Anyone building with Homebuyers Centre in VICTORIA?

pooks83 · Apr 24, 2013 7:25 pm

Hi All!,

I have been looking for a thread for those that are building now or have built with Homebuyers Centre in Victoria and I can only find the WA experiences so I thought I would start one.

I have signed up with Homebuyers Centre, have a hold on land in Cranbourne East (Livingston estate) and am just waiting to hear if we were successful with getting our loan through Resolve Finance.

I am REALLY keen to hear of any experiences with any of the above places. I am continually told how busy Homebuyers are with clients...so where are you all hiding?

Happy Building

Pooks

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 9:45 am

hi pooks83, we are also hopefully building in Livingston with home buyers- our land doesn't title til nov its in release 3b. We are currently waiting on pre approval hopefully should know this week. Is there any hidden cost along the way that you've come across????

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 10:45 am

Hi Ruby123, thanks for replying! It's so great to hear from someone with the same builder! You are the first person I have come across in Vic!
Fingers crossed for your pre-approval...we signed up for the Deposit Assist with Resolve. We got pre approval then formal approval. When we signed out preliminary works contract with HBC we paid $1000 deposit there, $1000 to hold our block and then about 6 weeks after another $4000 to secure our block (our block is larger at 545sq...if we chose a smaller block we wouldn't have had to put the $4000 down). This was all before pre-approval. Then when we got the pre-approval we paid $264 for the valuation fee and so far that's all we have put out. Our land titles in October so we are just waiting on that. Formal approval lasts for 90 days so it is likely we have to lodge that again because the land won't title in time but we should be fine. Have you had your selections appointment yet? That was fun! What house design did you choose? What size is your block?

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 11:03 am

hi ya. Were doing deposit assist as well! our block is small though only 393sq. building the vogue 17 as was on promo this month but changed the single garage to a double as Livingston requires a double for a 14m frontage. Havnt been able to find many reviews on vic home buyers centre so been very nervous about the whole thing so far. weve paid $1500 to home buyers n $1500 to secure land. Really worried bout finance not being approved and losing $1500 deposit. Paul my new homes consultant keeps saying it will all be good -you've got it in the bag. But bit worried they only say that to get you to sign and pay deposit. gosh im a stresser lmao. time wil tel I suppose fingers crossed. congrats on your approval though that's awesome

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 11:35 am

Your feelings were exactly the same as mine. It took 2.5 months to find out if we had pre-approval...I was stressing!!! Then it was about 2.5 weeks for formal. Keisha from Resolve is fantastic! She is Johns assistant and has been so good! We are building the Aston25. We had to flip part of our house though because our driveway was on the wrong side for the estate. We could of flipped the whole house design and it would have been free but we didn't wanted to lose the sunlight on the side of our living areas so we flipped just the front half ($5500 built into our loan). I was looking so hard on the net for reviews and people building with homebuyers too but I couldn't find much at all so I understand it feels like going in with your eyes shut! I just had a look at your floorplan, I like the layout...similar to mine. Our land was due to title in August but we have been delayed to October because of the civil works. Have you had a breakdown of your loan and the deposit assist? I found that part the most confusing but I think I have got it now! After all the deposit assist etc, we are left to pay $5000 when the land settles but because they give you the Visa card we could use that to pay but we are going to save that for fencing if needed...if we have to go through the loan process again when the 90 days lapse we have to pay the valuation fee again too.

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 12:44 pm

wow that long for pre approval poor you I would have been pulling my hair out. ours if back this week wil have been 5-7 working days. Finding it hard at the moment your excited some days n flat the next incase approval is denied. at our meeting with james from resolve we should only have to pay $500 at settlement- but whether this is the case we wil c lol. One question our new homes consultant said you pay stamp duty on land yourself (not included in loan) yet on our finance breakdown it seems to b included in the home loan. How is yours regarding stamp duty? Just got rung b4 from pre start have an appointment july 30th.

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 1:14 pm

Yes! I'm building a Metro 17 in Cranbourne West. Just at the fixing stage now, so very close to being finished.

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 1:18 pm

hi beccaJ. how have you found the process of building with home buyers centre???

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 1:40 pm

I've been pleasantly surprised. I've been lurking for a while and seeing some of the dramas that the others have had, but it's been pretty smooth for me.

I went through Resolve as well, and the final approval took ages, easily 3-4 weeks. That was pretty stressful, but they were in contact with me whenever there was a question, so can't fault the communication. There was some drama with my valuation being too low, but my Resolve guy was really calm and we worked out an approach that would work.

While it's been built, my customer service consultant has emailed me once a week with updates and my site supervisor has called every fortnight on the dot. Arranging visits hasn't been a drama and any queries have been taken up same day.

Only thing I'd suggest is to get a few external quotes for things you'd like to upgrade at your colours appointment. I upgraded appliances and Caesarstone benches, but found the powerpoints and aircon would be cheaper after, so I'm doing that.
Still a few weeks to go, but I'm a happy person.

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 3:08 pm

Hi guys! Yay...there are 3 of us :-)

Becca- any advice from you is greatly appreciated...I upgraded to caesarstone benches, bricks to category 2, eaves on the house, front door, shower shelving, extend vinyl flooring in hallway (we have pets so I don't want a lot of carpet), 900ml kitchen appliances (stove/cooktop/rangehood/overhead cupboards) and a glass splash back. All up at the selections appointment we paid $3400). I'm doing the same as you Becca- aircon and electrical after...u couldn't believe the cost of electrical upgrades- $55 for a PowerPoint!! We have a sparky friend so he is going to do our work there. Becca have you had any problems or costs during the build? How long has it been since you started?
Ruby- our stamp duty and other fees were included in the loan...you will probably sign your HIA building contract at your selections appointment which means you should get the $10000 first homeowners grant if you haven't owned before. We got the $7000 cause we signed before 1/7/13...oh well! We will all benefit from the 40% stamp duty deduction though!
Our valuation came in $15000 over what we paid so I was pleased with that. What estate are you moving to Becca? Ruby- we were the same with the highs and lows...some days I didn't even want to keep doing it and I wasn't happy with our homes consultant...he wasn't very efficient and didn't communicate much. I have asked to be changed from him because I'm worried what it would be like during the build. Becca did you deal with the same person all the way through it did it change when the build started?
So excited you guys are in here! I don't feel so alone now :-)

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 4:09 pm

I know 3 of us

awesome that you guys are further along the process. be prepared for lots questions from me hahaha Don't feel so bad knowin im not the only one building with them. some of the w.a threads are pretty scary. good to know bout power points mite get my step dad to do that l8r I think. pooks I c you changed bricks from standard how much was this roughly. the standard r red red n more reds lol

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 4:21 pm

Ruby...red red and red! Yep! They were my thoughts.... I would highly recommend going to Austral bricks before your selections appointment and have a look. I hated category 1 and to upgrade to the next one up above standard and it was $550 to do tr whole house. Yours would be cheaper as our house sizes are different. We chose "truffle" from the indulgence range which is a dark brown. I should still have the email from homebuyers saying what range is what- if you want me to forward it just private message your email and I would be happy to. Did you get your red folder with selections? The brick selections in there are probably old and don't exist...if it has the urban one range - it's old!

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 4:33 pm

I'm at Quarters. I'm a Frankston girl now, so closer to what I know.

I had my contract/colour appointment on 27 Jan, then settlement was mid-March. Earthmoving equipment arrived on 20 April, slab was poured on 3 May and lock up was 5 June.

I had a sales guy, then a lovely NZ lady take me through contract and colour. When the build started, I had a different customer service consultant again, plus my site supervisor. All of them have been fine to deal with.

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 4:38 pm

Omg! So essentially your build has taken a month with a little bit more to go- that's awesome! My partner and I are in Dingley at the moment renting and I work in moorabbin so I'm looking at a lot more travel but I think it will be worth it knowing I am coming home to my own house and not paying someone else's mortgage payments!

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 4:48 pm

Yeah the speed has been fantastic and I'm not seeing shortcuts which is great. I was working in Seaford for most of the build, so dropped by every few days to say hi.

I actually wanted quite a traditional brick looking brick, and found one I loved in the displays. Turns out there was one VERY similar in the cat 1 range, but just a bit redder. But by the time I got the render, roof and garage door colours all in, the red didn't seem as... red, if that makes sense!

ruby123 · Jul 03, 2013 4:49 pm

wow your build has been super fast. how lucky r you!

pooks yes please send me an email regards bricks. we have the red folder and urban one is in there so obviously old :/ il pm you my email

pooks83 · Jul 03, 2013 5:28 pm

Do you have any pics or a blog BeccaJ? Have your progress payments gone smoothly? Did you get a building inspector or did you check on it yourself?

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 6:44 pm

I'll get some pics up on photobucket tomorrow for you - I've been blogging it on Facebook.

I have some tradie friends who I got in to check out the frame, brickwork and cabling for me, but I'll get an inspector for the final stage, just to be sure.

THe progress payments have been fine, once you sign for a stage, the progress payment goes up the month AFTER if that makes sense? So I think I signed lock up at the start of June, but it doesn't actually get charged to me until my July payment. That's been OK, they're quite low for the first few stages, but once it's at lock up, it goes up pretty sharply.

BeccaJ · Jul 03, 2013 7:00 pm

pooks83

My partner and I are in Dingley at the moment renting and I work in moorabbin so I'm looking at a lot more travel but I think it will be worth it knowing I am coming home to my own house and not paying someone else's mortgage payments!

I work in the CBD most of the time, so just a change of scenery on the train for me. But I was looking at changing rentals when my housemate moved last year, looked at the rent and thought - I can be paying my own mortgage for this amount! So just a little house for me, but better than being in the rent trap for a few more years!

ruby123 · Jul 04, 2013 12:59 pm

WE have pre approval!!!!!!!!! what a relief :z: