Did/Do you negotiate when purchasing House Design?

Hi Guys,

Would like to know if we can negotiate and when do we negotiate on the pricing?

And how much did/do you negotiate off? and is that off the final tender price or including the variations/upgrades?

Cheers!
 
Sorry not really sure what you are asking, I assume you have a off the shelf house plan from a designer / builder and want to make changes to this plan. If that is the case you maybe able to haggle with the cost of the changing the plans to suit your requirements not sure how much you would get off.

If you are looking at variation / upgrades during the construction period I would take the time to sit down and get it all set out in the contract as to exactly what you want even to the brand and model number of appliances etc that way you eliminate variations as these can and do in many case cause construction delays cost escalations and may cases disputes between the parties.

By doing this you have a fixed contract and you can budget.

In my opinion the more that is organised prior to signing a contract so all parties are claer on what is happening makes for a smooth operation and good outcomes.

Thats how I deal with my clients.

Brian
 
If I could go back in time I would make ALL of my selections before signing a contract and have them ALL listed in the inclusions list as a set price, rather then allowances. It would have saved alot of drama. It also gives you a chance to talk to the tradies and find out what your builder is like to deal with - our's apparently has a reputation that we weren't aware of until after.

This will also give you a chance to price some things yourself and haggle over them to get the builders margin down slightly - or alternatively to leave that part out of the contract and arrange for it to be done yourself.

If you can do as much as you can before signing it helps both yourself and the builder and makes it easy to set a 'fixed' cost and get an approximation of true cost.
 
Rugrat,

This seems to be one of the biggest issues between clients and builders and tradies is the costs when changes are made. As for mark up that is set out in the contract you maybe able to haggle with the builder to drop this but if nothing is stated in the contract it is 20% (in qld contracts that is).

A big issue is also communication and that is a two way street which also appears is not carried out very well between client and builders.

Mind you these are only two with a host of others which I also feel are simply poor communication.

Pity you had a bad experenice with your builder and always seems to leave a bad after taste.

Brian
 
This seems to be one of the biggest issues between clients and builders and tradies is the costs when changes are made.

Exactly. Builders want to extract the biggest margins possible, and clients want the best quality available; these are opposing forces at work.

So Tempura, if you change or upgrade anything, make sure you state the exact details of the changes, down to the brand of the cupboard door handles, exactly how many powerpoints you want, the precise name and colour of the floor tiles etc. What seems trivial now in the large scheme of things, becomes huge when the builder wants to install one thing and you have imagined another.

It's better to do this before any work has started so that you are all exactly on the same page and know exactly what the costs are up front. Forget "allowances". As NBS says, communication is everything. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is too trivial to write down.

I once did a huge house remodel and my partner laughed at me because my specs were so specific it detailed the brand and colour of the tile grout. But in 10 months of building we didn't have to make a single change. Happy builder, happy client.
 
Exactly. Builders want to extract the biggest margins possible, and clients want the best quality available; these are opposing forces at work.
QUOTE]


wrong. builders want to get paid for work performed. clients always want top quality work but dont want to pay for it.. if your going to haggle with a builder or tradesman about his margin or rates dont expect quality work

alot of people dont have the ability to forsee what their new house/ extension/ deck etc will look like in built form and thats why changes are often made during construction (which is where a good architect is worth paying for). People also dont have the time thats needed prior to construction to think about fine details such as grout colour.
 
wrong. builders want to get paid for work performed. clients always want top quality work but dont want to pay for it.. if your going to haggle with a builder or tradesman about his margin or rates dont expect quality work

I must be one of those rare people who don't really crunch the trades people on their prices - they have to make money - I am well aware of that.

But in return, I expect them to do a professional job in a timely manner.

What an idiot I am.
 
People also dont have the time thats needed prior to construction to think about fine details such as grout colour.

Well, sorry to have offended you. It seems that plenty of people have time to make a big deal over these small things after the fact.
 
Bayview,

You are not rare I find majority of people simple want a good job at fair price.

However the few make up for the majority I can say it really sucks when at the end of a job a client say ummmm I'm a little short what about you knock a few $$$ off and I'll pay the rest off :mad: or I don't think the job is worth what you have charged (not a whisper during the whole project) I'm only going to pay x amount :mad: or more recent a project builder just did me for $35000 so for me the end is really my wages and profit and when you don't get paid its not a good feeling I can tell you. Mind you I was only part of a 2mil sting he got tradies :mad::mad:

My old boss told me if the client does not want to pay a deposit up front or wants to screw you in price RUN AWAY it will cost you in the end. The more you communicate with the builder the better things will be its not rocket science but its the cause of most disputes when constructing, "communication".

In many cases the larger project builders screw the tradies so much simply to boost there own profits and the quality of work seems to comes into question.

Tempura,

Just get a few quotes covering everything and work with the builder NOT a salesman.

Brian
 
Well, sorry to have offended you. It seems that plenty of people have time to make a big deal over these small things after the fact.


mate, you havent offended me i dont know where that came from? i am agreeing with you

what im trying to say is the building process is much easier if the client/ architect knows exactly what they want from the get go and this is included in the scope of work from the outset (items such as grout colour included) as it gets almost always gets costly when projects get designed as they are built
and the builder cops it in the neck because he is the one sending out variations from the scope of works
 
Rugrat,

This seems to be one of the biggest issues between clients and builders and tradies is the costs when changes are made. As for mark up that is set out in the contract you maybe able to haggle with the builder to drop this but if nothing is stated in the contract it is 20% (in qld contracts that is).

A big issue is also communication and that is a two way street which also appears is not carried out very well between client and builders.

Mind you these are only two with a host of others which I also feel are simply poor communication.

Pity you had a bad experenice with your builder and always seems to leave a bad after taste.

Brian

I completely agree about the communication.
Our experiences have been a learning curve, but nothing I haven't been able to handle so far. Our problems haven't been due to us changing anything, but rather 'allowances' and changes the builder has made without us realising. Plus our builder's interpretation of things in our contract are completely different to our interpretation (we have since discovered that he has some pending litigation from other clients for similar 'differences in opinion). The house hasn't even been started to be built yet.

The mark up on flooring for our builder is the standard 20% plus the difference between RRP and what he can actually get the product for (sometimes 50% cheaper). We are (apparently) unable to negotiate with the suppliers on product price (it eats into his added profit) and must pay full RRP, even though he gets it for much less....
Ethics???

Our Builder does do quality work. But he is definitely not a people person, and he does have a reputation in the industry as someone who is very had to deal with and who will jack up the cost to the client in anyway he can manage.

Having said all this, I will see what the end result is before I rule out working with him again - like I said he is a quality builder. I will just stimpulate every single inclusion in pinpoint perfect description and leave absolutely nothing up for change after signing contracts - I will approach the builders for prices after.

Oh and he has a salesperson who you deal with up until signing, who is good at his job, but what you are promised at this point is completely different to what the builder says.

I don't mind paying what its worth at the time of signing, but I just don't want to be paying more then that...
 
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