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SriLankanCat

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I have heard some good stories and some horror stories from builders. I like AV Jennings homes but i have heard some horror stories about AV Jennings.

I suppose at the end of the day all these companies contract out their work to contractors so i gues s the qwuality comes down to who the contractor is which could be any given person. But i heard that AV jennigns client service is awful, inlcluding assisting customers when problems arise.

Has anyone got any suggestions for good builders that are reliable?
 
You'd only go AV Jennings and the likes if you are going off plan. AV Jennings is more of a "we have bought the land, designed the houses, you buy them and you pay once it is finished" job.

To buy your own land, design your own house, and then go ask them to build it will be too expensive.

You're next option is to go with a Masterton equivalent. The advantage is they do all the DA work for you because they have relationships in all the councils they build in. You will also be able to locate them through the 7 year warranty period. The disadvanatge is that these are cookie cutter profit maiing machines who will often not tell you about hidden costs, will build all brick veneer, and then cut their costs by putting weatherboard (or something worst) upstairs.

Your best option is private. You should be able to find a well price architect local to the council you are building in. Submit DA and then start looking for builders. Make sure you check their work personally. Make sure you knock on doors and ask how the build went, did it stay on budget, does the bathroom leak, were they easy to get hold of to fix things? Also I would suggest a fixed price contract rather than a Cost Plus contract. If you do it this way you should be able to get a better product for a cheaper price. You just need to do your diligence well.

IMPORTANT:

1. If you build privately make sure you get a draftsman or architect who regularly deals with the council you are building in. I can't stress how important this is.

2. Shop around. Check work. The last thing you want is a builder who promises everything but takes shortcuts, and your dev blows out in price, and things break and he spends his whole time avoiding you. There are plenty of builders who do this shit.
 
Me personally I'd steer clear of the major brands as they churn out project shit with a capital S.

For some reason Aussies tend to go out of their way to go with these big brands such as Metricon, Porter Davis, Burbank, Henley (I'm in Melbourne obviously) and get treated like shit and what they're doing is actually buying the biggest ticket item that they will ever buy in their life. We're not talking about the Maccas down at the food court which still amazes me that Aussies line up for when they can have so much other cuisine, we are actually talking about a $200,000+ investment that they are signing up to pay off for the next 30-years and they all want to go with the cheap project crap!
 
Hey Bunsen, what do you think of buying land and sticking and AV/Statesman etc house on it, hold for 12 or more months then sell? It "seems" like it would fetch quite a bit more than what it would cost.
 

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Munga said:
Hey Bunsen, what do you think of buying land and sticking and AV/Statesman etc house on it, hold for 12 or more months then sell? It "seems" like it would fetch quite a bit more than what it would cost.
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Can't do that in Sydney where I live but believe you can do it in Vic. My first concern would be the market and where it will be after a 12 months build (these guys build in 4 months but it takes time to do all the DA etc first).

I would suggest contacting a company called Metropole. They are Vic based and specialise in making money from small devs. Their usual MO is a duplex. Buy block big enough to sub divide, bang on duplex, sub divide, either hold or sell.

* i don't work for these guys, have never used these guys, I just know what they do. AV will just build you a house, Metropole will do a full feasibility study with you to make sure the numbers add up (i think).
 
Tim the Toolman said:
Me personally I'd steer clear of the major brands as they churn out project shit with a capital S.

For some reason Aussies tend to go out of their way to go with these big brands such as Metricon, Porter Davis, Burbank, Henley (I'm in Melbourne obviously) and get treated like shit and what they're doing is actually buying the biggest ticket item that they will ever buy in their life. We're not talking about the Maccas down at the food court which still amazes me that Aussies line up for when they can have so much other cuisine, we are actually talking about a $200,000+ investment that they are signing up to pay off for the next 30-years and they all want to go with the cheap project crap!
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Spot on.
I used to do framing for Porter Davis in Point Cook and Torquay when I finished school. Basically all the big building mobs build for money not quality, Stay away from them.
 
I got Henley to build me a house. They were very professional at all times, very little hassle during the building process and I am very happy with the finished house. They seemed to have alot of quality inclusions that other builders charge extra for.
 
i was thinking of buying a house and land package in Adeliade. ANyone know who isa reliable builder who has high quality
 

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In the absence of further info I will confirm that my house build with Henly was professional, mostly trouble free and I am happy with my house.
 
Many insurance companies do not provide insurance for their employees and that result in a good loss of revenue from their budget in case if any of the men at work meets with a serious accident. So, it is always better to opt for insurance to prepare oneself for the future uncertainties.
 
Recently built a house in Melbourne's southern suburbs with Carlisle Homes. Not as big as your Henleys, Porter Davis, etc, etc, but I was very happy with the way they conducted themselves right through the building process. I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has built with Carlisle.
 
Zuma said:
No pride under $400k. Done, Done, On the the Next, one, done, done, onto the next one. had to put my foot down, and watch over each aspect and still major f*&& ups, good luck
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That's drawing a very long bow. Many of the mainstream builders will put up houses for over 400k anyway, and use the same tradies they use for the 150k builds.

The difference between custom builders and mainstream Metricon(and the like) is the tradesman they use. Custom builders usually have their own band of reputable workers who stay loyal to the company as they're part of a family if you like. Metricon will typically get the cheapest bloke to do the job in the quickest time depending on where in the country the build happens to be. This is why you hear horror stories as well as positive from the same name builder... It all has to do with the tradesman and Metricon's(or the like) ability to identify issues if they exist, pre-handover.

Saying that, I've heard of several custom builds going wrong... It's really hit and miss as a whole. The industry just seems to lack responsibility on many levels if you ask me. If I made mistakes like they do, I wouldn't have a job..
 

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