Don't sign a building contract until every detail is locked in. Builders often push incomplete contracts to collect deposits and profit from variations later. A real contract should be 30-50+ pages and include every specification, final price, engineering plans, council approvals, and timeline.
Read this before you sign anything, especially a building contract. I hate to be a negative nanny, but I've met too many people for which this advice arrived too late, and so I hope I'm catching you before you sign anything. Tragically, too many homeowners feel pressured to sign a building contract based on scant information that, that builders say will be finalized later. Don't worry, says the commission salesperson, we just need to get you in our system so we can guarantee your building spot Then we can work it all out, all the details out later. As a result, these homeowners are unsure of exactly what they're getting, don't know exactly how much it's going to cost, and end up having to pay tens of thousands of dollars for extras they thought were included and variations the builder introduces along the way. 3 reasons why builders pressure you to sign an incomplete contract. Disorganization. Sometimes it's simply because they don't have the systems staff, or experience to supply you with a detailed contract. Rather than risk losing you as a customer, they lock you in with a contract that is incomplete. Variation profits. Sometimes it's because they lure you in with a low contract price so they can make more profit on the variations they introduce during the build. For example, some contracts make an allowance for specific items, but as supply prices rise during the building process, Your price goes up accordingly. Defects that need to be redone and delays also cause extra charges in the name of variations. Look up your local building your dream home Facebook page and you'll see countless examples of this. Deposit. Increasingly, it's because they need you to sign a contract so they can collect your deposit to pay past bills. This is a dangerous practice and one of the reasons why so many builders have gone bust over the past few years. What should your contract include? And when should you be signing it? Everything. Your contract should contain every last detail about the home you're building. If it's not in writing, you can't be sure it will be delivered, and you can't argue the fact afterwards. Shockingly, many building contracts are just a few pages long. In fact, it's not uncommon to have the fine print take up more space than the details of the house. What do our contracts look like? And when do we ask you to sign? Our building contracts typically run 30, 40, or even 50 pages or more, and we don't even offer them to you until everything is ready to start building. That's right, we won't ask you to sign a building contract until you've made all your selections, engineering is completed, plans are finalized, council approvals have come through, and you have the full And final price. That way, you know exactly what you're getting, precisely what it'll cost, and when it will be delivered, with no nasty surprises guaranteed. For more information on what you should look for in a building contract, we invite you to book a free consultation where we will answer your questions and show you the most efficient and affordable way to get your dream home without any nasty surprises.
