Hi Andy and Jo, thank you for placing this blog. We also visited Point Cook today with the intention of looking at some single storey houses for Simonds and Carlisle. We parked on the same side of the road as MainVue and were curious to find out who they were because the Alfresco looked quite nice. Xevia walked us through the Amalfi and were hooked. We didn't leave the deposit as we needed to go away and think about it however after reading your blog I'm worried about the other hidden costs that I had not even thought about. We were looking at the house and land package but I'm not sure if it is better than us sourcing our own land. My main concern is that they are padding the costs to make up for the inclusions they offer as well as the promotions. When a company can double give away so much it makes me wonder how much it all really costs.
We are new to all of this so any advice you can offer would be great. We will be getting a mortgage for this but it sounds like a need more than my usual deposit to get the ball rolling. Quick question, when Xevia says it's going to be up to $290k in your experience, does he go over that or leave anything out?
Anyways, sorry for the late reply and long response.
Short answer (TLDR): You have to work with Xavier to get the quote right. $290k seems low, but I don't know your budget. Ask for the quote for everything as displayed, and basically scale back from there. Also you need to imagine your home without those options. Extra costs come at the tender and colour appointment stages.
Your experience in finding MainVue Homes was exactly the same as ours. We just stumbled upon it, and it was the outdoor area that attracted us to it first. We also didn't leave a deposit the first time we went either, but came back the next day to have a look again with better weather.
Unfortunately, you do have to committ some money to get the process started, even though it is just a quotation process. It is the same with all other production/volume builders. But you can try to get a refunded quotation should you not like what you see.
In terms of padding for the cost I suspect that they would - but I would say is that you do pay for what you get. Their list of luxury inclusions is good, but there are other companies that have more. And again I'm sure all builders have it built into their price - no pun intedned. I'm not sure what the double give away deal is on at the moment. All builders are offering deals. From what I can see the prices are still the same from those in November. While during this time other builders have uped their prices e.g. Carlise and Clarendon.
$290k for the Amalfi from memory is staritng price. The next steps after quotation are tender, colours and then contracts. If you choose you can do an electrical appointment (we didn't do this, but probably should have).
Each of these steps added some more dollars. So we had to make some compromises in our choices, but arrived back very closely to the initial quotation price. Xavier is very reasonable and logical with the options and choices in building your quotation, so if you are comfortable with him you should share what you are prepared to budget to build your home.
The other way you can go about it is get a quote that contains every upgrade option and then work with Xavier to scale it back. You can even get the grand entry of the Amalfi with the marbel floor and vaulted ceiling , that isn't a standard option. So basically ask for everything to be quoted as displayed.
Because I can't highlight in bold text I'll repeat: ask for everything to be quoted as displayed.
Still you will need to remember that the tender and colours stages may add extra cost. e.g. Tender includes confirmation of site costs Colours - upgrades to flooring, kitchen appliances, finishes.
So, in our experience so far the Henley / MainVue Homes team have helped us keep to budget. And fingers crossed there are not too many contract variations during construction. I'm sure that we could have got a cheaper house, but we will be pretty happy if they can reproduce what they have done at Salt Water coast.
In Jerry Springer style, we have a final thought to share... You are the one holding the money and signing the cheques, so you have to be confident with who you are choosing to build your dream home. But just as importantly both parties need to be comfortable with each other and have a healthy level of trust and rapport. That's why we chose MainVue Homes; not just because of Xavier but their whole team.
(Check out the first posts to see what kind of experience we had with other builders and how unprofessional their sales people are in comparison. I'm only now receiving returned phone calls - 5 months since meeting with them... umm.. too late douchbags!).
We are building the Emporio ER432 with MainVue. Just been through Colour Appointment and now booking for tender in 4 weeks time (mid July). Our contract signing is looking like some time in mid August. This is as per procedure of purchase from MainVue.
Your time between tender and contract is nearly 4 months. Is that true ?
I'm very interested in your story. BTW, I can't find your email detail for more private conversations.
Thank you for blogging! I'm writing my own blog soon.
I stumbled upon your blog following a few people and I'm glad I did! We've also stumbled upon MV while loitering around the Saltwater Display Centre, we are building the single storey Amalfi 532. Anyway keep the detailed posts coming. You have another follower reading with interest! All the best with your build.
How about sharing the full uncensored story of your contract signing?
Hey Andy and Jo, hoping your build id progressing well...didn't hear back from you on the uncensored story of your contract signing, Our contract signing also wasn't a walk in the park. You can now read our story here.http://amalfi532.blogspot.com.au/
Hi Andy and Jo, thank you for placing this blog. We also visited Point Cook today with the intention of looking at some single storey houses for Simonds and Carlisle. We parked on the same side of the road as MainVue and were curious to find out who they were because the Alfresco looked quite nice. Xevia walked us through the Amalfi and were hooked. We didn't leave the deposit as we needed to go away and think about it however after reading your blog I'm worried about the other hidden costs that I had not even thought about. We were looking at the house and land package but I'm not sure if it is better than us sourcing our own land. My main concern is that they are padding the costs to make up for the inclusions they offer as well as the promotions. When a company can double give away so much it makes me wonder how much it all really costs.
ReplyDeleteWe are new to all of this so any advice you can offer would be great. We will be getting a mortgage for this but it sounds like a need more than my usual deposit to get the ball rolling. Quick question, when Xevia says it's going to be up to $290k in your experience, does he go over that or leave anything out?
Hi Lee,
DeleteAnyways, sorry for the late reply and long response.
Short answer (TLDR): You have to work with Xavier to get the quote right. $290k seems low, but I don't know your budget. Ask for the quote for everything as displayed, and basically scale back from there. Also you need to imagine your home without those options. Extra costs come at the tender and colour appointment stages.
Your experience in finding MainVue Homes was exactly the same as ours. We just stumbled upon it, and it was the outdoor area that attracted us to it first.
We also didn't leave a deposit the first time we went either, but came back the next day to have a look again with better weather.
Unfortunately, you do have to committ some money to get the process started, even though it is just a quotation process. It is the same with all other production/volume builders. But you can try to get a refunded quotation should you not like what you see.
In terms of padding for the cost I suspect that they would - but I would say is that you do pay for what you get.
Their list of luxury inclusions is good, but there are other companies that have more. And again I'm sure all builders have it built into their price - no pun intedned. I'm not sure what the double give away deal is on at the moment. All builders are offering deals. From what I can see the prices are still the same from those in November. While during this time other builders have uped their prices e.g. Carlise and Clarendon.
$290k for the Amalfi from memory is staritng price. The next steps after quotation are tender, colours and then contracts. If you choose you can do an electrical appointment (we didn't do this, but probably should have).
Each of these steps added some more dollars. So we had to make some compromises in our choices, but arrived back very closely to the initial quotation price. Xavier is very reasonable and logical with the options and choices in building your quotation, so if you are comfortable with him you should share what you are prepared to budget to build your home.
The other way you can go about it is get a quote that contains every upgrade option and then work with Xavier to scale it back. You can even get the grand entry of the Amalfi with the marbel floor and vaulted ceiling , that isn't a standard option.
So basically ask for everything to be quoted as displayed.
Because I can't highlight in bold text I'll repeat: ask for everything to be quoted as displayed.
Still you will need to remember that the tender and colours stages may add extra cost.
e.g. Tender includes confirmation of site costs
Colours - upgrades to flooring, kitchen appliances, finishes.
So, in our experience so far the Henley / MainVue Homes team have helped us keep to budget. And fingers crossed there are not too many contract variations during construction.
I'm sure that we could have got a cheaper house, but we will be pretty happy if they can reproduce what they have done at Salt Water coast.
In Jerry Springer style, we have a final thought to share...
You are the one holding the money and signing the cheques, so you have to be confident with who you are choosing to build your dream home.
But just as importantly both parties need to be comfortable with each other and have a healthy level of trust and rapport.
That's why we chose MainVue Homes; not just because of Xavier but their whole team.
(Check out the first posts to see what kind of experience we had with other builders and how unprofessional their sales people are in comparison. I'm only now receiving returned phone calls - 5 months since meeting with them... umm.. too late douchbags!).
Hope that helps
Good luck! :)
Hi Andy and Jo,
ReplyDeleteWe are building the Emporio ER432 with MainVue. Just been through Colour Appointment and now booking for tender in 4 weeks time (mid July). Our contract signing is looking like some time in mid August. This is as per procedure of purchase from MainVue.
Your time between tender and contract is nearly 4 months. Is that true ?
I'm very interested in your story. BTW, I can't find your email detail for more private conversations.
Thank you for blogging! I'm writing my own blog soon.
hey there Andy and Jo,
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon your blog following a few people and I'm glad I did! We've also stumbled upon MV while loitering around the Saltwater Display Centre, we are building the single storey Amalfi 532.
Anyway keep the detailed posts coming. You have another follower reading with interest!
All the best with your build.
How about sharing the full uncensored story of your contract signing?
cheers GG
Hey Andy and Jo,
ReplyDeletehoping your build id progressing well...didn't hear back from you on the uncensored story of your contract signing, Our contract signing also wasn't a walk in the park. You can now read our story here.http://amalfi532.blogspot.com.au/
cheers GG