Anamws

Anyone gone through building your home? My hubby and I have been given an acre of land in Lowood Brisbane and want to build a house on it. would like to know how long this could take and maybe of any good building firms. Also is it a very complicated process from start to finish.

Thanks, grateful for any ideas.

jaycat

Hi,
Well i think the normall building time is around 12-14 weeks but this does depend on the size of your house and the building company.
Have you actually been to Lowood?
The land out there is quite cheap to buy.
Tamawood Homes are reasonable, you get some added features in there homes, like sercurity screens and solar hot water system, to name a few.
You are best to go and have a look at some display homes really. To see what you want in a home.
Hope this help a little.
Karen

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http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...=building+home


http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ight=kit+homes


a thread I started some time ago

The Tooth Fairy

Low inflation blunts homes bonanza

plumber39

What's a UK article about house price's got to do with oz?

The Tooth Fairy

Read and you may find out.

Ceri

In five words - you get what you pay for

If you go around a display village, the prices look as if they vary greatly between the major builders, but when it comes down to it - they don't. The advertised costs from each company are there to confuse you to make it appear that they are cheaper than their competitors. Some of the cheaper looking prices do not include so many items and that advertised cost would be the shell of the home plus the kitchen fittings etc.

Best tip go around the displays, take all the specs/leaflets/ prices etc with you home.Sit down at home and work out the final cost of each home - you'll find that they are all very similar - what looks cheap is no cheaper than the one which may not look cheap. Do not rush in - take a week or more looking over the specs. You'll also find that some jobs are cheaper to do yourself - like driveways etc. (you can delete things off the contract if you do not want them)

As for Tamawood , security screens included - that inclusion is the top model priced homes - and not the two other packages. You can put security screens in yourself - works out the same if not cheaper to do it yourself (find your own contractor) - In other words you get what you pay for.
I found Tamawood prices (final price when you added everything up) were no cheaper than a lot of the rest of the "better"major companies here for a 4 /5 bed home... (my opinion)

When we were looking for builders we checked out Tamawood and was not impressed with them at all. One of the main reasons was we asked if they had any display homes in Queensland/Brisbane area (they have an office here) . They said no. So it was a bit like buying blind. I wanted to see what their workmanship was like, more than the actual designs - so I thought b*gger that for a laugh - I want to see what I'm buying.The guy in the office did strike me as "bung the houses up " type, it didn't strike me as a quality operation. ...Just my personal opinion.

The other tip - drive around the new estates, look at the new homes being built, or just built - if you like the look of one , there is usually a sign outside the house with the builders number on it.

Tip three - talk to as many people as you can who have built homes here, and ask them if they were happy with the building, any probs etc?

Just remember if you like a particular home ,but there are certain things within the home that you do not like - you can alter the plan. For instance you can move walls inside the home, add a bedroom, delete a bedroom - change the kitchen etc. Totally alter the place to an extent - which we did with our home.
We have just built a 4 bed homehere's a couple of things we did:
Made kitchen bigger - totally changed the kitchen layout
Two car garage - made into a three (built out under the eves and took a little bit of space off that 'orrible room called the laundry
deleted fourth bedroom (there's only two of us) - and made it into an office space.
added extra storage cupboards etc
made dwarf walls
made the ensuite bigger
I'm trying to think what we've done - there are too many things to remember - anyway the house which we have built, you would not recognise it from the original plan now - But we did pay extra for these changes, most companies allow you about 5 changes for free (structural changes) , above that you will get charged, which isn't a lot - I seem to recall it cost us about $1,500 to change the drawings on the plan.

Try not to be swayed by sales talk - take the price and inclusion lists home with you - and go through each one from each builder with a magnifying glass Try and work out the final move in cost from each company - and things which you could do yourself cheaper. Look around, and talk to people - do not rush into the first house you see.

Hope this helps

P.S you can make it as complicated, or uncomplicated as you like - i.e bung on a display home without many changes - or totally screw their design up.

Two examples - my friend built without many changes - took about 4 months to build from start to finish
Ours has taken ( a year to get them sorted out - the plans, we are fussy) - and we started building in feb this year- they still haven't finished ! nearly there though now - just minor touches. It's got to the stage where they are paying us because they have gone over the finish contract date (they have to pay you damages if they go over the contract finish date)- nothing to get excited about though - it's only $15 a day! that wouldn't even cover our rental house for half a day.

sashimi

What's a dwarf wall? I'm just reading Harry Potter, so I get this picture of walls full of dwarfs!!!! lol :scared:

Ceri

Yes I've currently got one hundred dwarfs plastered up in my wall.
Noisy little B*ggers too! these Aussie dwarfs are so uncouth

A dwarf wall is a wall which is around 4 1/2, 5 foot high - for instance if you like an open plan home.. say you want the dining room and living room to have an "open" feel, you can divide the two rooms by a small wall instead of the usual wall which runs from ceiling to floor.

Can't say I've read Harry Potter myself (I tend to read non fiction a lot, except for one book called Plague dogs which I must have read about twenty times now ... so sad a story) - but I did see the first Harry potter film on cable Tv the other week - Quite enjoyed it - hubby thought I was mad watching a kiddies film - until he settled down to watch it too - big kid!

Talking about Dwarfs and Harry potter - good "weird" film to watch "The labyrinth" King of the goblins/elves - David Bowie. I watched that one month on cable TV too - another "kiddies fantasy film" "1980's I think" - I think I'm going around the twist at last .... as I thought David Bowie in the film was looking very good - lol :scared:


cheers

sashimi

Well you never know!! Especially with the Ozstralians seemingly getting up to all kinds of weird things, judging by this forum

At first I refused to read Harry Potter, kiddies' books, no way. But after hubby gobbled one up after the other I had to have a look, and must admit I've gotten hooked. Not too impressed with the latest one, though. Enjoyed the films as well.

Yep, agree Plague Dogs very sad story.