Choosing a builder

We have a nice view, and we wanted to build a house that would capitalise on that as well as meet our needs of a growing family with two boys moving into their teenage years

We looked at independent builders and they largely tried to convince us that they could do a better job for less than the volume builders, some would have cost twice as much - but in talking to other people it seemed that even the best were likely to take either too long to build, go broke halfway through, or have difficulty with getting the quality right (except Kenny who is known for his very high quality - though getting a mate to build your house could easily end the mateship, best to not go there)

We then looked at:

• Metricon, but didn't like their designs, also a bit suspect on some of their display house.  There are some impressive features - but try finding them in their list of inclusions or options.  You may find that some display features just aren't available*.

• Glenvil loved their designs, build quality and easy agreement to customise, but cost equation didn't work for us - too many compromises were necessary that would have undermined the very reason to choose them
• Porter Davis, liked their designs at first but they wouldn't build in our area, and by the time they decided they could build in our area, we had divisions in preference for house design and in the end we decided that we were both right in the faults of the others preferred design - so we looked on
• Henley - we agreed on a design, had a great salesman who was able to show us the actual costs others had paid for similar house designs to the Emperor Q1, but then when I asked what strategies they supported for a sloping block (about a 2.2m fall from front to back, 1.7m in the build area) I was informed it was just a cut and fill, which I felt could distract from the view at the back by being too low, be difficult with a steep driveway from the street, and perhaps be too easy to flood if the drains got clogged.  They would not customise at all, so we moved on
• Mainview (another Henley company but they didn't like to mention this when we first started working with them, we would find out why much later).  We liked the Cullen, the sales people, the colour selection people, and the drafts people, they would even put it on piers so as to maximise the view.  Signed the Tender and Contract with one set of administration folk with a view to demolish and build once the plans were council approved.  We moved to rental accommodation, lined up a demolisher, had the finance all in order. But what was described to us by the Henley building manger was that she was not able to, or not willing to it seemed to me, get the plans approved until after the second soil test (requiring us to demolish and be fully committed - similar to the alleged practices certain sects - while they remained uncommitted and free to charge more if the plans were not approved).  Seemed to me that we had to go to a position of no return while they promised nothing, given that the second soil test is nothing but a scam (in urban redevelopment it seems your property will always be rated "problematic" unless you demolish your house and clear the block 6 months prior to build - you don't need a soil test to tell you that, and as the test is only in two or three extra places it wont tell you about all the rocks, the levelling will work that out. The argument went on for months, and they ended it by returning most of the deposit, I let them get away with that as I didnt want to deal with such an unreasonable company in building a house, nor am I aware of my rights (if any), I suspect I am entitled to hit them for my costs due to their breaking the contract, but I doubt that would be easily achieved. Some reviews I have seen indicate that I was extremely lucky to get out of the grasp of this bulk builder.
• Carter Grange, I was in the process of getting agent quotes on selling the house when we noticed Carter Grange building in the area, designs looked interesting so we visited a display, and I did like what I saw, and was impressed by the openness of everyone I dealt with - what I didnt see however were options, such as a rear balcony.  Their attitude was "no problem" we will customise for you - and they did - we went through quite a number of versions and ended up with a split level two story house, not the one that I originally liked, but the radisson with rear balcony, and an agreement to get Council approval before demolition.
  *A note about some of the displays - they are actual builds for people who have decided to rent back to Carter Grange for a few months, everything in them are actual inclusions that Carter Grange will do.  I didn't think that amazing until I discovered that is not common, just a difference between the bulk builders and the designer builders. For instance in Balwyn there are some display homes, quite impressive, but when I asked about the cost of some really nice features, I discovered they don't have a price, as they don't and won't provide such features