Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 4Apr 10, 2010 11:41 am How much deposit have you already paid? Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 5Apr 10, 2010 1:02 pm I would have a meeting and tell them you are just unable to cover these extra costs...and that is it! Just the facts, no emotion and the solution is for you to cancel the contract. Then sit back with 'your cards on the table' and see what they are prepared to offer. I believe its all in the art of negotiation. We did this when they wanted a 20% deposit on our land. we had to sell shares etc so we told them the deal will not go ahead under any circumstances unless they could wait for the deposit....and they did which went against everything what they were suppose to do. You are either going to lose 4k (probably around that amount) if you cancel the contract or 9k if you build with them...either way money now has been lost so you just have to work out the best business deal for you. Good luck... the property market is crazy at the moment so take this into consideration. Mrs B Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 6Apr 10, 2010 1:10 pm Sandra All the info you want & need is in the contract you signed. No use saying its the developers fault or they said this that or the other. You can always add 4 or 5 months to a developers date of title if it gets them a sale they will tell you its ready tomorrow. Anyway Im feel your stress and try not to worrry too much: Page 14 Special conditions Most say " if not started in 6 month due to land not settled then a price rise may apply." If yours says that then you should have got written conformation from the developer of the date. Some land does not settle for 12 months, so the builder cops the increase in price of supplies. That why its in the special conditions. Has the cost, list price, of your house gone up and by how much? KW............. “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 7Apr 10, 2010 7:12 pm Sorry to say this but you can bet the developer is covered too. There would be a clause giving them 2yrs to get the land titled. At least this was in my contract with Oliver Hume for Alamanda Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 8Apr 10, 2010 7:50 pm You might find the land contract relevant reading as well. We are waiting for our land to be registered which was to happen in Oct-Dec 09. We have no recourse against the developer until 30 June 2010, which was a special condition our solicitor had written into the contract - apparently quite common with land purchases where the land is not registered. Perhaps it's your solicitor that is handling the land purchase that you need to speak to. They may be able to assist you. Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 9Apr 13, 2010 8:53 am This happened to me. However, my builder clearly stipulated that it would cost this much IF we were not able to start by date x. I was able to weigh up my risks as to when I would like my build to start. Yep, it happened, and it only cost $1500 for the price rise. I was slightly peeved, but I knew what I was in for and $1500 is not the end of the world. I would have thought twice if it was $8k. You may be able to contest that $8k is excessive compensation. Also, you have a contractual agreement with the builder, where does it say in the contract that this is your obligation? Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 10Apr 13, 2010 9:01 am Anyway, section 4 of that act has nothing to do with 5 months. What about this? http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/ ... 5/s33.html I really cannot find anything about 5 months from signing. It all sounds a little odd. Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 11Apr 13, 2010 9:05 am As others have mentioned this is real and it is in the contract. I know for us in Karinya estate, Point Cook our land titled 5 months after expected and in the contracts it stipulated that the developer had up to 2 years to get the land titled. We left signing our building contracts for as long as possible and luckily our builder (Inspired Homes/ Hermitage Homes) was very understanding of our situation. That said, I didn't sign the contract until I thought it was safe to do so. I read all of my contracts back to front, inside and out, over and over again. I then passed them on to my solicitor. Did you solicitor not inform you of these basic clauses in your contracts? Our house thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=18335 Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 12Apr 20, 2010 11:48 pm If it makes you feel any better, our builder asked for $11k due to a 1 year time span between the price at time of tender and the price when the build was due to start. This corresponds to around 3% of the total contract price, so seems like a fair increase, given that their costs will have increased in line with inflation too. In theory your income(s) will also have increased and you'll be able to service the larger loan. I'm surprised they want the money up front, our contract stipulates that all such variations are due at the next progress payment. I think it's important to understand that the builder generally acts in the role of your agent/project manager, who is paid by taking a percentage of the total cost. If their input costs go up, they will pass those on to you - those are really your input costs going up, the builder is just the messenger. A builder who does take on risk is more properly called a "property developer", and expects some extra compensation for that risk. I gather this is where some of the builders who went under in the GFC came unstuck - they had borrowed to buy land for development (house and land package...) and in this case they lost. Re: Delay in land title+ridiculously high bill from Builder= 13Apr 22, 2010 11:34 am Poor you Sandra, My land title release was delayed by more than 4 months (I signed a contract in September '09, land was to be released early December '09 but I wasn't given clear title until early April '10) so I had a few heart palpitations after reading your post. However I have since spoken to my builder (who is also a volume builder) and they have said that, although there has been one increase in the price of the house, they aren't going to pass it on to me. I think what your builder is expecting you to pay is quite ridiculous and you shouldn't have to pay it in a lump sum at the commencement of the build. I would ask for particulars as to how they came to that figure (ie: is it just materials that have gone up in price or are there other items which have increased the cost?), go through both the land and building contracts with your solicitor (to see if there is any recourse for damages against the land developer) and, if neither of those are successful, work out how much it will cost you to get out of the contract. I personally wouldn't want to deal with a builder that acts like that. Also keep in mind that Consumer Affairs Victoria may be able to assist you (you might have seen on TV they've recently been running a lot of ads about building in particular) www.consumer.vic.gov.au Good luck Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 14Apr 22, 2010 12:14 pm ~sandra It stated that in accordance with page 38, edition 2-2001 of the home improvements contract and the domestic contracts act 1995 we owe them $8892.24 for an increase to contract as per section 4 - Construction not commencing within 5 months of the signing of contract due to owner circumstances, land or developer issues. We signed our contract on the 18/9/2009 so it has been 5 months, though honestly, this is rediculous since it is out of our hands... is this something we can fight? Shouldnt the land developer be paying crap bills like this as it is there fault? Is there some kind of "compensation" that developers should have to pay for things like this? Sorry, not much sympathy here ... It clearly states developer issues as "not their problem". You should have identified this as a possible issue prior to signing it, and got a counter-clause put in your land contract that would defer liability of this clause to the developer. I daresay your land contract would exonerate the developers for up to 2 years, so they are still well within their contractual obligations even if they are a couple of months off schedule. Legally I don't think you have a leg to stand on, so cop it sweet or cancel the contract in my opinion. ~sandra This bill seriously is not something we expected.. we have thought of everything else and included it in our loan, though this was not something we thought of. We have enough money saved to either pay our land stamp duty, or this bill. Honestly, if we have to pay it, it will break us in the entire building dream! No judgement, but if a $9k bill is going to break you, how is a 3-5% rise in interest rates going to affect you ? Built a Tribeca 44 with the Big M Sales Accept 15/06/09, Contract Signed 24/09/09, Site Start 23/11/09, Slab 11/12/09, Frame 12/01/10, Roof 20/01/10, Lock-up 30/03/10, Fixing 30/04/10, Handover 27/08/10. Re: Delay in land title+rediculously high bill from Builder= 15Apr 22, 2010 12:52 pm jimmalenko ~sandra It stated that in accordance with page 38, edition 2-2001 of the home improvements contract and the domestic contracts act 1995 we owe them $8892.24 for an increase to contract as per section 4 - Construction not commencing within 5 months of the signing of contract due to owner circumstances, land or developer issues. We signed our contract on the 18/9/2009 so it has been 5 months, though honestly, this is rediculous since it is out of our hands... is this something we can fight? Shouldnt the land developer be paying crap bills like this as it is there fault? Is there some kind of "compensation" that developers should have to pay for things like this? Sorry, not much sympathy here ... It clearly states developer issues as "not their problem". You should have identified this as a possible issue prior to signing it, and got a counter-clause put in your land contract that would defer liability of this clause to the developer. I daresay your land contract would exonerate the developers for up to 2 years, so they are still well within their contractual obligations even if they are a couple of months off schedule. Legally I don't think you have a leg to stand on, so cop it sweet or cancel the contract in my opinion. ~sandra This bill seriously is not something we expected.. we have thought of everything else and included it in our loan, though this was not something we thought of. We have enough money saved to either pay our land stamp duty, or this bill. Honestly, if we have to pay it, it will break us in the entire building dream! No judgement, but if a $9k bill is going to break you, how is a 3-5% rise in interest rates going to affect you ? EXACTLY! I don't mean to be rude either but this is something that you need to go over before you put yourself into debt. You can argue with the builder and plead with them, but legally you won't get anywhere. Our house thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=18335 Hi, My home construction is complete, and the handover is scheduled next week. However the construction has been delayed and I have raised this to the builder. The… 0 5671 1 10180 Not sure, depends on the builder. We are mid build with McDonald Jones, and they have been perfect so far. Contract signed October 2023, Slab went up 1st week of February… 2 2267 |