In Australia, land-building (House and Land) has always been a popular form of investment. Among them, the choice of builders is an extremely important decision. Your new home not only determines your family's current lifestyle and needs, but also determines the future lifestyle and needs. Well-designed, well-implemented real estate will be a value-added asset. However, in the selection of builders this link, often relatively need more experience to control.
How to select the right builder to buy a house
（商品价值的货币表现） price
Price is a major factor and should be taken into account, but the most expensive or cheapest is not the point. When bidding for a project, the price is detailed and multiple quotations are consistent. If the same project but the price difference is too big, it should not be considered.
Reasonable price of materials and stable cost of workers are very important, some part of the cost is too high or too low will only go away, ultimately have to pay the same cost.
communicate
It's also important to work with builders who communicate well and trust each other. If they don't get along well, don't hire them.
prestige
You should do a good job of collecting information before choosing a builder. Review credit records and trace back to projects completed by the builder in the past 12 months. Recommendations tend to be positive, so they can't be trusted. The most important thing is the communication between builders and customers, and the ability to communicate well with contractors, plumbers and electricians.
Cross-checking is also critical in the process. In addition to listening to other people's opinions, you can also check from the National Industrial Association (HIA), Architectural Masters Association (MBA) and Fair Trading Department (Department of Fair Trading). Never hire an unlicensed builder or a builder who does not purchase home warranty insurance.
Similar experience
Choose a builder with building experience similar to the style and size of your home, and the builders who have built shopping malls may not be suitable for your new home. Many Australian families prefer prototype design, (Project Homes). Based on the size of the economy, these properties enjoy discounts, easy combination and cost compliance.
If the location is not appropriate, or if you want to add personal features, you should choose a custom builder or project manager, but it may raise costs and extend the project time.
Check contract
Ensure that a contract is in hand, carefully understand and comply with the terms of the contract. It is often heard that contracts are used only when mistakes are made, but if they are able to comply with the terms in advance, mistakes can be avoided.
When considering custom engineering, you should discuss with builders, conduct field visits, meet with your construction team at least once, including builders, architects, landscape architects, engineers, etc.
Teams need to have common goals and be able to live in harmony. Disrespect or contempt for others can only cause delays, confusion, erosion, and heartbreaking.
How to control the risks of builders to buy land and build houses
Select builders with good performance and reputation
The choice of builders is the most important link in land construction. Weekly news of the collapse of builders across Australia shows the upheaval in the construction industry, where many builders are desperate to get orders, but that's where risks and pitfalls start.
Too often, investors who have chosen builders who offer relatively low prices face significant delays in building, resulting not only in higher construction costs, but also in the loss of a lot of opportunities. Remember, your new house will be guaranteed for 7 years. Therefore, the choice is not cheap builders, but dedicated to the long-term development of builders.
One of the principles of our choice of builders is that the cheapest builders are never the best. Selection criteria generally include: experience in the construction of specific housing products; experience in construction in a particular area or residential district; and sound financial background.
Investment housing and self-housing design and decoration standards and requirements are different, for investors, it is important to find the right balance between the two, the most important aspect of this is not to over-invest. Good builders should, according to buyers' needs and budgets, put forward reasonable and practical suggestions on decoration standards and design plans, including the selection of central air-conditioning or split air-conditioning and other details. Most of the time, builders have two departments or teams, one is the retail business, dedicated to self-housing buyers, and the other specifically for investment housing products, the two departments have different standards and methods of service.
Pay attention to the key provisions of the construction contract
Equally important is the drafting of construction contracts, one of the guarantees to control risks and protect buyers' interests. There are several necessary clauses to be noted in the contract with the builder:
Project extension compensation clause Liquidated damages clause: this is a compensation clause for construction project extension to customers. If the construction period exceeds the maximum period agreed upon in the contract, the contractor will be required to pay compensation in respect of the number of days deferred.
Rock subsidy Rock Allowance: if the rock is found in construction excavation, this clause sets a maximum cost of removing rock. If the construction contract does not have this clause, it is likely to cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars extra if there are rocks that need to be removed during the construction.
Fixed price contract: this is an effective strategy to control the upper limit of building costs. Once both parties have signed a fixed-price construction contract, there will be no further changes in the construction price unless there is an unforeseen situation outside the contract agreement. Even if there is a change, it must be approved by the buyer.
Turnkey contract: this means that the delivery of a house can meet the standard for tenants to carry bags, usually requiring a full range of gardens, driveways, blinds and even mailboxes. If there is no detailed and specific agreement on these projects in the contract, investors will have to pay additional costs to rent after paying their homes.
The professional terms of the builder you need to know before you buy a place to build a house
In the communication with builders, there are often a lot of their own language. To this end, here listed and explain some of the commonly used industry terminology, for you to clear up communication barriers.
Allowance fixed amount
Meaning: when preparing a quotation or budget, the builder will make a quota assessment of items that are unable to determine the actual price. This includes electrical, tile, lighting, and so on. Once you agree to the quota for these items in the contract, it indicates your predetermined expenses on these items. It also means that if you change your mind to upgrade the product, then you will have to pay for the extra part, which obviously will ultimately affect your budget.
So, make sure you look carefully at the Allowance project. Because it is likely that the builder estimated a $1000 bathtub in the terms of the contract, and just last week you took a fancy to another fancy tub worth 2000 Australian dollars.
BASIX Building Sustainability Index Building Sustainable Development Index
Meaning: this represents the building sustainability index and is part of the New South Wales housing planning process. It aims to reduce household consumption of water and energy. You can complete the BASIX assessment online, and if your project has architects involved, they will arrange it for you. In short, you need to obtain BASIX certification before you begin to apply for permission and approval.
CC Construction Certificate Construction Certification
Meaning: CC is the most commonly heard acronym in solution discussions and is a certification approval to ensure that your building plan complies with Australian building codes and any other relevant standards. When your project is approved, you will get an CC, and then start construction. CC is issued by the relevant certification body, either from the local council or from a private certification body.
Cost-plus material separation
Meaning: this is one of the most common ways for builders to quote for decoration and expansion projects. They will estimate the cost of the project based on their experience and knowledge-and then you will pay for the duration cost (Cost), plus the cost of any material (Plus). This offer may be cheaper than you expected, but sometimes it can be more expensive than expected if something unexpected happens.
DA Development Application Development request
Development application is to submit all your plans and documents to your local council for planning approval. The larger the project, the longer the process is, although most parliaments are trying to improve the approval cycle. You can prepare an DA, on your own, but usually by a professional designer (architect, etc.).
The cost of submitting a development application depends on the size of the project. In New South Wales, it also includes parliamentary costs, long-term municipal services and donations. You may also have to pay for a variety of other reports (such as damage reports), which can become a cost to you other than the architect's design.
D C Design and Construct Design and Construction
Meaning: in the builder's language, D C means "design and construction" and is usually used by residential builders (such as small villa project builders) who contract both design and construction operations.
Fixed Price one price
Meaning: pricing for projects at a fixed price is another way used by builders. In this case, they will give you a definite price, and only if you decide to change the plan, the price will change accordingly. Builders usually use this offer only if you have a clear scale of expansion and all potential problems can be foreseen. In contrast, if you want to build a brand new house, fixed pricing is the most common.
PC Prime-cost items additional floating amount
Meaning: although most of the technical terms seem rather boring, the additional floating payments that appear in the quotation refer specifically to the "interesting" things that exist in the buildings. Because additional floating payments generally refer to fixtures and optional accessories, such as tiles, kitchen carpenters and appliances, flooring, bathroom accessories, lamps and other components that can improve the decorative effects of your home. As a product under this part of the money constraint, you can choose your own brand style, but need to pay extra purchase, the contract contains only the manual installation part.
The article is transferred from the WeChat account of Zhonglian Group (goldmate_group) in Goldmate.
