Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 27, 2020 9:03 am Hi all! We would like to hear everyone's experience with either Henley Homes or Boutique Homes? Process? Build Quality? Costs ie site costs, extras, how much more you spend on top of your base price? Things you are happy you added/changed Things you wish you added/changed Please help us first home builders out Re: Henley or Boutique homes? 2Jul 28, 2020 2:12 pm We looked at the Henley World of homes and every single home had something that was glaringly wrong with the design from our opinion. We ended up signing with Boutique based on the build quality as recommended by a private inspector and his experiences but also due to their designs. We haven't yet started building yet but it hasn't all been smooth sailing. We spent around $80,000 on top of base price but we didn't hold back. Site costs were good (and fixed) once they had the correct engineering plans. With electrical they were very strict on what they could and couldn't do. Didn't really solve any problems but instead just said no we don't do that. We were looking at implementing a home theatre. Colours was interesting in that unless we asked for it, they didn't even mention it to us. We picked dark cabinets and one of things I mentioned was that the problem with Dark cabinets is fingerprints. That was the end of our conversation. After our appointment I was doing some research and found out that the offer fingerprint resistant materials for our colour choice in cabinets so I then had to contact them again and get it changed when realistically it should have been mentioned as an option in our appointment. There was some other things I found out later through the facebook group which I ended up again having to bring up to Boutique. This is our first home so our knowledge was extremely lacking. I ended up after the second thing they didn't mention asking her if there are any other optional upgrades that will improve the build quality of the home. She sent through a list but before that we didn't even know they existed. Wasn't very helpful. We are still trying to get our plans right but only minor stuff. Just don't follow them blindly and instead know exactly what you want and do as much research as possible. Re: Henley or Boutique homes? 3Jul 31, 2020 1:26 pm Thanks heaps Yogiebear, this has helped us heaps. We have enquired with boutique and got quoted: $45k for sure costs $35k for demolition- we are planning to get someone locally do this to cut costs And our sales consultant suggested we would need: Cooling Allowance: $18k (Cost for add-on cooling to DS) – (this can be halved with evaporative cooling and split systems) Colour Allowance: $12k (average spend in colour appointment is $5-10k) Electrical Allowance: $10k (Average spend in electrical appointment is $7k) We will make sure we ask heaps of questions as this is also our first time building a home. Keep us posted with what you finally decide. Would love to hear your journey with boutique! Thanks yogiebear We looked at the Henley World of homes and every single home had something that was glaringly wrong with the design from our opinion. We ended up signing with Boutique based on the build quality as recommended by a private inspector and his experiences but also due to their designs. We haven't yet started building yet but it hasn't all been smooth sailing. We spent around $80,000 on top of base price but we didn't hold back. Site costs were good (and fixed) once they had the correct engineering plans. With electrical they were very strict on what they could and couldn't do. Didn't really solve any problems but instead just said no we don't do that. We were looking at implementing a home theatre. Colours was interesting in that unless we asked for it, they didn't even mention it to us. We picked dark cabinets and one of things I mentioned was that the problem with Dark cabinets is fingerprints. That was the end of our conversation. After our appointment I was doing some research and found out that the offer fingerprint resistant materials for our colour choice in cabinets so I then had to contact them again and get it changed when realistically it should have been mentioned as an option in our appointment. There was some other things I found out later through the facebook group which I ended up again having to bring up to Boutique. This is our first home so our knowledge was extremely lacking. I ended up after the second thing they didn't mention asking her if there are any other optional upgrades that will improve the build quality of the home. She sent through a list but before that we didn't even know they existed. Wasn't very helpful. We are still trying to get our plans right but only minor stuff. Just don't follow them blindly and instead know exactly what you want and do as much research as possible. Re: Henley or Boutique homes? 4Dec 21, 2021 7:48 pm yogiebear We looked at the Henley World of homes and every single home had something that was glaringly wrong with the design from our opinion. We ended up signing with Boutique based on the build quality as recommended by a private inspector and his experiences but also due to their designs. We haven't yet started building yet but it hasn't all been smooth sailing. We spent around $80,000 on top of base price but we didn't hold back. Site costs were good (and fixed) once they had the correct engineering plans. With electrical they were very strict on what they could and couldn't do. Didn't really solve any problems but instead just said no we don't do that. We were looking at implementing a home theatre. Colours was interesting in that unless we asked for it, they didn't even mention it to us. We picked dark cabinets and one of things I mentioned was that the problem with Dark cabinets is fingerprints. That was the end of our conversation. After our appointment I was doing some research and found out that the offer fingerprint resistant materials for our colour choice in cabinets so I then had to contact them again and get it changed when realistically it should have been mentioned as an option in our appointment. There was some other things I found out later through the facebook group which I ended up again having to bring up to Boutique. This is our first home so our knowledge was extremely lacking. I ended up after the second thing they didn't mention asking her if there are any other optional upgrades that will improve the build quality of the home. She sent through a list but before that we didn't even know they existed. Wasn't very helpful. We are still trying to get our plans right but only minor stuff. Just don't follow them blindly and instead know exactly what you want and do as much research as possible. Very helpful, just planning to have initial discussions with Boutique for a double storey home in Glen Waverley. Re: Henley or Boutique homes? 6Feb 10, 2022 6:42 pm Currently building with boutique. Frame is up. The sale process between Henley and boutique was night and day. henley litterally ghosted us. Boutique was the opposite and were available and answering emails even at 10pm when I had questions. Colour consult was excellent. We had young girl who was passionate about her job good suggestions and ideas without pushing a particular product. Prestart. I had so many changes I wanted to do and not one of them cost a single variation fee to do. We got heaps of provisioning done for stuff we wanted to do after hand over that cost us nothing and was never too hard for them to do. Even got some custom window sizes and had plans etc changed up for no more than the difference between the included window cost and the new window - ie 200 bucks. Have had a few teething issues so far, but everything able to be resolved with a chat. Inspector found a couple defects at slab and frame so far. Everything rectified with photos sent to me as evidence. Been able to get several things knocked down in price significantly because we were able to prove via quotes what they were charging was way over reasonable. Again, polite conversation and some reasoning. Always came to the party. This isn't my first rodeo though. 300k house 32 sq single (now its 340k since April last year) and about 175k extras, 20k site works. Site supervisors have been pleasant, responsive and not argumentative. Every issue raised, there followed up. So far so good Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. 10 15701 Hi, If you give a set of criteria as to what means 'good' to you, it'll give others prompts to respond. We considered Henley early on but there were two factors that… 1 10441 |