I chose Porter Davis to Build My House

March 08.
Once I had put a deposit on the land and decided on the Builder and House I wanted to build I then just started to make a list of the inclusions I wanted and the up-grades I wanted to have.

Anyone that is building or has built will know this is pretty hard to do as until you get to your Tender appointment, trying to get costings out of a builder is pretty damn hard. I really needed to know what cost I was looking at all up from purchasing the land, to the complete build and also trying to estimate such things as air-con, carpets, tiling, fencing, concreting and even window furnishes.

But with the help of friends and the internet, i did my research and spent alot of time reading through forum's and found they were the most helpful place to start, you get to meet so many people that are going through the same process as you, or are already building or have just completed their home. Everyone is really helpful and willing to share tips and costs, for anyone building i would highly recommend logging onto forums before even selecting a builder.

Given most builders don't like to give up costs to you even at a rough estimate, if you persist and they can see you are interested in building with them, even before you hand over any deposit, i say keep nagging them, especially with Porter Davis. I didn't hand over any deposit until mid last year, as i wanted to be sure that afterall i could afford to build with them the house i wanted.
A hidden tip for those that may not know is that when they first enter you into their computer (which some do as soon as they know you are seriously interested in building with them), you are auto-matically set on the pricing plan that they work all their costings out on from your electrical right down to handles and other up-grades. so even if you don't go through the Tender, Electrical and colours stage for 6 months or more like me, they will have to work out all your costs on the Version pricing plan. I managed to get a copy of the Electrical section of this booklet which was only 3 pages of about 150! this helped me a great deal later on down the track when my electrical was costed out, pity i couldn't get my hands on the rest......So if you are building with Porter Davis, ask the sales lady what pricing plan you are being put on and then push to see of you can get a copy of those prices, even if its just your electrical as you will save dollars by having that.