Hi All,
I am in process to find the builder to built my house.
What are the things I should consider when choosing the builder?
Also, what are the things in which builder trick people and I should be careful of.
Looking forward to read your inputs and any suggestion.
Thank you in advance.
Yes, I have heard lot of horror stories from my friends, and that made little anxious. fingers crossed.
probbetter tobuy a house that's already built but if your keen then try to get a good site supervisor- this matters a lot. then make sure you know how much extras cost etc.
I already bought the land and selling land and buying already built house could means I ll loose some money in form of expenses.
Definitely. You incur 2x stamp duty which is the most expensive part (cf to 1x). Note also that stamp duty on land is lower than stamp duty on (land plus building) - apples with apples comparison.
Yes, that is the reason, dealing with builders can be pain but i guess it saves few thousands.
Probably need more info. Do you want to design your home or have it drawn up? Or just an existing plan like from Simonds or wherever?
If going with one of the main builders I found and advice I got was really depends on your site supervisor, ask around other people who've built with that builder and who was a good supervisor and ask specifically for them. A good supervisor will let you in to do extras, work with you, let you pay cash to the tradies onsite for extras (we got extra power points, extra taps outside, internal insulation etc.
I have been to some major builders and found designs which i like (with some small changes).
Good point about site supervisor.
We do small TH developments around Melbourne. We mainly use small builders and the amount of dodgy shit going on is incredible. Had a builder went bankrupt on us, trades going bankrupt on the builder, calling bikies on each other, building surveyors signing off without even going to site.
My personal experience, possibly don't go with the cheapest quote you get. Did that a couple of times and it turned out disastrous. If you are going with a small builder, make sure you do your homework. Some googling online usually will bring up a bit of information, speak to their previous project owners etc… independent consultants that drop by regularly to check the site for you is a must. Get professional legal advise for your building contract before you sign. Esp with the HIA contract which protects the builder more than the customer.
If you can get good small builder, go for it. If not, volume builders are fine. Not saying they are good but at least chances of them disappearing on you are lower. Insist on your own building surveyors, try not to use theirs.
Long post but i could go on forever.
Thank you sharing this info. very helpful.
Agree. Don't go with the cheapest builder to quote. Also, get references, go see their other work, talk with the owners who've built with them before, try to find a previous client from online or other sources other than the builder itself as well. We built, had three builders to choose from, went & saw 3 properties from each & spoke with the owners. Took a lot of time, but ended up with a good builder & very happy with them.
I’ve built a house and had renovation work and I’ve put the requests up on the Master Builders website
https://www.mbav.com.au/find-master-builder
Was very happy with the people we ended up with. However YMMV.
The answer is to make sure you understand the contract, what the mediation process will be, the penalties for not meeting various milestones and what will happen if the builder goes broke. Make sure everything is itemised as they are likely to go low end and then talk you up with extras. Check other things they have done by contacting referees.
Thanks for sharing. never knew about master builder. will surely do some research.
apparently you can build a city on rock'n'roll.
so…theoretically… a house could be built with jazz.
hire some musicians
Construction noise is no less than any annoying music -;)
Wow, that is a big question. There is no easy answer. Having done it myself, all I can say is do your homework and research, understand the process, don't believe anything you hear unless you see it in writing.
Spend a lot of time reading everything on this site, especially in the building a new home section
Thanks for suggestion.
We've built four houses before - we've used two local building companies that have had a solid reputation and have been recommended by friends. We had no major issues.
Where is your land located?
south west Sydney
Note that outer rings that have mainly project homes, the highest value usually occurs after the new property is built and then value declines for a bit for a few years after (leaving aside property cycles).
This is different to inner rings which have more bespoke builds.
It's probably worth going to homeone.com.au - it's a building and renovating forum. I found it very useful when I built.
thanks for sharing
Unless you're wanting a bespoke design and a small but very premium builder, stick to the bigger names only. They tend to have better service, decent prices (they probably benefit from bulk discounts more), more experience, and they have more of a reputation at stake if something goes wrong.
Won't name names but some smaller builders are nightmares to deal with.
thanks for sharing your view.
they have more of a reputation at stake if something goes wrong
Definitely.
more experience
Can't say definitively as all builders use subcontractors so quality depends on their experience and the corners they cut which can be a function of what they are paid by the builder.
Yeah - not necessarily more experienced people directly building it, but in examples I've seen, better experience with managing the build, supervision of sub-contractors, explaining things to customers, getting plans approved (if that's part of the contract), etc.
I would recommend choosing a custom builder over a volume builder.
They actually care about the project and because they're smaller than volume builders are less likely to cut corners because each project is a selling point for them.
I used Arlington Homes www.arlingtonhomes.com.au to build 3 townhouses for me. Might not be relevant to you as you're in Sydney but it's just my experience
The best bet is to use Builder Background Checks at www.builderchecks.com.au pretty much every possible place to investigate they will do for you. That's the best protection, the dodgy builders can be avoided. You need to know the reputation of the builder is A1. There's also lots of helpful free articles and resources for people that are about to build.
Hey whats up.
Why wouldn't you just find those once who used the service, and ask them was the job done decently? Builders usually brag about the customers on their websites, in a testimonials section. You probably already have an eye on some company, find feedback from the customers.
I undertook this and ended up having a great new house.
Used gilpip homes. They seem to be reasonably priced, tidy, and fair about spendings.
I have singed builder. Work will start in next 7-10 days. It is not a big builder.
So far so good, no sales trick, got fixed price contract.
fingers crossed.
Hope you did well and the construction is finished
Yes, going well. should be done by end of this month or mid next month.
@sydneybargainer: Make sure you do a really good inspection before final payment but sounds like it wasn’t too traumatic.
@try2bhelpful: I have to think of a politically correct way as I have build good rapport with builder and don't want to offend him by sounding I don't trust him.
Fair to say he has been decent from start till now. Fingers crossed for future.
If I was with some big builder then I will surely have inspection for all 4-5 stages.
@sydneybargainer: If he’s a decent person he won’t be offended by you having a good look around. If you do find something then I would go with “this is really great but could you possibly …..”. We’ve been pretty lucky with our builders, we built a good rapport with them. It is, always, useful to have someone you trust to do future renovations and your mates could be looking for recommendations. Best of luck with moving in.
I watched a video yesterday on some lady building her house and how much she was juggled around. It’s kind of scared me into not doing it.
https://youtu.be/8onOx77FklA