Choosing a Builder - What to look for
Have you considered this?
What does each builder actually include in their base price? Some builders don’t include carpet, or overhead cupboards in the kitchen, or even flyscreens. Some don’t include concrete under their verandahs & porches, but some others do, whilst some will show a verandah on their plan but its not actually included in the price! No wonder people get confused and disillusioned! At Sandhurst Housing & Design, we make sure everything you would expect in your new home is included in every price, and more! All our homes come standard with 8’6” ceilings, all floorcoverings, flyscreens, brick infills over windows, and the peace of mind of knowing that an actual registered builder is going to personally build your home. Our new Luxury Inclusions cover everything mentioned above, as well as 900mm stainless steel appliances, designer tapware, ducted heating, colorbond roof, 3 coats of paint, window locks, security grilles to sliding doors, Rinnai instant gas hot water system... and a host more. At Sandhurst, we work with you to ensure you new home is exactly what you want, at exactly the right price.
Slab upgrades & sitecosts. If you’ve built before, you’ll know that sitecosts can often be expensive. It shouldn’t necessarily be that way. Beware companies that quote a cheap house, then quote you sitecosts that seem REALLY high - they may be trying to add some cream into the job to make up for that ‘cheap’ base price, or to cover the cost of a promotion. At Sandhurst Housing & Design, we do not add 30—50% onto our sitecosts – in fact, we add nothing! You only get charged what it costs us.
Why do builders charge extra for travelling outside their area? You must appreciate that travel surcharges are charged by nearly every tradesman to go outside of their usual territory, so the builder must oncharge this fee onto the client. But sometimes, builders use the travel surcharge as another way to add some extra profit into a job. And if a builder claims that there is no travel surcharge outside of Bendigo, then its possible that the surcharge has already been added into the base price and you would never know. Either way, you’ll pay for it. Surcharges are a necessary cost when you build outside a regional area, it’s just how much you pay that can differ. At Sandhurst, our travel surcharges are usually included in the base price, but we will work out the cheapest surcharge for you if we agree to build your new home in an area that is over an hour outside of Bendigo.
When will the house actually start? A lot of builders can’t start your home until MONTHS after you sign a contract, despite telling you otherwise BEFORE you signed the contract. They figure once you’re signed, its easier to string you along and make you wait. By building with Sandhurst Housing & Design, you get to site much quicker for one simple reason— the builders we use are independent registered builders who don’t have long administration processes which will hold up the start date, nor do they get bogged down with huge backlogs of homes. If one of our builders is busy, we simply pass on your build to one of our builders who can start your home right away.
What does a promotion really include, and are they really worth as much as they say?
Some promotions seem too good to be true (eg. $50,000 worth of stuff for $5,000—not possible!). Look closely – usually the retail value of those goods has been well and truly trumped up (we recently saw a large builder state that tiling 2 shower bases was worth $3300 but they were offering it for free!!!! Actual cost, probably about $250 for both shower bases). At Sandhurst Housing & Design, if we offer promotions or discounts, it comes straight out of our own pocket, which is why we only run promotion sporadically and for short periods of time! Instead, we give you the best price first time, every time.