Darren & Kylie were about to build their third property with the same builder and after having obtained the fixed price quote it was suggested to them by some family members that they should perhaps get another quote just to make sure this builder isn’t taking them for granted.
Darren and Kylie found another builder with a plan similar to the one they already had a price for and went through everything they wanted in the home with the sales consultant and asked for a quote.
A few days later they received the quote from the second builder and it was almost $70,000 less than the quote they already had. They were now torn. They had a builder they trusted and liked, having already built with them twice before, but it appeared they could get a similar product for $70,000 less.
Their comments to Compare My New Home when they got in touch were that they really liked Builder 1, and were happy with the finished product the last two times but it seems like they can get a larger house, for less money with the same inclusions with another reputable builder. What to do?
The Compare My New Home team did a full analysis and just some of the key differences we found are outlined below:
| Builder 1 | Builder 2 | CMNH Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Square home, not including porch, alfresco and garage. | 31 square home, including porch, alfresco and garage. | Builder 2 actually provided home with smaller living area, despite appearing larger initially. |
| Fixed Price Quote with contracts ready to sign. | Sales persons estimate. Not fixed price. | Sales persons estimate is not the same as a fixed price quote and subject to change. |
| All desired inclusions included | Price based on builders standard inclusions only. | Builder 2 did not actually price all the extra’s the clients asked for (possibly waiting for quotes, but this was not communicated) |
Compare My New Home provided a detailed list of the inclusions priced in Builder 1’s quote and not in Builder 2’s quote, explained to the clients that the home they would get with Builder 1 was actually larger, even though the brochure plan didn’t initially seem to indicate that and also explained the difference between a fixed price quotation and a sales persons estimate.
We then recommended the client go back to Builder 2 and get pricing for the extra items.
Result
When they’d done the work with the builders it turned out Builder 1 was just over $5,000 more expensive than Builder 2 for the same inclusions and the house was actually slightly larger. Additionally there were certain items such as fencing and landscaping that Builder 1 had included that Builder 2 had priced but would not include in the building contract, the client would have to organise these themselves.
The clients decided to pay a little more, and stay with the builder they had used before. They were extremely grateful to Compare My New Home for assisting them through their build process.
