68MEVY

Hello everyone ,

Have any of you built with Coral Homes.

We went round a display village the other day, took all day and could've been longer! and saw some really nice houses. Got home, browsed through all the brochures we were given and have found a house we would like to call home.

Just wondered if anyone can share any experiences, good or bad, about Coral Homes.

Cheers

Marie

JJJHM

Not going to be a lot of help to you as we are at the looking stage too.. we too quite liked a Coral house but think we are going to go for a Clarendon with quite a few changes. Looking forward to hearing peoples experiences.

Good luck.

Julie

JaneandJim

A friend of mine has just built with them and they were quite happy. They started the process around the same time as us and they were finished and moved in way ahead of us. Her husband is an electrician and they let him do the electrical stuff. They were also cheap. My friend was considering getting a kit house but Coral could build what they wanted for the same kind of money.

Jane

Billabong

We've also spent a huge amount of time looking at houses and we have also finally settled with Clarendon.

They are not what you would class as your basic home builder but we have found so far (early stages) that they are very professional, cheaper than the likes of Plantation Homes for a similar product and the Ballina 36 house that we have chosen has a lot of character and design features that we really liked.

We know a couple of people that are building to sell with Coral ie get it built and then sell straight away.

wargod

THe wife and I quite like the look of the Balina 36 - can i be nosey and ask how much more (approximately) the 'actual' cost is versus the price list (i.e +10% etc) or is it a case of what the price list says is how much it costs?

68MEVY

Bumpity bump

We phoned Coral up yesterday to see if they have a display home of the design we like, and it turns out they do up at Oxenford. So in a bit we're gonna go and have a look and a chat.

Does anyone have any experience of building with them?

Marie

sunshinesarah

Hi Marie
I have just finished building with Coral, it's up for sale and we are planning the next.

We researched a lot of project builders. Whilst they weren't the cheapest, they were by no means the dearest. We built a 30sq Daydream but made lots of changes. I will endeavour to list the positives and negatives we experienced.

Positives:
1. Complete process from signing to moving in took around 8-9 months (this included a few rain delays and Xmas holidays)

2. They let you make extensive changes. As long as the changes don't affect the main structure of the house, changes can be a cheap way of getting it just the way you want which is the route we went down. If you make a lot of changes that do affect the structure of the house, you have to go to a Standard Modified Plan which can add a couple of months and more money to the whole thing.

3. They don't tend to charge for 'moving' things. ie We moved the kitchen, some windows etc from one area to another. As this was just repositioning, this incurs no fees. Making things bigger obviously will.

4. Sales staff at Rainforest Sanctuary on Sunshine Coast were brilliant. very much on the side of the client. They 'advised' us of the things we should not do through them, ie driveway, fences, main floor tiles....This saved us a fortune. I think Coral quoted around $7k for 70sq of exposed ag driveway. we paid $4k. Its time consuming and very frustrating finding and dealing with your own contractors but it WILL save you a lot of money. We wish we had found our own electrician.

5.General Value for money - excellent.

6. We have been in 6 months and the 6 month maintenance list consisted of not even a dozen things to pull them up on - and all very minor. Most were dealt with quickly after 6 months

7. We were very lucky in that we had an excellent painter and carpenter (old school, but very thorough) If you can get in with them, they'll do extra work for cash as you go along.

8. Build time was only 5 months. Rest of the 'building' process was all paperwork going to and from head office.

9. Once they started on a house, there was work going on constantly. They don't disappear on to other jobs for weeks on end (I have heard the site managers are on financial incentives to finish houses quickly)

Negatives:

1. Our site manager was as good as useless. He was terrible at coordinating the tradies. we ended up being our own site managers, up at the house almost every other day just checking on work that he should have been checking on. He was sacked but I think he's back. He was the one person who let down the entire company. But this could happen with any builder. We would insist on not having him as our site manager when we build again.

2. Dealing with the Head office can be frustrating. Whilst they are very professional, you are one of many so often have to wait for phone calls back like everyone else. Again, unless you go with a small builder who is dedicated to one house build at a time, this has to be expected from any project builder.

3. Probably would supply our own kitchen appliances next time. Whilst they advertise "Blanco" we have since learned that in Australia, there's Blanco and there's 'budget' Blanco. You could probably shop around and get better quality for same price. You then just select to owner supply those items and they still fit them for you (no extra charge as this is in the price anyway). I work in a bathroom showroom so supplied myself decent toilets etc and they just fitted them.

On the whole - excellent. We will still shops around for next build but know the Coral system and prices so will almost certainly use them again.

Another small tip given that I work in plumbing industry. In Queensland, after March 06, electric hot water systems will no longer be approved by council for new homes. You will have to go either gas or solar. Gas is roughly same to install but up here on Sunshine Coast, we're not on natural gas and bottled gas is very xxxy. Some builders are failing to tell their clients this. Solar is dearer to put in (estimate an additional $3k to your building costs) but will be cheaper to run.

Just PM me if anyone has any more questions re Coral and best of luck

Sunshine Sarah

Stitch

Thanks Sarah for a very informative post...Will keep it earmarked.

Cheers

Ginny

Jane and Russ Middleton

Hi we looked at homes in Pacific Pines display village when we were there, The lady at the site office by the shops was just having her 2nd house built by them and was very pleased....... I think for someone who works in the field and chooses them must be a positive thing. She worked in the office which sells plots of land !!
We also really liked their designs.
Hope that helps
Jane x

68MEVY

Thankyou so much for this info. We went up to look at another of their display homes today as it's the design we liked best out of all the many builders brochures we have. The lady in the office was busy so we didn't stay for the chat we'd originally wanted (our 4yr old was with us moaning about being bored, however she did pick out 'her' bedroom, so we're going back next week without her.) We liked the layout of the house but would want to move inner walls around at the back end of the house, and move a couple of windows and doors. Glad you've told me they don't mind you doing that. We would also like to extend back to under the eaves but we'd previously been told that wouldn't be over $1000. As for water, we were debating gas as we're wanting gas for cooking, which is only an extra $500 for installation but then we have the gas bottle and refilling it to contend with. Although maybe solar heating is the way to go, not sure will have to discuss with the hubby.
Marie

Billabong

Wargod,

The final price is around $230k if you include the following:

Ducted Aircon
Driveway
Additional power points
Additional lights
Carpet
Tiles
Security/Fly screens
Any upgrades you choose
Any changes you make to comply with estate covenants

However, this compares very well against Plantation Homes, Metricon etc (similar size houses) as they have a much higher base price and they charge you more for all of the extras.

Then of course you need to factor in for a pool if you're having one, fencing, landscaping etc so I would reckon the $250k mark is the end figure you will be realistically forking out.

wargod

Much appreciate that ta !