Simonds vs Metricon

HaoYu · Nov 15, 2018 11:41 pm

Hi everyone,

I am a first house owner and already have our land ready. We intend to build our house with volume builders and now compared Metricon and Simonds, as they have some floor plans suitable for us.

We have contacted them several times and have got quotation on same or very similar upgrades, floor plans and sizes of those two builders are almost same as well after our modification.

Now my concern is why Simonds is around $30k cheaper than Metricon? will the price difference vary the quality of house? What results in the difference, materials? labor? or anything else?

In addition, I am living in Shepparton in north Victoria, which is a relatively small town. We recently wandered around almost all estates in the town, and found out the number of under construction Metricon houses is at least 5 times of Simonds house, probably 20+ vs 4. Why not people choosing a cheaper builder, do they really build poor quality house or will bring you headache during building processing?

Hope someone can give me some hint about why and how Simonds is cheaper? Thanks heaps. Hope you all can get your dream house.

alexp79 · Nov 16, 2018 3:13 am

To compare builders by price, you should be probably comparing 2 fully identical houses with the identical set of finishes and materials.
But price comparison is not everything, the main things are:
- how quickly the houses are built and how accurately the original estimates are followed;
- how many issues being identified by independent inspectors during the build and how efficiently they are rectified;
- how responsive/accessible is your site supervisor and how well he can control the traders in order to minimise the built time while not sacrificing the quality;
- how good is customer service overall;
- etc.

g33kerb0t · Nov 16, 2018 6:26 am

Builders have different inclusions, materials, and suppliers. You may be comparing the base house price and upgrades but their trades, frame, steel, brick, etc. come from different suppliers. Naturally one will be cheaper than the other.

Also Metricon is the biggest builder in Australia, whilst Simmonds is only a small builder in Victoria.

You cannot compare the two in terms of number of houses they are building in your area.

Find a builder that has the floor plan and inclusions that suits you, with the upgrades that you like and suits your budget and build duration that suits your timescales.

Read the fine print - ask for a copy of the inclusions, ask for a copy of the contract.

Building the Votivo43 - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=88553

HaoYu · Nov 16, 2018 8:27 am

alexp79

To compare builders by price, you should be probably comparing 2 fully identical houses with the identical set of finishes and materials.
But price comparison is not everything, the main things are:
- how quickly the houses are built and how accurately the original estimates are followed;
- how many issues being identified by independent inspectors during the build and how efficiently they are rectified;
- how responsive/accessible is your site supervisor and how well he can control the traders in order to minimise the built time while not sacrificing the quality;
- how good is customer service overall;
- etc.

Thank you so much Alex for your reply.
I think what you mentioned is after 'sign off contract' processing, we are not there yet, I dont think we are able to meet our site supervisor until the commencement of construction. But anyway, I will write down all those on my notepad.
And you mentioned independent inspectors, where can I find a reliable inspector? Will he/she inspect our site regularly during construction and identify any issue if there is a few?

HaoYu · Nov 16, 2018 8:40 am

g33kerb0t

Builders have different inclusions, materials, and suppliers. You may be comparing the base house price and upgrades but their trades, frame, steel, brick, etc. come from different suppliers. Naturally one will be cheaper than the other.

Also Metricon is the biggest builder in Australia, whilst Simmonds is only a small builder in Victoria.

You cannot compare the two in terms of number of houses they are building in your area.

Find a builder that has the floor plan and inclusions that suits you, with the upgrades that you like and suits your budget and build duration that suits your timescales.

Read the fine print - ask for a copy of the inclusions, ask for a copy of the contract.

Building the Votivo43 - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=88553

Thank you for your thread, are we able to get a copy of contract if we are not gonna sign and do not select colors from gallery? We are now just at quotation stage without signing off any files....

g33kerb0t · Nov 16, 2018 9:34 am

You should be able to. They should have a blank contract that they can share with you.

HaoYu

g33kerb0t

Builders have different inclusions, materials, and suppliers. You may be comparing the base house price and upgrades but their trades, frame, steel, brick, etc. come from different suppliers. Naturally one will be cheaper than the other.

Also Metricon is the biggest builder in Australia, whilst Simmonds is only a small builder in Victoria.

You cannot compare the two in terms of number of houses they are building in your area.

Find a builder that has the floor plan and inclusions that suits you, with the upgrades that you like and suits your budget and build duration that suits your timescales.

Read the fine print - ask for a copy of the inclusions, ask for a copy of the contract.

Building the Votivo43 - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=88553

Thank you for your thread, are we able to get a copy of contract if we are not gonna sign and do not select colors from gallery? We are now just at quotation stage without signing off any files....

Building the Votivo43 - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=88553