Afternoon all,

Following on from my Markcon :curse: thread does anyone have any stories, good, bad or indifferent with McCarthy homes.....??

Ta

Be intrigued to hear responses to this also.. we well ROYAL WE !! Debs the missus has been and seen the fella down at Warner, representing McCarthy... said he was a very nice fella, and the build quality looked very good along with the inclusions...
WIll be keeping a BEADY eye on this thread

Would I be right in thinking you might have something to do with timber flooring?

If so I dont s'pose you could PM me an idea of how much supply and fit of a reasonable timber floor would be? Promise I wont hold you to a price - just wondering how much these things cost! Tell me to sod off if I am being cheeky !

LOL

I ran a uk company and thought I could do same here.. long story short..i chose this forum name and abn.. prior to visa being granted.. got here and rekindled engineering and am now aircon man

We do supply flooring still, but i dont install anymore..

Best deal is to go direct , with Premium Cork and TImber
Find em on the internet, they are possibly Australias, largest stockholder and importer of wood flooring.

Regards fitting rates, I think our prices are still live on the internet..

click this link, and see if you can find us

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...cr%3DcountryAU

Cheers for that my old man always used to say if you dont ask you dont get!!

Cheers

Jon

Its a good trait to have mate, especially in Australia..

Its a more direct and upfront country than uk

Okies...

Debs went to see McCarthy Homes today, not sure where, but must have been somewhere in North Lakes I would have thought...

Shes still extremely impressed with the company, I have yet to see their homes, or meet their staff...

The guy has said, we can take in our rough drawings, and he will happily and at no cost, draught construction plans for us to see, and he will cost it up..

Drawback, the plans we cannot take with us, as it is a free service, which is fair and reasonable.

But I am pretty impressed with this kind of service, and bodes well in our pursuit of a radically contemporary home..

However gonna have to pull the missus reigns in.. shes up to over 80 squares at the moment... and she can re doodle again !!!!!

We are off to see them tomoz, about midday , so will do a reccie report afterwards..

Steve

Cheers Steve

Just to add to your findings so far....

When we popped up on Sunday we met a chap called Steve, he was more than happy to take us around a home a week away from completion, he was also eager to show us a house in the frame stage, which we declined as unless you are a builder or someting was obviously wrong I doubt I would spot it!

Finally I asked him about their build times, he said 6 months - then he said well it is normally 5 months but they like to add a month on just incase, he also mentioned that he was happy for us to speak to any of their customers to double check anything he said.

All in all pretty positive so far.

I would be interested in what they say to you.

Cheers

Jon

All good JON !

Debs mentioned that she has heard Plantation have upped their build times now to 14 months !!! FOR GODS SAKE !! 14 bloody months...

we initially built this place with plantation, and thoroughly pleased, but they dont offer what we want from the next place..

Metricon seem to expensive for my liking, but have some great features. like their 8ft high doors pmsl..

But Debs seems extremely keen on Mccarthy so will keep you upto speed, and VickyVercky please ( Vice Versa )

Tis a deal sir!

I had the Plantation salesman we were dealing with on the phone to me on the weekend, as I had emailed him to ask if the build times were correct, and I mentioned that we werent going to sign with them until we found out the whole story.

Cutting a long story short I said to him by the time you factor in the cost of carpets (they dont include carpets- FFS!!!), the additional rent (we are renting at the mo) due to the build time and the fact that Plantation put their prices up every chuffing month -what is a 400k build starts to become a 450k build and if i have to spend that then I may as well look else where if only to compare!

His response was well, most builders are about 12-14 months and if all you are worried about is the build time, sooner you sign the better (or words to that effect).

And I totally agree with your other sentiments about Metricon - very nice, but really taking the p1ss with their pricing!

Good luck

Jon

Hi Jon & Steve have pm'ed you both.

Donna

Gday Fellas...

Well had a real good day actually, none the wiser on build costs, but.. here goes.

Just to reply to you Jon, Plantation fix the build cost of your home when you deposit up with them, this is for a start I think within 16 weeks of signing the deal. At which point they reserve right to ammend the material and or labour costs accordingly.

I have built with Plantation, so am pretty aware of the whole scenario, and stages within new home construction.

_____________________________________
OK<>
We went down to the Thornlands display, and I wasnt impressed with McCarthy homes, 2 on show, and look tired drab and slightly dark..
However, I was impressed with the construction, and level of finish, which is what i went for.

We popped in to, Ownit homes on the same display village, and shite WHAT A DIFFERENCE in terms of design flair, and sheer space. But wasnt impressed with there rigid stance on designs...

Then grabbed a sanga from the servo, a bottle of V , some smokes, and flew up to North Lakes, and to the McCarthy sales office. Met Troy, nice fella, laid back.. and very helpful.
Much better homes at this display village, and looked at 2 of their homes, and again the build quality and level of finish looks very good.

Their build times seem good to, at about 22 weeks .. ish.

Then walked over to AKC homes, met a nice guy, and looked at their stuff, was ok.. only one display, but nicely finished, and some good design ideas.

Walked straight past AV Jennings.. there homes look 30 years old by comparison to the others.

Went in Adenbrook, and they are very nicely done, kitted out etc.. but will not really budge on design choices..
Similarly with Metricaon, who I must say lead the field in terms of cutting edge affordable and stylish interiors, contemporary and fresh...
Again, not to impressed with their fixation on The PLAN is the PLAN ! lol.. but their build time is around 18 weeks, from council and for a lowset.

Went back to see Troy at McCarthy, and gave him a drawing I had done of what we would like, and said.. mate can you? and he said sure.. free of charge, as previously said, and in about a week..

So will get to know what its gonna cost me in about 6 or 7 days time...

Just to reiterate, McCarthy seem to have the most sensible inclusions I have found, and their build quality seems flawless... obviously show homes are designed to impress, but they really are good quality, totally non pressurising, and approachable..

However,.. I am decidely thinking now, of project building the entire house, as a owner builder.
Seems what we want, and what we can get could be more than we have and can afford...well.. thats true if Debs does the house the way she wants !!! But I am in agreement..

On a very positive note... the seller has signed the contract on the land we are buying !!!!! Got fax today !!! ... so gonna get Pished tonight !! cannot believe we got it in the end, I am soooo pleased

On a Bad Note lol.. our mortgage advisor who I have used for 4 years ( name and number supplied if you want it ) is a great fella !!! and a nicer guy you could not meet... and thats 110% genuine... advised us today, that we cannot, or seems extremely unlikely to raise finance to Owner Build..

So its kinda stumped me a bit now... lol.. but will work on a PLAN !

Anyhoo... thats my bit said lol

Hi Steve can you explain what 'owner build is'

cheers

Sorry.

In Australia its the same as a self builder, but you need a permit to work, or a licence.

So all owner builders must attend a short course, of about 15 hrs, pay a small nominal fee, and there licence is granted for a set period for 1 job only.

However, it does not mean that you can physically build the home yourself, you still need licensed builders and tradies, inspections etc etc etc..

The down side, is you do not get or can pass on a home builders warranty such as QBSA

Just thought I would resurrect this thread as we are going to be signing with them on Saturday....

Anybody have anything good, bad or indifferent to say......