All Topics / Help Needed! / Questions regarding building quality of new home

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  • Profile photo of IthilienIthilien
    Participant
    @sapped
    Join Date: 2017
    Post Count: 7

    Hey guys,

    We’re hoping to purchase a property that we found last week. It’s in a very nice suburb that we wish to live in, and the price of the house is really good, something we’ll just be able to afford.

    Another big advantage is that the property already have a granny flat built in the back. This will save us heaps of time and effort from building our own one. Which will be additional cost and take more time. Since we can just rent out the secondary straight away.

    The only problem is that the property has been built by a less than reputable builder – Beechwood Homes. The company doesn’t seem to have a good reputation with regard to their project homes, here is how the company stands compared to the other major builders in Sydney:
    https://www.productreview.com.au/c/home-builders-nsw.html?sort=rating_count

    Most of the reviews given from previous clients have been pretty bad:
    https://www.productreview.com.au/p/beechwood-homes.html?sort=helpful

    Although it seems a lot of the complaints are with regard to build times and delays, which isn’t a concern for us as the house has already been built.

    Also the newer reviews seem to be getting better:
    https://www.productreview.com.au/p/beechwood-homes.html?sort=newest

    • This topic was modified 6 years, 7 months ago by Profile photo of Ithilien Ithilien.
    Profile photo of IthilienIthilien
    Participant
    @sapped
    Join Date: 2017
    Post Count: 7

    But what is definitely important for us is the quality of the finished building.

    We had a house 8 years ago where it had serious leakage issue in the roof. It was by an owner builder that went bankrupt and we spent a lot of time with the repair work, we’d rather not have this again. Although seeing Beechwood is a much larger company, I’m not sure how much it applies in this instance.

    Does anyone who have engaged with those guys before have any advice? How is the quality of their finished building? Are there any issues such as leakage or defects? And if so how hard was it to get these fixed?

    I’m not sure if I’m worrying too much, but this is a serious decision for us to take with regard to the home purchase. It’s a great financial commitment and we’ll be living in there for many years after all.

    Anyway sorry for the long post, but we’re quite lost on this atm and hope for some genuine advice. Sincerely appreciate any help that can be given!

    Best Regards,
    Ithilien

    Profile photo of BennyBenny
    Moderator
    @benny
    Join Date: 2002
    Post Count: 1,416

    Hi Ithelien,
    One part of your due diligence would be to have a Building Inspection done, yes? For the few dollars it takes, having their report on THE actual house would be good to have for your peace of mind.

    I believe there could be extra charges for “more than usual” inspections – e.g. If you required them to take a long, hard look at the roof from on top and under it (climb into the ceiling manhole and inspect). Maybe ring a few to get quotes re their charges for a basic inspection + roof (on top and under it) + any other “specialised areas” you might have concerns with (e.g. water issues, foundations, etc).

    The way I see it, even spending $1000 is money well spent if it either saves you from buying a “pig”, or it allows you to sleep at nights, knowing that the house you are buying is sound. Ask them too about what guarantees they might provide with their report. Probably very few (if any) but it pays to know these things before you pay for them eh?

    Benny

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