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Hi all, Figured we would try and document our process with Hall & Hart as being a relatively new builder there is not a lot of information out there on the forums to help people. For some background; we purchased a corner block of land at Willowdale (South West Sydney) a while ago. As with everyone else, we had a look at countless display homes and designs before narrowing it down to two builders; Metricon and Hall & Hart.
Each had their own positives and negatives, Metricon had a bigger range that we could see and their process was rock solid along with having the benefits (and negatives) of a larger builder.
Hall & Hart for us had the better home design to suit our block, they were smaller and as such seemed to have a better focus on quality, offered better inclusions for their fee and we felt the sales consultant was very upfront and always wanted to give us the "worst case scenario" pricing so there wasn't any nasty surprises. We ended up getting a tender from both Metricon and Hall & Hart. In the end we selected Hall & Hart, paid the $5,000 tender acceptance fee and they are currently drawing up our detailed drawings for our review. These should be due back to us in a few weeks. I have attached some images of our model we created to test the siting and position of the Madison design on the block. We're currently trying to work out what colours would be best before our detailed drawings come back to us and we have to go and see the colour specialist. Looking forward to documenting the process so other's considering Hall & Hart have a bit more information out there to help with their decision.
Appreciate the insights into Hall and Hart as we are considering them. Were you pleased with the overall price and value?
Yes we were pleased with the Hall and Hart inclusions and price. The base pricing for the designs we were interested in were similar to Metricon in terms of cost, but H&H had a lot more included in their packages. Simple things like you wouldn't think about at the time (locks to toilet doors, tiles to front entry porch, NBN connections, an allowance for downlights etc).
If we had gone with Metricon, this would have been additional cost at our relevant electrical and detailed appointments. Granted we are yet to receive our developed drawings back yet from H&H but they seem to try and give you an accurate price for a home, rather than a low price that they know you will need to pay for additional things later just to make your house liveable.
Congratulations on your choice.
We've now completed the pre-construction phase with Hall & Hart, and are just about to start on the build.
We were very pleased with the process and communication throughout. Enjoy all those decisions, it's what makes it yours!
Hi adalon,
We are also considering Hall & Hart and looking researching colour specialists. Did you end up choosing someone to help you with the colours? If so, how was your experience? Thanks!
Hi Zen,
We ended up choosing the colours ourself, but the Home Ideas Centre has a great deal of colour scheme and boards than can help you get an idea of the sort of scheme you're trying to go for.
Austral Bricks also offered a free colour consultation that you can book in for to help match colours to your favourite brick choice.
We have just finished all our interior selection meetings and are waiting for final drawings to come back to us. We have our final contract meeting in two weeks.
That's great news about your progress adalon! Hadn't heard anything from you for a while, was hoping it was all going ok. Shouldn't be long before it all kicks off for you then, exciting
Had our contract meeting today and signed all the required documents and final contract. Hopefully looking to start building early next month. Just need to get our finance finalised and sent through to Hall and Hart.
So far very happy with Hall and Hart. Biggest positive so far to me is not having any major surprises along the way in terms of variations and hidden costs. The original tender fee we originally received seemed to allow for all the items which other builders we received quotes from had not included (ie, bushfire rating, site slope, salinity etc).
This has made the process to date a lot less stressful. Especially after reading some people on Homeone being slogged unexpected site works variations for tens of thousands of dollars.
Congrats on contract signing, must be an awesome feeling to be so close to the build starting. I'm looking forward to lots of pictures and updates
Congrats adalon! Best of luck with the fun part
Congrats adalon! How exciting to start building so soon! Looking forward to seeing the updates!
Hi Adalon, Have you started building works? How is it all coming along?
Hi Adalon, Have you started building works? How is it all coming along?
Just commenced. Site has been levelled and the formwork for the slab has been put in.
Apparently going to pour next week.
We've just engaged Houspect to help with the stage reviews.
Brilliant, fingers crossed the weather stays good for you
Awesome to see it happening! Nice corner block location.
Hope it progresses quickly for you
Now have a slab. Crazy how fast it seems to go after spending so much time in the admin stage.
Awesome, you've been slabbed. Must be great to see exactly where the house will sit on your block. Thanks for the photos.
Hi there, love seeing your progress. Soon you will be amazed how it feels when the frame goes up. Good luck with your journey!
Frames progress.
Roof going on next week.