QLD Home Builder Coral, Simonds or Clarendon

wudsapp on 01/10/2018 - 18:28

Hi,

I'm planning to build my first home in Pallara, QLD. Going through the process of finding a builder. Has anyone have previous experience with Coral, Simonds or Clarendon homes.

I have being to the display homes and talked with the sales people of all three builders. Clarendon seems to be on the costly side.
Coral is probably my best option with their design.

I am still not sure about the base inclusions they provide. With everyone, there are some things they do not discuss at this stage and being a first home buyer i have got no clue for what to ask.

As an example, just noticed that fly screens are not included in the quote which he didn't even speak of. Another was the infilling over the windows up to the roof.

Simonds have specifically talked about both of these options and included in their quote. There may be many items like this which i have no clue of.

I have read the reviews of both companies and they look impressive (not sure how valid the reviews are). Just checking if someone has recent experiences with these guys and any advise in this regard.

Poll Options

  • 2
    Coral
  • 1
    Simonds
  • 1
    Clarendon
  • 5
    Other
Home & Garden

Comments

  • Slinky0111 on 01/10/2018 - 19:05

    I have heard of a few horror stories about coral homes. A mate at work bought and built one, and had nothing but issues with it. 10s of thousands of dollars worth to fix, of no cost to him however, but was a nightmare to deal with

    • wudsapp on 01/10/2018 - 20:26

      That's pretty bad. Most of their online reviews are good as i mentioned above but not sure how true they are.
      They seems to be targetting lot of first home buyers with low budget.

  • hawkeye on 01/10/2018 - 19:55

    Ausbuild are doing lots of work in Doolandala and one off the best builders in the market.
    The others I've never had anything to do with.
    Variations is where the builders make all the money so choose of the plan.
    NSW builder comes up and brings their health and safety requirements so you end up paying for a temporary fence you didn't need to start with because it's required in NSW costing 1K extra but not in QLD ECT ECT.

    What ever you do don't get sucked into this steel frame bullshit it's 0.9mm thick not cyclone tied down and a lot of other things I could mention but not now.

    • wudsapp on 01/10/2018 - 20:23

      Aren't Ausbuild homes expensive. They always have home and land packages which looks pretty expensive compared if you buy a land separate and choose a builder.

      I've seen lot of sites in Pallara as well with them. Their land prices are cheaper but i think they make profits out of the house.

  • burtie on 01/10/2018 - 21:05

    We were just looking into building through Stroud Homes. I’m not sure how the price compares to the ones you’ve picked out but they had some nice designs and heaps of inclusions (almost everything). I posted on here when we were trying to make a decision and someone gave me the link to this site which was excellent -
    https://www.homeone.com.au
    You can search the companies to see what experience others have had. I also found a very comprehensive list on there of all the extras people wish they’d thought of adding to their plans. It was very helpful!
    (We didn’t end up going ahead with the build though).

    • wudsapp on 01/10/2018 - 21:25

      any reason that you didn't proceed with them. Issue with the builder ?

      • burtie on 02/10/2018 - 08:20

        No, not at all. We had trouble getting finance through our bank and have now decided to extend our current home instead.

        • Korban Dallas on 24/01/2019 - 01:16

          To be honest their standard inclusions are basic. They market it well, but when you compare with others it's not so great. 600mm appliances and plastic door stops with 2400 ceilings its pretty crappy. Don't even offer A/C in their standard. No landscaping.

          Extremely overpriced. Good designs though, really nailed it.

          A lot of disgruntled customers last year and the year before.

          They go in damage control trying to put out fires on social media. They will do anything to remove a bad review. So it's hard to get impartial reviews and make a weighted decision. In saying that I am sure all builders try to do the same as well.

  • Peter Enis on 01/10/2018 - 21:28
    +1

    I would recommend Perry Homes. Between myself and my parents we've now built 7 homes with them over the past 20 years and never had a problem. All on the NSW far north coast but they are actually based in QLD.

  • hawkeye on 01/10/2018 - 21:28

    ask them
    I can say Henley built absolute crap back in late 90's 2000 which is sort of linked to Clarendon and if I remember right changed name Pioneer plantain.

  • Helmutson on 06/10/2018 - 19:37

    I built with Coral in 2009 on the Gold Coast. I found them great to work with. Allowed major alterations to their house design and also allowed heaps of stuff to be varied out of the contract including the plumbing, kitchen, flooring etc.
    I'd recommend them.

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