New home buyer traps

So many clients have been coming to us telling the same story. "We went to a volume Builder the prices were so cheap, and then came the extras!"  Extra for flyscreens, extra for the slab, extra for site costs, extra for garage door, extra for lights, extra for power points, extra for NBN, extra for permit and the list goes on and on. One client said he was given a quote from a major volume Builder of $280k for a
read more

Many clients come to Berstan Homes with the same stories about builders behaving badly and some of the stories are quite alarming.  Many of the problems seem to stem from new home buyers looking for a builder often make the same mistake of going for the cheapest price. When the cheapest possible price is incorporated in to your home build it will in most cases create cost cutting by the builder. There are several ways this can happen, one is
read more

A site manager friend came to me the other day complaining about workload, he works for one of the major new home building companies. What he said alarmed me; he was in charge of 32 sites and was not coping well. Little wonder he was under pressure a sustainable level of sites in my opinion would be around 15 sites. It is little wonder the burn out rate for the larger new home building companies is so high.
read more

Marketing companies are popping up everywhere and who are you buying your home from? a builder or a marketing company. There are many positives in dealing directly with your builder rather than a third party. By dealing directly with your builder you will be able to use his or her knowledge to your advantage with regards to design, location and your buildings functionality. By dealing with a marketing sales agent they have little or no building experience and untimely can
read more

Why was this happening the owner asked?  The simple answer was the owners partner had flooded the laundry which is easily done and water flowed out to the flooring in the hallway. The water had been wiped up but the damage had already been done causing the flooring to swell up and cup.
read more