors from China. If you have requirement to purchase… 0 5453 Hi, does anyone have a clue how the Brisbane Development website work in terms of how uptodate the dates on it are (developmenti.brisbane.qld.gov.au). I transfered… 0 4622 |