Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 21Jul 28, 2008 8:53 pm Never going to happen but it would be nice of them to build a house that shows the basics v the upgrades. At teast you can get an idea of what you are paying extra for.
Must keep dreaming... Adrian B Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 22Jul 28, 2008 8:58 pm Yes, it drove me crazy too. Everything nice is always an upgrade. Often things that you would expect to be standard are an upgrade. We saw a house we really liked once and I think it was an extra $200,000 as displayed. I almost expected them to tell me that the staircase was extra and it came with a rope ladder as standard! Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 24Jul 28, 2008 11:22 pm Adrian B Rope is an upgrade, twine is standard. Knots in the rope to aid climbing are $120 per knot plus GST You left off the standard connection fee......! mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 25Jul 29, 2008 8:23 am Peter_OZ Agree about time consumer afairs ripped into them. ACCC wont doing anything because it is not unfair competition. Technically - the Trade Practices Act (1974) and associated state Fair Trading Acts prohibit "misleading and deceptive conduct" (section 52 I think) So if the builder has a sign that says house $270,000 but neglects to state that as displayed is $470,000 - have they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct? If you can prove so - then ACCC/FTA can get involved. However they probably choose not to since they're supposed to be looking at grocery & petrol prices atm! After 4 years - we're in! Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 26Jul 29, 2008 10:38 am stonecutter1309 Peter_OZ Agree about time consumer afairs ripped into them. ACCC wont doing anything because it is not unfair competition. Technically - the Trade Practices Act (1974) and associated state Fair Trading Acts prohibit "misleading and deceptive conduct" (section 52 I think) So if the builder has a sign that says house $270,000 but neglects to state that as displayed is $470,000 - have they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct? If you can prove so - then ACCC/FTA can get involved. However they probably choose not to since they're supposed to be looking at grocery & petrol prices atm! section 52A of the TPA I believe. Only reason they are not being taken to taks is because it is not on the radar, if enough people complain about then the authorities would act. Companies will only change their ways if it starts to cost money not to. As for groceries and petrol, they ar edoing agood job on that arent they? I mean oil drops over 12% but we are only seeing a poothteenth of a bees **** reduction at the pumps and that is nearly 10 days later. BUT when oil goes up bowser price follows immedaitely. But you have this self righteous ****** of a fuel price watch ombudsomen that crudd appointed saying that it is all above board. I mean do they think we are fools? Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 27Jul 29, 2008 10:54 am I must admit that once I did a bit of research, this was pretty clear to me.
Base price and then add on what you want. The displayed options list was pretty clear and I felt confident from the standard inclusions list of being able to understand what was and wasn't included. I felt this was the case with most of the majors. Our house has cost an extra 130k but we have upgraded a lot of things and had reasonably big site costs. This will be my mum's final house so it will be fitted out to the max! She deserves it. I understand why the display homes are the way they are. They are fitted out with every possible option. No one ever takes all those options, but they are there to be seen. They are show homes. So they show everything they possibly can and you pick what you want. Think about how visual we all are on here. We like to see what things will look like. Touch them. I was glad I could view options and then make a decision. Is it easy? Not always. Is it time consuming? Yeah it can be. But I'd think that anyone entering into the biggest fiancial decision of their life would want to be doing a fair bit of research anyway. Sometimes it would be easier if there was one display that was done as standard. But how is that consultant meant to sell any upgrades? Our house Grandview 36 wasn't on display anywhere when we started looking. But the 30 was on display in a few locations and being able to see what was possible was really helpful to me. As I said in an earlier post, I went with a rule of add on 50% for finished to base price. And that was for a pretty high standard of finish. Our site costs are 20k. I could have done it finished for 20k on top of that easy. But this was a splurge. I think the process is the way it is because everyone wants to finish the house differently. Maybe there actually isn't a standard as such. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 28Jul 29, 2008 11:04 am I completely agree and I understand the 'add ons' cost more but what annoyed me was when you walk into a display that clearly has all the possible 'add ons' WITH a sign on the wall saying TOTAL PRICE $217,000 in huge writing when that house is not that price, the sign in incorrect and should read TOTAL PRICE $350,000, then I wouldnt feel mislead and would accept the fact that what I'm seeing in front of me is out of my price range
You cant stick a 2008 BMW out the front of a car yard with a price TOTAL PRICE $300.. then when you enquire they say, oh no, sorry thats for the 1832 model! The 2008 model is $98,000 ! Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 29Jul 29, 2008 11:12 am PrincessB I completely agree and I understand the 'add ons' cost more but what annoyed me was when you walk into a display that clearly has all the possible 'add ons' WITH a sign on the wall saying TOTAL PRICE $217,000 in huge writing when that house is not that price, the sign in incorrect and should read TOTAL PRICE $350,000, then I wouldnt feel mislead and would accept the fact that what I'm seeing in front of me is out of my price range You cant stick a 2008 BMW out the front of a car yard with a price TOTAL PRICE $300.. then when you enquire they say, oh no, sorry thats for the 1832 model! The 2008 model is $98,000 ! Oh no I understand. I was sort of making a general statement about how it gets so high. And also making the point that when it is clear it's easier. Obviously your case wasn't like that and I was sort of in a round about way meaning that in your case it was wrong as it wasn't clear like my builder was. But I just waffle on and my point gets lost. Sorry. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 30Jul 29, 2008 11:17 am No problem its just so annoying but.. like I said educating at the same time, will just have to keep looking till we find what we like in our price range Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 31Jul 29, 2008 11:23 am I don't mind the variation between what you see and what you get... as long as you know when you walk in that what you're seeing ISN'T standard. Some places make that clear, and others don't.
To me its a bit like seeing ads for cars. When the new Falcon or Commodore comes out, they don't have billboards of the base model.. they show off the XR8 or the SS. The difference is that you can walk into a car showroom and compare the base model with the top model. Houses you can't do that. I think all they need to do is say, "House without upgrades $227k, as shown $350k" and then everyone would be happy. But even saying that.... half of the "feel" of the place comes from the expert decorating and interior design! That's the one thing that Urbanedge did let themselves down on... their displays are very sparsely furnished. It makes a big difference! Alan and Thuy in Melbourne Building a second time! Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 32Jul 29, 2008 11:24 am joles I understand why the display homes are the way they are. They are fitted out with every possible option. No one ever takes all those options, but they are there to be seen. They are show homes. So they show everything they possibly can and you pick what you want. Think about how visual we all are on here. We like to see what things will look like. Touch them. I was glad I could view options and then make a decision. There has definitely been a massive change in the way display homes are presented. When we were cruising display homes and built in the 1998-2000 period, display homes were not OTT in terms of inclusions, they were available, but at least not every single damn option was put in. There was always a display home in some part of Melbourne displayed to the max and some with just standard. Now I understand we have more choice in the late-Noughties. But what struck me in our brief foray into speculating about building recently is that all display homes are OTT in their display to the point where the "extras" completely change the character of the home. I've clearly expressed my view in previous posts that you should go into the building process eyes wide open, and need the need to educate yourself, but it would be nice to see a home in it's standard form as not every one wants or can afford a house with all the bell's and whistles.... Fundamentally that's why I was put off by building anew....it was too difficult to pin down what I was getting for my money because I couldn't walk through anything less than a fully optioned house. To follow on from PrincessB's analogy....pretty hard to buy a Commodore when you can only look at a Calais. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 33Jul 29, 2008 11:37 am I agree Mike about displays being OTT. One thing I found useful was to go down a level. By that I mean this. The bigger builders have different "ranges" of homes and to go down a range and walk through can give a feel of a higher range less optioned. Does that make sense?
This is going to be difficult to explain, but I guess for me it was easier as, even though I'm a visual person, I could mentally eliminate options as I walked through and strip it back to basics mentally. Mum was the complete opposite. She was confused and struggling as she simply couldn't visualise. And for someone that finds it difficult to visualise, I think it would be a nightmare. Funny I can visualise when it some to homes. But can't throw an outfit together to save myself. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 34Jul 29, 2008 11:51 am We were lucky in that the house we chose to build was displayed with very little 'extras', we were told that up front and everything was pointed out as we went around. I think there was 5 or 6 extras, two of them we ended up getting as part of the promotional package and one we upgraded to on top. As part of the promotion we also got lots of things that weren't displayed in the house - stone benchtops, upgraded appliances etc.
Because of this, our tender has come in at only about 14% over the base price of the house, with most of the cost coming from a huge extended roofline at the back. We are building with PD in Melbourne - I guess it goes to show it just depends on your sales person and how up front they are and the house you choose. When we were going around though, I noticed another builder whose displays were disgraceful, with doors falling off the hinges, discoloured grout in the shower etc. I couldn't believe they would present that and expect someone to buy it! Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 35Jul 29, 2008 12:06 pm gumboots We were lucky in that the house we chose to build was displayed with very little 'extras', we were told that up front and everything was pointed out as we went around. I think there was 5 or 6 extras, two of them we ended up getting as part of the promotional package and one we upgraded to on top. As part of the promotion we also got lots of things that weren't displayed in the house - stone benchtops, upgraded appliances etc. Because of this, our tender has come in at only about 14% over the base price of the house, with most of the cost coming from a huge extended roofline at the back. Similar story here ... the display of our house had less than 10 upgrades, we were also told which items were extra even before we enter the house, and we also got some of them (including the optional alfresco) free as part of their promotion. Some of their standard inclusions (tapware, bathroom fittings etc.) were actually better quality than those on the display. Our contract price (including site costs and some upgrades, but excluding floor & window coverings) is only 9% over the base price of the house. Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 36Jul 29, 2008 12:08 pm Yeah it is very frustrating, just when you think you know what you are getting for your hard earned dollar something always pops up.
I found H3nley to be about the best in Melbourne for displaying what you get and their upgrades and extra costs are easy to understand and they give them to you from the start. Mind you we haven't gone through the tender stage with them yet so im sure we will have some surprises along the way Unfortunately it is just how the building industry works, company's make their money from variations. Re: Disappointed in marketing of Display Homes 37Jul 29, 2008 12:29 pm devank So far I found only Allcastle homes to be reasonable in terms of base price. Their price include what ever you see on display (- coverings and lightings). Still the cost is increased from 247K (base price) to 347K (tender price) - devank Except they did not even bother answering our questions or calling back (as promised) before we bought. Hate to think of their response if we had signed, we went somewhere else in the end. Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74219 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105129 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 23198 |