How to choose a builder?

What criteria do you guys use to pick a builder?

At the display homes I get salesman. Don't want them building my home.

Other guys are my best mate and suggest I owner build and let them do all the work to save me money - I know that's a great way for them to avoid costs and responsibilities as well as warranty responsibilities.

More talk it up then can't even answer basic questions about aspect and new materials I have questions on. I know they have been building the same BV box for years ....

So how do you folks choose?

Open to recommendations for a builder in Newcastle :)

Cheers
 
Simon from where i come from and given the amount of money your going to spend , i would look for newish constructions and simply knock on peoples doos and simply ask them who built their home, are they happy with the builder, and did the builder stick to the contract.
You can,t be shy on this one because if you choose the wrong one , it could cost you thousands..
 
Simon from where i come from and given the amount of money your going to spend , i would look for newish constructions and simply knock on peoples doos and simply ask them who built their home, are they happy with the builder, and did the builder stick to the contract.
You can,t be shy on this one because if you choose the wrong one , it could cost you thousands..

I have been doing that. I find that people are proud of their new homes and even invite me in to have a look. I guess most of us like to have our choices confirmed :)

One lady spoke for hours ...
 
We had a look at the work the builder does / has done.

One thing I wish we had of done was talk to the tradies and subcontracters who work for the builder and asked what he was like to deal with.

We know our builder does quality work. But we have had some issues the the son (family business) who manages it all - he is the one we have had to deal with him, and have learnt ALOT from a great number of different subcontractors since that I wish we knew earlier.
Truthfully, it likely wouldn't have stopped us going with the builder we chose (will let you know when it is finished), but we certainly would have had different expectations and approached alot of things differently.
 
Was this in ACT rugrat? If so would you be able to PM me the builders name/company. As my mate is currently building within ACT and he would not like to make the sae mistake, if you know what I mean.
 
It's tough picking a builder, Simon.

Yep, find some recent projects like the one you're thinking about and ask the owners.

If you get a shortlist of builders, find out what they current project is. Go and have a look at the site. It's easy to see how well a site is managed from outside the fence.

Alawsy worthwhile talking to the subbies. If they aren't happy with the builder, they might say.

Talking to an owner mid project isn't a bad idea, either. (You're right that after a build people look back with rose coloured glasses.)

And you need to meet the builder face to face for a decent talk, too. You'll need to get on with the guy.

Scott
 
Our area is crawling with houses built by the same builder. They look lovely. We keep hearing good things about them. Their floorplans are nice. So, a bit of a no-brainer there really.
 
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