We're building with Celebration and so far have been very happy with them. Celebration is part of the Alcock Group, so in terms of price/size/inclusions/luxury the group goes:
Homebuyers Centre - meant as starter or first homes. Not much included
Celebration - middle of the range, larger, better fit-outs, more inclusions.
Dale Alcock - Upper middle range single storey homes. More modern designs, more inclusions, upgrades such as stone benches
APG - 2 storey homes.
Brown-Neaves - Higher end 2 storey houses.
Company info here: http://abngroup.com.au/Residential-Building/

I was thinking of starting a house build thread once we've got more photos. We're only at the slab stage right now so don't have much yet.

Just a quick question we recenetly (2Yr) bought a UK house off plan and kept an eye on the build process last 3 months of build visited site 3 times a week.

If we choose to build in Perth WA when we come over is it comparative price wise, what I mean is our house we bought for £192,000 the actual build cost to the developer was £55,000, ok they get discount as it was a develpment of 150 houses.

If you have a budget of £200,000 Aus $440,264 can you buy land and build a nice house ? What`s a nice house I here you cry...

Our exsiting property sits on a block size of 300Sqm two storey 4 bed, 2 bathrooms. Good finish Coved throughout, chrome fittings, wood flooring etc throughout.

Can you get better or same ? Also are they stopping the new housing Grant, I beleive they give 10 or 20K for new homes being built ?

Thanks is advance

Paul

We're building a nice house (I think) for just over $400k. It's a 4x2 on a roughly 600m2 block. That price includes everything...flooring, window coverings, landscaping. We only have to move in and get a pool installed.

As for the first homeowner's grant, at the moment it's $21000 for a new house build, $14000 for a new home that's already built or $7000 for an established home. That's a short term rate, as it had previously been $7000 across the board. After 30 June it reverts back to the old rate of $7000. Bear in mind that only PR and citizens are eligible and there are some conditions attached.

Thanks for the prompt reply, does the cost include the land ?

Kind Regards

Paul

Thanks Dorothy.
I suppose prices will vary massively depending on where you live. Our plan is to buy a 4x2 on 650m2 but also adding an annex (for the Inlaws) which I hope won't cost more than $50k - $200k. Just wondering if anyone has done something similar and whether $50-100k will cover the price of a bedroom, small lounge, bathroom and small dining / kitchen area.

Didn't mean 50-200k I meant 50-100k.
Thanks

Whatever builder you use once construction starts make sure that you inspect it every day and make sure that they are following the specifications. Ours used the excuse "we have to make onsite decisions", they all seem to do something similar. We didn't let them get away with anything, cost them a fortune to fix things as per original specs. We also had an architect carrying out progress inspections.

Yes, that's including the land. We're building in Butler, which is about 40km north of Perth.
Most excellent advice, Nigel. We went out on the weekend with a tape measure to check our slab to be sure it was exactly where we had put it on the drawings and that it was the correct size. I warned the builders that they were going to hate me by the end of the build, since I would be there on a daily basis to check progress. We now live only about 5 minutes away, so it's easy for us to go check.

Another thing is to get recommendations from people who have built with who you plan to use. Not just who the builder gives you as references, but go know on doors in the area you plan to build and speak to owners. It's pretty easy to tell which builders built which homes by the front of the house. Different builders have different designs unique to them.