Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 29, 2008 9:39 am Hi!
Am planning to buy land in NSW, The Ponds. I liked Wisdom's Impression 38 display home, but was wondering whether anyone has built/is building with them and wanted a general feedback. The package price starts at $272,900, by the time we upgrade tiles, carpet, a/c, driveways etc etc, how much of an approximate should we budget as a top up? Has anyone built with CasaView homes - and how do their pricing compare to the market? Reputation? Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 2Sep 29, 2008 10:25 am Hi... we're build the Impression 33 MKII with Wisdom. Stonecutter is building the 38MKII. I'm very happy with Wisdom so far. Should start the actual build process within a couple of weeks so keep an eye on our blog to see how it progresses! C&G -------------------------------- A new building chapter begins.. Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 3Sep 29, 2008 10:47 am Hi ZZZ! We are building the Impression 38 Mk II but with some structural changes.
ZZZ by the time we upgrade tiles, carpet, a/c, driveways etc etc, how much of an approximate should we budget as a top up? We've put aside about $5000 for upgraded tiles - but we are after large format porcelain. The standard carpet included is actually quite nice! We didn't see the need to change that Driveway is included in the $273k - either coloured concrete or stencil For other things to put money aside for:
Kitchen upgrade pack - $2k (not sure if this is still offered) - great price to get stone benchtops and poly cupboards Ducted a/c $13k Connection to recycled water (I'm fairly sure The Ponds gets recycled water) $1500 Facade - $10k for top of the line facade To render front facade and moroka the rest - about $17k - though I've seen a lot of nice homes done by them where they render part of the front only and face brick for the rest - about $5k Higher ceilings for ground floor - $6k (to 2.74m) Electrical upgrades - around $5k should cover everything That puts your total for the house around $330k. So basically add another $60k on top. We've spent an extra $150k on top - but most of that is the structural changes and using a few custom products that are quite expensive like sandstone We did lots of shopping around and comparisons with Clarendon, Eden Brae etc - no other builder came close to the inclusions and quality. After 4 years - we're in! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 4Sep 29, 2008 11:11 am We are at the plans stage with Wisdom Homes Impression 38 mkII our total is at $358K at the moment, no tile or electrical upgrades as yet.
We were at $345k with Clarendon but a bigger house and no driveways carpets or tiles. Check out my blog we have been very happy with the service that we have been receiving so far. We now have a blog. http://allaboutthebuild.blogspot.com/ Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 5Sep 29, 2008 11:14 am Hi danma... just read your blog and noticed you don't have gas on your plot. We don't either, so we're having gas bottles so that we can have the gas cooker that Wisdom include. Just thought I'd let you know in case you didn't consider that as an option. Good to hear everything going smoothly for you too. C&G -------------------------------- A new building chapter begins.. Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 6Sep 29, 2008 12:47 pm Thanks people,
I am really confused and quite scared. I've read so many bad reviews about builders that its not at all funny. I thought W had a really good deal out there. I liked the fact that all extras had a price listed next to it, to make my life easier. Were you able to negotiate your package deal? Stonecutter..I've been reading through your posts and like your house plan. Good luck with it all! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 7Sep 29, 2008 12:48 pm Thanks for that bobbuilder we had already purchased all the kitchen appliances as I didn't like the Clarendon ones that were included so we were going to install them after handover.
Wisdom is going to install them for us and they gave us a generous credit for their appliances. I ended up with a induction cooktop as I am used to the quickness of gas. We now have a blog. http://allaboutthebuild.blogspot.com/ Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 8Sep 29, 2008 1:58 pm ZZZ Were you able to negotiate your package deal? Stonecutter..I've been reading through your posts and like your house plan. Good luck with it all! Not really - though for a lot of things I asked them about prices and at the same time gave them my independent quotes for things (like light fittings). After 4 years - we're in! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 9Sep 30, 2008 10:15 pm I have built with W, they have there +ves and -ves. Not as bad as some, but not as good as we expected.
We found that there display homes are certainly made to wow!! and they do. We fell in love with their display house and they knew it. They would not negotiate the price, and if you want your home to look like theirs, you definately pay for it. They promote themselves as affordable, but in the end they are quite expensive. Becareful you do not over capitalise. My personal opinion is they are expanding too quickly and spreading themselves too thin, they do not have the staff to support building all over Sydney. How can the one site supervisor travel Wollongong, Barden Ridge, Hurstville, Minto, Camden, West Hoxton, The Ponds?? We expected at least a weekly call from our supervisor, but quite often we were chasing him Another annoying thing is your plans go through council, get approved and then you are told you need a sewer peg out (and hydrolics), which will take 2-3weeks + rain delay. They do this on EVERY job...it is a delay tactic, they know they need it to get the CC - if your house is in the zone of influence, you need more piering and hey presto variation. Be very careful with the plans, once you sign off on them thats it, even if there is an error by the architect that no one picks up until your house is being built. you signed them, you pay to fix their errors. So make sure you check, double check and ask questions about the plans and the elevations, and then ask some more. The more knowledge you have and the more questions you ask the more likely any error will be found and no nasty and expensive variations will be raised. This issue probably relates to all builders as well. I'm not overly impressed with the Kitchen company they used. Didn't like that you couldn't paint your skirtings and architraves a different colour to your walls, and the paint is spraypainted on - so I'm guessing we will have to paint the walls in a couple of years if not sooner. +ves They are very reasonable in the length of time it takes to produce a tender and contracts - Some companies fluff around for months with the tender process. We found no nasty suprises in the contract - their fixed price was what we paid. The variations paid were for post tender variations made by us - eg downlights, extra dpp's etc, tiling upgrades, and a error made the architect that we (nor them) picked up (Errrr!!!!) They built our house within the 26 weeks The office can be slow at getting back to you with costing and queries (think thats due to overwork) but they do get back to you and they always take your phone calls - A is lovely. Our house is very liveable and we are glad we built it Like anything go into building with your eyes open. Ask questions, compare. Find out whats included and not. Find out what they will charge for inclusions you want. Do not sign the tender on the day. take it away and think about it for a couple of days - do you really want those items, can you really live without other items?? In summary - expensive, quality less than what i expected but great compared to others, don't be wowed by the inclusions (although they are great) look beyond them. But probably most importantly we are very happy with our house and looking foward to making it a home over the next 20 years. Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 10Oct 01, 2008 8:19 am hi rexie - which home did you build? and how long ago?
I agree about the risk of growing too fast - and nice tip about the sewerpeg out - we will ask them to do if BEFORE we go to council After 4 years - we're in! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 11Oct 01, 2008 7:53 pm hi stonecutter - i built in Camden the Esperance 26 - like the display house at Mount Annan. It was finished in June. It took 6 months to build. Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 12Oct 09, 2008 8:24 pm rexie_build hi stonecutter - i built in Camden the Esperance 26 - like the display house at Mount Annan. It was finished in June. It took 6 months to build. hey - if you don't mind me asking how much did it cost all up to build the esperance 26? Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 13Oct 09, 2008 9:09 pm All up we paid $252k.
Costs included Naples facade with 1/2 render, outside up-down lights, 2nd shower set in ensuite, panelled interior doors, changed the front door from double to single with side lights, built in wardrobe in study, overhead kitchen cupboards, overhead wine rack, caeserstone benchtop kitchen, ducted air, downlights, extra lights outside, extra gas point and dpp outside, extra dpps, door from garage to hallway, split house with two stairs going up - we have a 2m diagonnal slope across our block, paid extra for outdoor leisure (what a rip off), extra stenciled concrete to outdoor leisure, exhaust fan to laundry, feature tiles kitchen & bathrooms, changed window to study (their fault - but we had to pay!!) doors to WIR, Home Theatre room and study, removed media alcove home theatre and leisure room, removed feature wall dining room, changed rear hallway to tiles not carpet, added sliding door to rear hallway, changed position of sink/stove and bigger window in kitchen Thats all i can remember - still not convinced it was worth that much??? We built before I found this forum and we just fell in love the house and wanted it - i think they saw how naive we were. ours is very open plan and my mum said it looks plain - nice comment... that comment has stuck in my head so i'm always concerned we have paid a fortune for nothing special, it shouldn't bug me as we love living in our house and it suits our lifestyle but sometimes comments stick. I have seen a lot of these houses built around me, all with different adaptations so more than willing to answer any questions Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 14Oct 10, 2008 7:08 am It doesn't sound "plain" to me it sounds beautiful. Sometimes people say something but the word that they use is not what they mean.
Don't dwell on it, all that matters is that you love it. I love Wisdom Homes we are building the Impression MkII 38 with some changes. We were building with another builder and compared to them Wisdom is very competitive with their prices for upgrades. Would love to see some pictures if you get a chance, just love the photos. We now have a blog. http://allaboutthebuild.blogspot.com/ Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 15Oct 10, 2008 8:13 am Interesting comments... it's good to hear from someone who's actually built with them.
Do you not think that comparing what you've said to so many other peoples experiences on this forum, you've actually had a pretty good experience on the whole? Getting the build done in 26 weeks, good customer service, the quality being good, and you've said you're happy with your house at the end of it all. I think you've had a pretty good experience. Out of interest have you built a house with another builder before? The biggest negative I can see from your comments is the lack of contact from the site supervisor, so thanks for the heads up on that. Would be keen to see pictures too if you get chance. C&G -------------------------------- A new building chapter begins.. Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 16Oct 10, 2008 8:56 am Danma - the Impression MKII 38 is a lovely home - thanks for your nice comments
Bobbuilder - oh our experience has definately been a dream compared to some peoples horror stories....only one bad experience with them - overall no costly suprises, built on time, quality overall is good... The SS we had is no longer working for them, there have been many customers unhappy with his work so I believe our experience has been a dream even compared to other Wisdom customers with the same SS - bad SS was due to rapidly expanding business - sometimes new business just try to grow too quickly and ruin the product in the process We know of customers with the same SS as us who had price blow outs, time blow outs and even a customer so unhappy Wisdom had to throw in the Home Theatre package for free to compensate - they say now that they love their house, i don't think its just because they have been compensated but I think they really do love their house, like we do because they are so liveable in todays modern lifestyles. If you get Frank (wish we did) he has been there since the start or near the start and is very professional and knows the designs and contractors inside out. We have had some contact with Joe and I have found him just lovely and he would probably have been good as well. So yes, they have their problems - but definatley no real horror story from us, maybe just some little disappointments. Our only problem now is we are waiting for them to fix all our 13 week maintenance issues. We gave them the list over a month ago and have heard nothing becuase the SS's are busy building other peoples houses and the new display centre at Elderslie and we have been put on the back-burner - would like to have it all fixed by Christmas. I will try to organise some photos over the next couple of days (weeks)hopefully - maybe set up a blog... or figure out how to host photos or something. The interior of our house is not completly furnished as we had a blowout in our landscaping with a retaining wall - but we will get there - even if it takes us 20 years!!!! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 17Oct 10, 2008 9:14 am Hi Rexie_build
I just had a look at your design, and it looks stunning.. great layout.. I would certainly not be listening to others comments even if they are close family members.. Lets face it,, if you love your house and are happy there, the monetry value means nothing... its what we are all striving to achieve and that feeling is 'priceless' Also, as far as the architect errors go.. there is no way i would pay for their mistakes.. they are the qualified people, not me, and it would be theirs and the builder's responsibility to ensure they do a correct job.. not mine.. ok i will get down off my soap box now! -Sha Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 18Oct 13, 2008 7:10 am Hi, this is the first time i've ever posted photos... so fingers crossed I'm doing it right.....
I don't mean to take over this thread, and will start my own once i get this photo hosting and posting thing down, which so far has taken me ages..... Here is my land (hopefully) it is 575m and we built Wisdom Homes Esperance 26 on it.... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 19Oct 13, 2008 7:27 am Perfect photo posting! Can't wait to see more of your pics After 4 years - we're in! Re: ANYONE BUILT WTH WISDOM OR CASAVIEW HOMES? 20Nov 01, 2008 12:38 am Hi rexie_build, I am sort of new on this forum and just read your postings. Your house sounds lovely.
We are trying to decide if we should build with Wisdom or EBH. We really liked the Esperance 26 but it might be a bit out of our budget I am afraid. Would you mind if I asked you how much you paid for the Optional outdoor area? You mention is a rip off, but doesn't it make the house feel much nicer with an outdoor covered area? we are looking at the Prosperity 23 (shame it's not on display) and we would have to add an outdoor area. So far Wisdom has given us a different price everytime we've asked! Post some more photos of your place when you can pls, would love to see it! Can someone please offer some advice? Im DESPERATE. Because I'm completely and utterly exhausted. How long are variations taking with other companies at the moment? We… 0 18466 In fairness nobody gave a crap about the ACCC and the gag clauses continued in the pro forma templates of a few other builders after the ACCC took on Wisdom, and more… 19 73477 Hi Everyone, I am exploring builder in NSW and received a very tempting quote from Wisdom home for their momentum series. I just want to know experience of building… 0 8240 |