Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Is anyone in the process of building their own house on the GC? I just wanted to see what different experiences you have had with purchasing land and building, we bought land in Feb, picked our first builder who really messed us around, we then went with another builder in march and our house only got started 2 weeks ago, (7 months of arsing us around) We are building with Simonds and I would never recommend them, they have been so slow with everything and the communication has been shocking, they have tried to charge us for things their not even doing, I don't think I have ever heard of anyone who has had a good builder and no problems. I would love to hear how other people are doing with their builds

Lisa

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Hi Lisa. sorry to hear you are having a hard time with your builders. I know before we emabarked on our house build, just reading all the horror stories from other people's experiences was enough to put us off, but we hung in there and have been in our new home just over a month now, and love it to bits.

We bought our land at Jacobs Ridge which is a stocklands development in Septmber 2005, had a 3 month settlment period on it, which gave us ample time to sort out everything with our builders. We went with Richards Homes, simply becaues we fell in love with one of their display homes, and haven't looked back since. Building commenced in April and we moved in on 8 September. We found them to be very good, and overall didn't have too many problems. There were a few minor issues as we went along, but the site manager was very good and everything was put right very quickly. There was only one bone of contention we had with them. You may have read one of my other posts about our $3,000 cooker being stolen from site. 5 days before we were to move in, we discovered a big hole in the kitchen where the cooker once sat, and to top it off, the builders said it would not be covered by their insurance. We kicked up a fuss with them, purely because 2 days after the theft, we discovered that the house had been left unlocked, and then again the day before we moved in, it was left unlocked again, so Richards relented and agreed to cover us for the replacement cost, which we are still waiting for! But apart from that, we really haven't had any major problems with them.

I hope you get everything sorted out ok. Please keep us posted.

Regards

Gina

ps. heres a few pictures.

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtg.../ph//my_photos

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtg.../ph//my_photos

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtg.../ph//my_photos

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dtg.../ph//my_photos

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Hi Lisa,

We bought our block at the end of August and have chosen Garth Chapman Traditional Queenslanders in Brisbane. Have to say, up to now, they've been great. Ring when they say they're going to ring. Draft plans ready when they said, etc., etc. Fingers crossed that its a sign of things to come. We're at the stage now where we've made a few minor changes to the draft plans, rang the builder on Monday and he said he'd be back to us within two weeks with a more definite price from the estimator. He told us that we should get all the paperwork out of the way well before Christmas so that building can start straight after the Christmas holidays. God, I hope so. One thing they have said is that the build itself will take 6 months and a lot of people have said that this seems a long time, but hopefully they're just covering themselves with this. Its a Queenslander, so maybe that's why it might take a bit longer? I don't know. Anyway, we're hoping to be in by June/July. All this sounds great in theory. We'll see how it all works out in practice. All the very best with yours. Keep us posted. Michelle xxx

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

WOW!!!! stunning house :D love that purple :D hope you'll be really happy there :)

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Thank you

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Gina, the house looks fab, it's great to see how far it's come as I remember seeing your pics when it was being built, I just hope ours looks half as good once its finished. I wish you all the luck in the world in your new home, and have a fantastic time in the pool in the summer, I'll keep you posted how it's going :) Lisa x

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Hi Michelle,

Shannon told me your building a Queenslander,we were all really jelous as we love them, you will need to keep me posted how it's going and get some pics on once its started I would love to see how it goes, you won't know what to do with all the room you will have, bet Shannon has her room picked already!!!! :D

Hope everything goes to plan

Lisa x

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

[QUOTE=floweroscotland, bet Shannon has her room picked already!!!! :D

Lisa x[/QUOTE]
Yeh i do lol!! :p

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Hi Michelle,

The time estimates were the one thing they let themselves down on. We signed the contract at end of October, build started end of January and we moved in middle of September. Mind you, there was a shortage of painters at the time (painting took 3 months :eek: ). Hopefully yours won't take so long to paint. That should keep the build time to around 6 months for you.

Jane :)

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Thanks Jane. Will keep you posted on that one... :scared: Michelle x

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

Hi Lisa,

Yeah - excited about the whole thing - its not huge inside really - a small Queenslander - budget constraints and all that, but the extra wide wrap around verandahs look fab. Will keep you posted. Maybe a housewarming by this time next year............ :D Michelle x

Re: Is Anyone Building On The Gold Coast
 

We used Indigo Homes and they were excellent and finished early!