Thinking of building with Ausbuild and seems like a pretty good journey for you so far?
Anything you think to be aware of or have in mind as we go through the process?
Hi Coatedmoney. It has been a great journey so far with me.
Mel (the home and land sales consultant) was our first point of contact and she's great to deal with. She is very attentive to detail.
Every other person after Mel was also a delight to work with - their design team have a great understanding of everyday living in the home so they were able to warn us off our crazy ideas that doesn't translate to good liveability (living with compromises just because we want something to look a particular way). I'm currently liasing now with the building administrations team because I'm at construction stage. While we don't correspond as much as I did with Mel and the design team, their updates are straight to the point and easy to understand - puts me at ease as a first time home buyer.
If I were to put down main points of interest - they would be:
- Communication and patience is key - depending on your timing of your build process, they can get really busy. I had my process start during the mass influx of interest in building due to the Home Builder Grant. There was a point that we got responses to our emails 4 business days after the fact (during the time I saw this as a negative but looking back at it now and considering how busy it really was - their turn around for my responses was actually really good). I guess you have to set your expectations properly and know that sometimes it pays off to wait (I wish I waited before sending out some of the emails I sent as answers came in during the next part of the process etc etc)
- The process turned out to be quicker than I thought - It took me ~2 months from the first home proposal to the signing of the final version of it. Build contract was delivered then signed 1 month after that. Selections (tiles, electrical and home) were all done within ~1.5 months. Slab was laid ~2 months after final selections appointment (delay was partly due to my finance coming in late).
- While they are a 'bulk' builder, their home designs can be altered/customised - They can be flexible with the home plans and this was a big plus for us. Don't be afraid to ask something that is outside of the plans/home options but do this early. I had all of my changes done with Mel quite early and this was a big plus as everything in the new home proposal already had what we imagined/wished in the first place.
- My advice: Take advantage of the refined flooring offer - trust me when I say that the $2000 you spend for the refined flooring will go a long way especially if you upgrade your floor tiles during your tiles selection. We were lucky that the community where we built had refined flooring included.
- My advice: Refined flooring is worth it - In my opinion I think that purchasing all the refined living upgrades is worth it (if you choose to further upgrade during the selections appointment then the additional cost is based from the upgraded items).
- Plan ahead of your selections - Think of all the upgrades you want to do prior to the selections appointment then ask the design team to quote you on all of them (for example in the masters ensuite I asked quotes for 3 different showerheads). They like it this way and makes it quicker as they only need to get their estimating team to do it all in one bulk rather than going back and forth with various options.We were given 2 hours for the selections appointment in the Design Studio but we were told that we could stay for 3 hours.
- These are their suppliers: (I wish I knew all these from the beginning so I could have researched earlier!)
- Bricks: PGH/Austral
- Tiles: National tiles
- Paint: Taubmans (tradex comes as standard; upgrading to Endure for
- Tapware (kitchen+bathroom) and shower hardware: Phoenix
- Doors/Skirting/Architraves: Corinthian
- *Aluminum doors: They have access to an aluminum door supplier. The door we wanted doesn't fit our home design but it pays to ask - these pivot/hinged aluminum doors are much cheaper than the timber counterparts. Ask about them!
- Basins: Oliveri
- Door hardware: Lane
- Windows: Dowell Windows
- Standard downlights: HPM DLI 90mm LED Colour Changing Dimmable Downlight If you have any questions re: standard inclusions/upgrades (and costs) for the items above please send them through. I'm happy to help.
Thanks mate really appreciate the toke you spent to reply- particularly the brands used. Helps us get an idea of what to look for and get an idea.
It’s great you have had a good experience like you were looking at land they develop so having to build with them I was a bit weary but to hear such positive news is great.
How much did you spend over the houses base price?
It’s great they have pre selected changes but seems like you made some additional ones as well?