Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 02, 2016 12:51 pm Plenty of people on this forum at different stages of their build. It's really a fantastic resource of information to draw on other's experiences. I'm therefore interested to know what your biggest gripe is with the process so far. Also what you believe should have happened differently so you had a better experience. This is not intended as a finger pointing exercise. More to help awareness for others to potentially avoid problems/frustrations before they occur. So, my biggest gripe: We're in the pre-contract phase and my biggest gripe so far is a lack of certainty about costs before you actually sign on. Lots of "should only cost this" and the like without committing to anything. You feel like you need to pay your deposit before they come clean about the real costs. Makes it very hard to budget the project and doesn't give you much confidence that it won't blow out. I'd like to see more transparency of information. Give the reps access to price calculators the estimators use and have them all working off the same info. Even get an estimator to review the quote before its sent to the customer if necessary. Sales person can properly qualify the customer first to make sure they are not just kicking tyres. From there get some skin in the game to win the business. After all we are looking to spend several hundred $k with you. Re: Home building - What's your biggest gripe? 2Sep 02, 2016 1:14 pm The project builder we used told us exactly what we were spending, at least on all the stuff they did (ie. not landscaping or driveway). However, this kinda means I swap my gripe with your gripe; it took about 10 months from signing the tender agreement to getting a contract we could sign. All the delays were on their end, barring one week while we were on holidays & hence delayed our answer on one issue for a few days. I suspect this is what you get, when you want to be told the actual price. Re: Home building - What's your biggest gripe? 3Sep 02, 2016 1:31 pm One wonders how the administration process could possible take so long. I've seen some delays but nothing in that stratosphere. I've noticed we've had to correct errors a number of times. Get the impression its more a communication disconnect between multiple parties at their end. Re: Home building - What's your biggest gripe? 4Sep 02, 2016 6:35 pm Same as you arcachon prices, from the start I was asking for all the details and inclusions and was told basic information and that it would be alright. Since then so many bits and pieces one would think are included or were included have added up to more than advised, I wish they had of just given the information upfront and saved a whole lot of drama. That and broker issues with them being slack. Hopefully on the right track now with build ready to begin and all paperwork completed Re: Home building - What's your biggest gripe? 5Sep 02, 2016 9:40 pm The seriously low starting price irritates me. Gives naive first home buyers (like myself) unrealistic ideas/expectations. After looking into project Builders we figured out going with a smaller local builder was a lot better way. Costs work out about the same but they are more transparent. And your money is not going to a giant corporation. You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18063 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16274 go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110566 |